Located on the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower, the Hollywood Christian Church dedicated its new home here on May 21, 1910. The building was a former residential home, a vine-covered bungalow set amid sloping lawns, pepper trees and palms, and the church was fondly known as the “bungalow church.”

Los Angeles would have other bungalow churches. The trend was considered a particularly Southern California phenomenon, like open-air grocery markets.

The Hollywood Christian Church was founded in 1888 by merchant B. F. Coulter of the department store and the Rev .M. L. Yager who organized the Disciples of Christ Church. It originally met at a school in Coldwater Canyon, later site of the Beverly Hills Hotel, sharing the space on alternating Sundays with the Southern Methodists. In 1890, the church built a small building in Cahuenga near Sunset on land donated by Helen M. Judson Beveridge, wife of the ex-Illinois governor John Lourie Beveridge.

Having outgrown that space, in 1910 they began looking for a new home and found it in a literal home at what was then Prospect Avenue and Gower.

The area was still largely rural and there were several other churches along the Boulevard. The church removed some walls to make room for the congregation but left the fireplace and window seats to create a home-like atmosphere. A deep side porch was enclosed with glass for the Sunday school room.

In 1920 the church acquired land at 1717 Morgan Place (later renamed Gramercy Place) just north of the Boulevard and in December 1921 revealed plans for a large new church to be built on it, designed by Robert H. Orr. Greek Revival in style, the new building would be quite different from the humble bungalow church.

The church sold its bungalow home in December 1921 but continued to occupy it as a tenant, renting from the new owner while the new building was under construction. On April 5, 1923, the congregation moved out of the bungalow and began holding services in the Sunday school building of the Morgan Place property.

In May 1923, the former “bungalow church” building opened as a cafe with music and dancing called “Gypsyland.”

Boulevard Karens went ballistic, aiming their criticism at the church for having allowed a rowdy cabaret to move into its former space. Pastor W.F. Richardson had to explain that they were no longer the owners and had no say over what the new owner (Christie Realty Co.) did with the property. Gypsyland was gone in a blink, anyway.

The bungalow was next occupied by the Paul Gerson dramatics school. Born in England in 1871, Paul Gerson was a stage actor who founded an acting school in San Francisco about 1904. His Hollywood branch opened at 6100 on August 25, 1924. It remained through January 1929.

As of March 1930, the property resumed a religious use as the home of the Spiritualist Science Church of Hollywood run by Dr. Mae M. Taylor.

In February 1934 Packard dealer W. H. Collins leased the property’s Hollywood Boulevard frontage for one of his used car lots, while the Spiritualist Church continued to occupy the building itself.

In November 1935, a permit was obtained to construct a Standard Oil service station and W. H. Collins began to clear his lot. The Spiritualist Church stayed until the end as well but in December 1935, the bungalow was demolished.

The corner was a gas station for decades. Today it is a parking lot.

 

Notes:

In October 1934, the Hollywood Christian Church merged with the Beverly Christian Church to become the Hollywood-Beverly Christian Church. The building on Gramercy Place, having suffered earthquake damage, was demolished in 1988.

The Spiritualist Science Church moved to the Castle Center at Franklin and Argyle in December 1935.