Villa Riviera (Long Beach CA)


Villa Riviera is a registered historic building on Ocean Boulevard in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach, California, USA. From the time of its completion in 1929 through the mid-1950s, it was the second-tallest building, and the tallest private building, in Southern California. The 16-story French Gothic building has been called the city's "most elegant landmark" and a building that "has helped define the city." The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and is currently used as condominiums.


Description and Architecture

Built from 1927 to 1929 at a cost of $2.75 million,[1] the Villa Riviera is a 16-story French Gothic Building. The structure is topped with a steeply pitched copper roof with a green patina. The building was designed by architect Richard King who won a grand prize at an international contest for the design that he referred to as "Tudor Gothic."[2][3][4] The structure features fierce-looking gargoyles perched along the ridges of the higher floors. The building was also equipped with luxurious features, including a ballroom, Italianate roof garden, lounges, high-speed elevators, "vacuum-type heating," and a 100-car garage.[1]

The Villa Riviera was originally built as a luxury residential cooperative. The 1928 promotional brochure for the building noted:
In its exterior design, VILLA RIVIERA will be distinctively individual. In general, it will savor of the majestic Tudor Gothic, but with a marked feeling of French and Italian Renaissance, all blended into a composite grace of line which will overshadow any single decorative detail. ... Within VILLA RIVIERA will provide its one hundred and thirty owner-residents and their families with every comfort, luxury and modern convenience afforded by the finest hotel or the perfectly appointed individual home."[5]
When the Villa Riviera was completed, the 447-foot high structure was the second tallest in the region—surpassed only by Los Angeles City Hall.[1] Until the 1950s, it remained the second-tallest building in Southern California and "the tallest private building in Southern California."[4][6]

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