A storied Hollywood motel, known for its appearances in blockbuster films and its history as a retreat for rock legends, has been reduced to ashes following a catastrophic fire.

The Hollywood Center Motel’s Craftsman-style structure, which dates back to 1905, was engulfed in flames on Sunday. This tragic event occurred mere weeks after the Cultural Heritage Commission had taken steps to potentially designate it as a historic-cultural monument.

Once a favored haunt of the band Buffalo Springfield, along with Neil Young and his ensemble Crazy Horse, the motel had fallen into disrepair over the years.

Although it ceased operations in 2018, the previous owner and some enduring tenants remained on the premises until it faced foreclosure and was vacated in late 2024.

In the intervening years, the site became a refuge for transients and those experiencing homelessness. It was the scene of two smaller fires in the latter part of 2025, one occurring on September 15 and the other on October 19.

The motel, which was featured in the movies LA Confidential and Hit Man as well as TV series including The Rockford Files, Perry Mason and TJ Hooker, had people illegally sheltering in it as the blaze spread. 

Many fled onto Sunset Boulevard, but a 42-year-old man became trapped on the second floor and had to be rescued by firefighters.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the blaze at 4.30am after receiving reports of a trash fire on the property. 

A 120-year-old Hollywood motel that housed rockstars and featured in movies was destroyed by a fire on Sunday

When firefighters arrived around 4.30am, they could see large flames emerging from both floors and immediately upgraded the call to a structure fire before requesting backup

It took 70 firefighters an hour and 12 minutes to extinguish the blaze. None of them were injured

The building was already dilapidated and rundown when the fire destroyed it. The motel business had been shuttered in 2018, and its previous owner was foreclosed on in 2024 

When they arrived at the boarded-up, two-story building, they could see large flames emerging from both floors and immediately upgraded the call to a structure fire before requesting backup. 

Firefighters said they heard calls for help coming from inside the building. They used a tall ladder to get to the man who was trapped on the second floor and had broken a window to escape the flames. 

The firefighters brought him to safety and treated him on the scene for a minor injury to his arm. The man was then transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition and without burn injuries. 

It took 70 firefighters an hour and 12 minutes to extinguish the blaze. They found no victims inside the destroyed structure after searching it, and none of the firefighters were injured. 

Hollywood Heritage, a nonprofit with the aim of preserving the neighborhood’s history, lamented the loss of the building in a statement on Sunday. 

‘The building could readily have been painted and preserved to serve in an adaptive re-use capacity as a gem in the community,’ the organization said. 

‘By allowing its decay and neglect we again see rare historic buildings lost which were eminently restorable.’ 

The owner of the building, Andranik Sogoyan, had been making efforts to stop homeless people from illegally sheltering inside. He had tried to seal off the building and install fences, but people had used steel wire cutters to cut through them. 

The motel was featured in the 1997 film LA Confidential, as well as several television series

Jack Vincennes, a character from LA Confidential played by Kevin Spacey, is pictured here pulling into the motel in a scene from the movie

The band Buffalo Springfield stayed at the motel in the 1960s

Athena Novak, a representative for Sogoyan, told the Los Angeles Times that the owner also ‘had a maintenance man going there all the time,’ who ‘was attacked a few times with weapons.’

In early 2025, the owner submitted demolition permits to remove parts of the structure. That move hastened Hollywood Heritage’s efforts to have the building classified as a historic monument. 

The owner was supportive of those efforts and ready to redevelop the property in compliance with the new designation if it was granted. 

A Hollywood Heritage webinar to highlight the history of the motel was scheduled for Wednesday evening. 

It will now be repurposed into a tribute to the destroyed building and a discussion about how to prevent the loss of more historic properties that have been neglected. 

The fire came almost exactly one year after another historic building, the 111-year-old Morrison Hotel that was featured on the Doors’ fifth studio album, was also consumed by a blaze and destroyed.

Locals had reported that the hotel was a popular location for homeless individuals to shelter as well.