The building is named after James Oviatt (born in 1888) who came to Los Angeles in 1906 to begin his career as a haberdasher at Desmonds Department Store. In 1911, James Oviatt and Frank Alexander began their partnership in men’s clothing as Alexander & Oviatt, at 209 West Fourth Street. Upon frequent visits to Europe, James Oviatt found stylish clothing to bring back, and it was at this time that he was introduced to a new art culture. With the emergence of Art Deco in the 1920’s Mr. Oviatt found the architectural style that would embody the design of the James Oviatt Building.
It was designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm of Walker & Eisen. Excavation for the Oviatt Building's construction was begun in August 1927; the building was completed in May 1928. Its furnishings included a 12-ton illuminated glass ceiling and awning by architect Ferdinand Chanut and glassmaker Gaetan Jeannin. Rene Lalique designed and created the molded glass elevator door panels, front and side doors, chandeliers, and a large panel clock. Many tons of 'Napoleon' marble and a massive, three-faced tower clock with chimes were imported from France.
On May 31st 2011 my wife was invited to attend and take part in a Ghost Hunt at the Oviatt Building Penthouse hosted by Roxy A. who invited Marc C., who is a Historian of the Oviatt Family. Marc invited and brought along 2 psychic mediums. They did not have any prior knowledge of the history or reports of strange happenings and paranormal activity, other than they had attended an event at the Oviatt Penthouse and picked up on some sort of presence. And they were happy they were invited so they could further explore what they had experienced.
During the tour and walk through the penthouse and entered an area as they exited the elevator, there is what is known as “The Web”, a design on the floor that looks like a spiderweb. One of mediums observed a shadow move from the library on the left pass a mirror to the bedroom to the right.
As they went into the bedroom she felt the presence of Mary, who is Mrs. Oviatt. They went through the closet which opens up into the bathroom. They felt the presence of Mr. Oviatt was very strong in there. She felt as though he was proud of the money he had spent on the room, describing all the intricate detail of the woodwork. After leaving the bathroom through the hallway and into the dining room, the medium touched the wall and the mural, she heard laughing. She mentioned it was Mr. Oviatt who was laughing, because he had done the same thing. He too thought it was a framed painting, but it was a mural painted on the wall. The medium asked while touching an area of the wall if the dining room used to be Mrs. Oviatt’s bedroom. She sensed there was a doorway that had been sealed. She was told yes it was Mrs. Oviatt’s bedroom at one time. She turned to her right and said a dresser used to be here and Mrs. Oviatt would stand in front of the dresser and brush her hair. She felt a warm spot on the floor (she takes her shoes off when she conducts these types of tours) she indicated this is where Mrs. Oviatt would stand and brush her hair.
They went outside to the open patio on the roof. As she got to the top of the steps, she looked at the ceiling, and Mr. Oviatt thanked her for looking up and noticing the pattern / design on the ceiling.
Although there are only 4 steps, my wife said it is reported that people only trip on the way up the steps, not going down. It is said that it is Mr; Oviatt’s son who is tripping people. **(side note) I told her there is one exception then. When we attended Roxy’s Birthday party, I miss stepped and almost fell coming down the steps.** They went to the upper deck when Roxy asked, does he like what we’ve done with this so far? Mr. Oviatt’s answer was no. The furniture is too modern.
They went back inside and down one level to the kitchen area. Tina began to see some things. She and one of mediums friend saw a shadow on the balcony moving. They both saw it about 5 times. The kitchen is the one place that any of the employees will not go alone, they always have someone else go with them.
As they were ending their tour, they were in the area of “The Web”, Marc was standing in the center of the web, looking into the mirror on the wall. One of the mediums noticed Marc was rocking in a heel to toe fashion. She asked Marc why he was rocking like that. Marc thought he was standing still. The other medium indicated that was Mr. Oviatt trapping Marc in his spider web.
On another occasion we were seated in the room with The Web. We had placed a motion detector in the library. There is a wall between where we were seated and the library. There is access to the library on either side of the wall. We tested the motion detector and we could not activate in unless we walked into the library. Each time we mentioned Mary (Mrs. Oviatt) the room would light up with the blue light of the motion detector. There were no open windows, nobody had gone into the room. We checked each time the detector was activated, and did not see or hear anything that would have activated the detector.
As the skeptic of our Paranormal Investigation Team, there is no other explanation for this and I can only conclude it was paranormal activity.
Here are some sites and articles you may be interested in viewing:
LA Times article: (
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The Oviatt Penthouse: (
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Paranormal Inquest: (
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