‘The Garden of Allah, Once an Oasis, Faces Kismet’
– Headline in the Los Angeles Times, April 1959
In 1930, after Central Holding Corporation bought the Garden of Allah Hotel from William Hay, the new owners upfitted the villas and made improvements throughout the hotel. Afterward, however, there were no known improvements to the hotel until 1955. After the war, the lack of upkeep began to show, and the Garden of Allah entered a decline.
Amy Porter, a correspondent for Colliers magazine, wrote in 1947: “In its early days it was the very center of things social… the spot where all the major movie functions took place.” But as the movie colony expanded, the Garden’s party room – with its antlered deerskin rug sprouting ominously from the floor – could no longer accommodate the crowds. The glittery, star-studded functions migrated to larger hotels farther west.
In the mid-1950s the Garden was put up for sale three times. Two of the owners oversaw upgrades to the villas and the main building. But none of the improvements brought back the old charm. The final owner had a different plan – one that would bring the story of the Garden of Allah to an end.