Krotona of Old Hollywood

Krotona was one of three important Theosophical centers in the United States during the early part of the 20th century.  In May of 1912, Henry Van Vliet, Laura Cornwell, Mary McFarland, M.E. Taffinder and A.P. Warrington moved to the new location in the Hollywood Hills just west of Beachwood Drive and north of Franklin Avenue.  Alfred O. Brandt from Spokane, Washington, had plans for an Olympic College of Arts and Ethics, August F. Knudsen from Honolulu, Hawaii, had plans for a boys camp, Mrs. E.R. Broenniman of Franklin, Mass. had plans for summer schools, Carlos S. Hardy, a prominent attorney in Los Angeles, wanted to start a fraternal colony, W.H. Yarco of Vancouver, an agricultural colony and A.P. Warrington of Virginia, would start a center on advanced spiritual, educational and health promotion.  Architect Arthur S. Heineman drew up the proposed layout of the community in 1912, but sketch was largely abandoned.  By 1919, all of Krotona's principle structures had been completed in the Hollywood Dell.  

The colony was eventually relocated to Ojai, California, beginning in 1924, where it operates today as the Krotona Institute of Theosophy.  The Krotona Colony of Old Hollywood had much privacy on the Hollywood Dell, but when houses began to be erected during the early to mid 1920s, they felt invaded.  While most followers of the Krotona Institute of Theology lived modestly in the Krotona Inn, other wealthy followers built bungalows or Moorish style residences in the vicinity.  Below are some of the structures that still remain in the area; the ones below were documented from newspaper articles, building permits or information from Los Angeles City Directories.  Some have been demolished and some still need to be found.  

The administration building was located at 6235 Primrose Avenue.; this Victorian home was originally built in 1895.  In 1912, with the abandonment of the sketch, architectural engineer Elmer C. Andrus was hired to convert the home into offices.  This was converted back into a residence years later after the Krotona Colony moved.

In the fall of 1912, space was urgently needed for public lectures and housing for students to attend various educational programs that were planned by Warrington and others.  They hired San Diego architects, Mead & Requa to design the Krotona Court, located at 2130 Vista Del Mar Avenue.  The arched entrance lead to a patio surrounded by an arbor held by thick cylandrical pillars.  Guest rooms open in four directions.  On the east side of the building was the communal dining room and lecture rooms.  The basement housed the kitchen and the cafeteria which opened to a lower outdoor patio which was surrounded by more pillars which held Eucalyptus logs.  On the west side of the building were Warrington's apartments.  The Esoteric room, a domed structure of Moorish design, was in the rear of the building.  Inside the Esoteric room was a built-in alter and a cabinent which contained spiritual books where meditation took place.  This building has been fully converted into an apartment building.  

Mead & Requa also designed the home of Augustus Knudsen where he lived with his wife, daughter and his mother, Annie Sullivan Knudsen, the wealthy widow of Hawaiian pioneer Valdemar Knudsen.  This residence, 2071 Vista Del Mar Avenue, is located on the curve of the street near the Krotona Court.  The 3-story residence was built in 1914 and consisted of 14 rooms and a garage.  All of the rooms opened up to terraces or garden courts.  A lanai, which was used as a billiards room, occupied the entire third floor of the building.  The second floor consisted of three bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room and a large living room, suitable for grand-scale entertaining.  The first floor contained the main entrance, servant's quarters and guest bedrooms.  The building was eventually converted and is used as an apartment building.

Mead & Requa also designed an exterior stairway on the west side of the Knudsen residence which was called "Krotona Flight"; this stairway was originally intended to serve as the main entrance to Krotona Colony but when the original plans designed by Heineman were abandoned, the staircase design was simplified on a much smaller scale.  This staircase once symbolized for those who climbed it the ascent into those spiritual realms of which Krotona in Hollywood was "a kind of earthly correspondent".  Although the staircase remains intact, the dolphin-shaped fountain is now being used as a planter.  

Augustus Knudsen financed the Science building which was erected on the north side of the Krotona Court in 1917 at 2152 Vista Del Mar Avenue.  Its function was to serve as a laboratory for experiments designed to "confirm the plausibility of Theosophical cosmology."  The original structure consisted of a flat roof and small windows.  The building was later converted into a residence with a pitched roof and larger windows.   

Although Heineman's original plans for Krotona Colony were largely abandoned, he designed the "Grand Temple of the Rosary Cross" which is located southeast of Krotona Court and was designed in Moorish style.  Its function was to provide a larger space for public lectures than was available in the Krotona Inn, including a space for the working of the ritual that came to be known as the Krotona Service.  A high-ceiling auditorium, with enough seating for 350 people, was lit by large horseshoe-arched windows on the north side.  The building also contained offices in the basement.  The temple was built in only three months in 1914 and the design was taken from the original scheme for the administration building in Heineman's sketch.  The building was remodeled into an apartment building and is part of the Krotona Court apartment complex.  

Dr. Martha Kuznik, a prominent physician from Chicago, moved to Krotona in Hollywood circa 1913 and built a house located at 2260 Vine Street.  She relocated her bungalow house east of Vine Street and north of Ivarene Avenue and focused her practice on psychology and different child-rearing methods.  In 1916, she decided to open a "home school" on her property to assist children with special needs.  Born in 1851 in Germany, the older doctor decided to give up her property and move into the Krotona Court in 1917.   It has not been determined if this house still exists in that area or not.  Her daughter, Lucille Best, built two houses on Argyle Avenue, which many have been part of Kuznik's original land of over 4.5 acres.

In 1916, tract 3059 was incorporated with 4 lots, just north of Primrose Avenue, on the east side of Argyle Avenue, which were all on Kuznik Drive (now Temple Hill Drive).  According to the LA Times, C.J. Van Vliet was issued a permit to build a residence located at 2176 Kuznik Drive in 1919 and then in 1920, Vliet built 2 bungalow homes located at 2164-66 Kuznik Drive (demolished in 1964).  Vliet's residence still exists with the address of 6238 Temple Hill Drive (house below).  Kuznik Drive was replaced with Temple Hill Drive after 1923 as it extended down to Arygle Avenue.  Cornelius Van Vliet, who started as a teacher at Hollywood High School, then became a writer and affiliated with the Krotona Institute of Theology by 1915, remained in this residence until 1933.  After the Krotona Colony left Hollywood, Van Vliet went back to teaching.  

To the north of Vliet's house was the location of was the Ternary Building, the stadium, a private chapel and a villa.  While the stadium was torn down, the Ternary Building still exists at 6205 Temple Drive.  This Moorish villa was built in 1915 by architect Arthur Heineman and contained 14 rooms that were centered around a courtyard.  Marie Russak, Grace Shaw Duff and Henry Hotchener were said to be occupying the residence and called their residence "The Ternary" due to the three of them sharing the home and being one "happy family".  This residence was later converted into an apartment building used today.  Henry Hotchener married Marie Russak in 1916 even though she was 11 years older than him.

The private chapel to the left of the Ternary building is located at the address of 6206 Temple Hill Drive; built in 1918, this chapel sat down the hill and was later converted into a multi-residential property.  The lowest rental unit shows reminants of the Moorish and temple-like structure that once encompassed the property.   As for the "villa" just above this property on the 1919 Sanborn fire map, it appears to have been replaced with a new residence at 6197 Temple Hill Drive.

In 1915, Harry H. Shutts built a 9 room, 2 story residence for himself located at 2136 Argyle Avenue and named the home "Casa Rayna".  In 1925, the address changed to 2122 Alcyona Drive.  At one time, Shutts was president of the Krotona Lodge, but remained in Hollywood after the colony left for Ojai.  Shutts died in 1938 and his wife sold the home and moved to San Diego in 1940.  Below, the Moorish design on the the side of the house and on the balcony can be seen.  

In 1915, Charles A. and Addie Tuttle built a 7 room bungalow located at 2172 Argyle Avenue and Mary L. Swain built one next door at 2176 Argyle Avenue.  When Krotona started in Hollywood, Addie was a lecturer from 1913 and then continued her theosophical lectures even after the Krotona Colony left in 1927. Addie remained in Hollywood until her death in 1943.   Mary L. Swain was a physician who lived in the home with her younger sister, Helen. Like Tuttle, Swain stayed in Hollywood after the Krotona Colony left where she died in 1935. 

Henry and Marie Hotchener were responsible for many of the Moorish style homes built in the Hollywood Dell.  In 1915, they purchased a plot of land encompassing part of Temple Hill Drive and Helios Drive, just west of Gower Street.  They used Deluxe Building Company as contractors to build these homes, although Marie was responsible for the design and Henry building the structure.  Besides building, Henry was very knowledgable in the field of financing.  In 1925, Henry became actor John Barrymore's business manager-he helped John sort out his finances that so many others tried to exploit and helped him get contract deals.  John had been dating Mary Astor, who lived at Moorcrest with her parents; the Hotcheners lived next door.  (Below Moorcrest is to the right of Hotchener's house on Temple Hill Drive). 

In 1919 Henry Hotchener, who was listed as living in the Palace Apartments in Long Beach, built a 6 room house and a garage located at 2233 Beachwood Drive, using DeLuxe Building Company as the contractor.  He also built a duplex a few doors down located at 2251-2253 Gower Street, consisting of 13 rooms, also using Deluxe Building Company. 

In 1921 Henry and Marie Hotchener built 6147 Temple Hill Drive (originally 2244) and named the property "Moorcrest".  It took them almost two years to erect this palace. The Hotcheners lived in this home for several months in 1921 before leasing the property to Charlie Chaplin until 1924 and actress Mary McAvoy in 1925 before selling it to Mary Astor's parents that same year. 

In 1922 Henry Hotchener built another residence located at 2247 N. Gower Street, due east of Moorcrest.  

In 1923 Henry and Marie Hotchener built the home that they would living in for over two decades located at 6137 Temple Hill Drive (formerly 2226).  It was a majestic building with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a tower like a minaret.  After Krotona Colony left in 1927, the Hotcheners remained in Hollywood where they continued to practice, running the Krotonan publication "The Theosophist" out of this home.   After Marie's death in 1945, Henry sold the house and moved into a smaller house up Beachwood Drive on Glen Green Street where he remained until his death in 1959.

A year later, Henry Hotchener built a 7 room, 2 story residence at 6107 Temple Hill Drive.  At the time he was living at 2247 N. Gower Street.  He and his wife, Marie, owned this house until 1929.  They allowed prominent architect of the area, John Roine, to rent this house between 1925 and 1926.  Roine was also involved with the Krotona Institute of Theology.

In 1924, Henry Hotchener built a duplex located at 2205-2207 (now 6106-6108) Temple Hill Drive consisting of six rooms.  Hotchener listed his address as 2351 N. Gower Street.  This property sits directly across the street from the one above and has similar Moorish characteristics of the other homes.  

A pharmisist named Richard Oakford from Long Beach build 2 homes on the same tract and used DeLuxe Building Company.  Perhaps Oakford met Hotchener when he was staying in Long Beach and was a Krotona follower.  The first property was built in 1920, an 11 room, 2 story home located at 2275 Vastana Way.  The Moorish design was used in this property.  In 1924, he hired John Blair to design a 5 room residence with a garage on the same lot and used as an extension to his residence; the later building is Spanish style with no traits of Moorish design.

Below: 6 houses above on Temple Hill Drive (left to right) 6161, 6147, 6137, 6107, 6106 and 6102).  The houses below are on Scenic Avenue.  The house on the lower right, 6106 Scenic Avenue, was rumored to have also been build by the Hotcheners, but a building permit dated in 1923 has screenwriter Alfred Hustwick erecting this home.  If more are found, they will be added...to be continued.