The House Rules: How Real Estate Drives American Influencer Culture
A story by Martin Karaffa
1600 North Vine Street is not unlike many modern Los Angeles apartment buildings. Pool. Views. The svelte fashionistas of the Melrose corridor like its smaller kitchens and larger wardrobes. Bathrooms equal or outnumber bedrooms — important for harmonious roommate relationships. It sits a stone’s throw from the corner of Hollywood Boulevard, the traditional epicenter of the movie biz. The Walk of Fame passes by; Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant bookend its front door. The legendary Brown Derby restaurant once stood at this address, over whose tables moguls drank gimlets and struck deals. In its ten year life, the building won California Apartment Association Property of the Year no less than three times. 1600 Vine wears its registered trademark with grace: The Home to Hollywood®.
But don’t be fooled by its historic location. The building plays home to the new Hollywood, not the Hollywood of talkies, streetcars and bootleggers. The complex features five business lounges. High-speed wi-fi blankets the building. USB ports abound. 1600 Vine plays host to events such as the Made in Hollywood Awards, and the building has its own red carpet walk with a bannered Step-and-Repeat photo backdrop. Its residents are among the American social media elite.
