10 Los Angeles Locations For Movie Lovers

Juliette Fay is the bestselling author of five novels, including the USA TODAY bestseller The Tumbling Turner Sisters. A graduate of Boston College and Harvard University, she lives in Massachusetts. Visit her at JulietteFay.com.

Photo Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Planning a trip to sunny California this year, or simply enjoy a good dose of history? Discover the 10 places that put Hollywood on the map! This original essay by author Juliette Fay coincides with the paperback release of her novel City Of Flickering Light, now available from Simon & Schuster (a CBS sister company).

In 1910, a sleepy little farming village in Southern California had no idea its fate was about to change. A newly-minted director by the name of D. W. Griffith decided to film In Old California, a 17-minute Spanish romance there. A year later, the Nestor Film Company officially moved its office to the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Drawn by the California sun, other studios soon followed, and Hollywood became … Hollywood.

For a town that has made a high art form of reinvention, a surprising number of buildings remain from those early days of silent films. Many have gone through their own reinventions, but have somehow resisted demolition. Here are 10 places to visit that represent the stomping grounds of those early stars of the silver screen.

1) Musso & Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Boulevard, opened in 1919, and is the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. It boasts the first pay phone to be installed in Hollywood (the phone booth is still there), and was an upscale favorite of writers and film folk. Dorothy Parker, F, Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner were regulars, as were Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, and Rudolph Valentino. The corner booth by the window was Chaplin's favorite. The food is unabashedly retro—and delicious.

2) Hollywood Heritage Museum, Highland Avenue, was built in 1901 as a stable. But in 1912 it became the headquarters of the second studio in Hollywood (after Nestor), the Burns and Revier Company. In 1913, Cecil B. DeMille leased the barn for $250 per month on behalf of his company, the precursor to Paramount Pictures, and filmed Hollywood's first feature length film, The Squaw Man, there in 1914. The barn was moved to the new Paramount lot in 1926 for use as a gym for its stars, until it was shifted to Paramount's Western Street backlot for shows like Bonanza. In 1982, the traveling barn landed in its current (and presumably final) spot, and is now the home of the Hollywood Heritage Museum, full of fascinating artifacts from the silent era, and complete with DeMille's original office furnished with his personal belongings. It is the oldest film-related building in Hollywood.

3) The Egyptian Theatre, 6706 Hollywood Boulevard, opened in 1922 and was the site of the first ever movie premiere, Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks. Featuring an enormous metallic sunburst on the ceiling and hieroglyphic-covered columns, its theme reflected the world's fascination with the search for King Tut's tomb, which was discovered two weeks after the theater opened. Original plans called for a Hispanic design, but when the plans were changed, red tile for the roof had already been ordered, and was installed anyway. The theatre still shows movies—both old and current—and hosts events as well.

4) Charlie Chaplin Studios (now The Jim Henson Company), 1416 North LaBrea Avenue, was built by Chaplin in 1917 in English Tudor style representing his home country, and the lot housed his private residence with tennis courts, swimming pool, and a horse stable. It was purchased by The Jim Henson Company—of Muppet fame—and the gate now hosts a large statue of Kermit the Frog in the costume of Chaplin's most famous Character, his Little Tramp.

5) The Hollywood Studio Club, 1215 Lodi Place, was initiated by actress Mary Pickford and other influential women of Hollywood in 1916 as a safe residence for young women in the industry who were often taken advantage of. Demand for lodging quickly grew, and in 1926 the YWCA opened newly built quarters at the current location. All of the studios contributed to construction costs. Famous residents include Dorothy Malone, Barbara Eden, Donna Reed, Rita Moreno, and Marilyn Monroe, who posed for nude pictures to make money to pay her rent at the club. After serving some 10,000 young women, The Hollywood Studio Club ended its run in 1975, but the second building still stands and serves as a YWCA.

6) The Max Factor Building at 1660 N. Highland Avenue, is now home to the Hollywood Museum. It was built in 1928 by the iconic cosmetics baron and former beautician to Russia's Czar Nicholas II and his family. In the salons on the first floor, stars like Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, and Joan Crawford had their make-up personalized and perfected in rooms painted different colors to enhance an actress's hair color. The upper floors are an eclectic collection of props, costumes, and ephemera from the earliest days of Hollywood to more recent acquisitions.

7) Hollywood Athletic Club, 6525 Sunset Boulevard, was founded by Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, and Cecil B. DeMille in 1924. It charged a $150 initiation fee and $10 for monthly dues. Membership included John Wayne, John Ford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Mary Pickford, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Mae West, and Joan Crawford. The very first Emmy Awards were hosted there in 1949, and it is now available as a filming location and events hall.

8) The Hillview Apartments, 6533 Hollywood Boulevard, was built in 1918 by studio heads Jesse Lasky and Sam Goldwyn for people in the film industry because they were often discriminated against by local landlords. Signs reading "No Actors, No Jews, No Dogs" were common. The 54-unit, four-story building had a courtyard, an elevator, and an open basement for rehearsal space, however, Rudolph Valentino was rumored to have used it as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Movie star tenants included Clara Bow, Stan Laurel, Viola Dana, Barbara La Marr, and Mary Astor. After falling into disrepair and suffering a fire in 2002, old photos were used to restore the building to its original glory and it is now a luxury condo building.

9) The HOLLYWOODLAND sign was built in 1923 by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler as an advertisement for his new real estate development. Costing $21,000 and lit with almost four thousand twenty-watt bulbs, it was intended to remain for only eighteen months but soon became iconic of the movie industry and was left in place. land was removed when it was refurbished in 1949 so that it no longer represented the housing development but the district. The sign is located within Griffith Park, and it's possible to drive or hike up to the letters.

10) Mulholland Drive opened in 1924. It follows a ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains, with panoramic views of Hollywood, Los Angeles, and beyond to the south, and the San Fernando Valley to the north. Construction facilitated the development of the canyons of the Hollywood hills, while also providing generations of car enthusiasts with opportunities to risk life, limb, and property speeding along it, including John Carradine, Gary Cooper, and of course, James Dean.

Juliette Fay is the bestselling author of five novels, including the USA TODAY bestseller The Tumbling Turner Sisters. A graduate of Boston College and Harvard University, she lives in Massachusetts. Visit her at JulietteFay.com.