"I believe in powerful statements. I'd rather be a powerful statement in the neighborhood than get lost in the woodwork. I wanted to do something different from the thousands of black boxes that everybody else is building on Ventura Boulevard today. From a marketing standpoint, some people may not like to lease space in a building that's so different, but those who do like it have few alternatives."
"The building, 400 feet wide and 70 feet high, gleaming in wedding-cake white, is ringed with 100 columns topped with ornate capitals, and circled by bands of concrete lion heads and draped bunting. The columns, built at a cost of $700 each, support long, balustraded balconies. It could be the Supreme Court building of Ruritania, one of literature's imaginary kingdoms."
Danny Howard, a Tarzana real estate financier, is constructing The Chateau, an 80,000-square-foot office building in Woodland Hills designed as a replica of a 196-year-old French chateau. The structure, standing 70 feet high and 400 feet wide, features 100 columns with ornate capitals, concrete lion heads, and draped bunting details. Built at significant cost, the building deliberately contrasts with surrounding commercial establishments and typical glass-walled structures along Ventura Boulevard. Howard emphasizes his preference for making powerful architectural statements rather than blending into conventional development patterns. The building is being marketed for $12.6 million, though Howard expresses indifference about selling it.
#commercial-real-estate-development #architectural-design #san-fernando-valley #distinctive-building-design
Read at Los Angeles Times
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