Trendmakers – Welcome To Where Wilshire Started

Nicholas and Harriet Rice made their way west to build their fortune, settling in what is now central Los Angeles, on Atlas’ very block. As Nicholas stewarded his many business endeavors, Harriet spent the next several decades entertaining the who’s who of early LA, throwing elaborate dinners, receptions, afternoon teas, and the occasional raucous card party. In 1908 during the peak of Wilshire Boulevards residential boom, the Rices purchased the remaining stretch of 2520’s blockfront and planted an impressive botanical garden where our building now stands.

By the 1950’s American car culture made its mark on Los Angeles. In step with plans for an expansive approach to civic planning, the city appealed to a very specific kind of personal freedom – one that would accommodate the era’s gas guzzling automobiles. A Mobil station took up residence on the site of the former Rice property between Coronado and Carondelet, servicing a now-bustling Wilshire Boulevard. The office building we know today would be erected in its place by 1970 for the Mutual Building & Engineering Corporation, housing the architects that designed it – Krisel, Shapiro & Associates, and many others for the next half century.

Situated strategically along one of LA’s busiest corridors, Atlas House is the natural evolution of the neighborhood’s legacy of community activity, forward-thinking innovation, and residential desirability. Where LA’s earliest leaders once called home, today our building has been reinvented for a new class of urban dwellers. With a modern vision for residential comfort, Atlas House brings together the energy of industry, inspiration of arts and culture, and convenience of amenities into one exceptional daily experience.