{"nrhp_refnum":"84000891","name":"Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401-411 W. 5th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.04901049700004,"lon":-118.25183345899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial office building at 401-411 West Fifth Street, at the northwest corner of Fifth and Hill Streets near Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Parkinson & Parkinson and built 1930-1931 for the Title Guarantee and Trust Company.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the two best Art Deco commercial buildings in Los Angeles, with strong architectural quality and integrity. It is also tied to the architects Parkinson & Parkinson, muralist Hugo Ballin and the P.J. Walker Company. Together with the Biltmore Hotel, Pershing Square Building and Pacific Mutual Building, it visually anchors Pershing Square.","narrative":"This fourteen-story office building stands at the northwest corner of Fifth and Hill Streets, beside Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles. Commissioned by the Title Guarantee and Trust Company and designed by Parkinson & Parkinson, it was built by the P.J. Walker Company between September 1930 and 1931 at an estimated cost of $800,000. Its steel frame, concrete and tile structure is clad in terra cotta and designed in a Gothic influenced Zig Zag Moderne manner, with a setback at the eleventh story and a stepped tower flanked by flying buttresses. Inside, a small elevator lobby of marble, tile and terrazzo holds six murals by Hugo Ballin showing episodes in Los Angeles history, from the La Brea Tar Pits to the city's rapid growth. The nomination describes the building as one of the two most outstanding Art Deco commercial buildings in the city and notes that it was regarded as one of its finest office buildings when completed. Apart from storefront changes, it remains unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1930-1931","architect_builder":"Parkinson & Parkinson (architects); P.J. Walker Company (builder)","architectural_style":"Gothic influenced Zig Zag Moderne (Art Deco)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in private ownership, in commercial use and in excellent condition. The building is unaltered apart from partial brick infill of the street-level storefront windows.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.169158-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/84000891.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000891/a461cb8bf8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000891/a461cb8bf8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Guarantee_and_Trust_Company_Building,_Los_Angeles.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Guarantee_and_Trust_Company_Building,_Los_Angeles.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859576","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_Guarantee_and_Trust_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7810110"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/title-guarantee-and-trust-company-building-84000891/"}