“Off Vine” operated as a quintessential neighborhood restaurant for nearly 35 years.
(Beverly Press/Park Labrea News file photo)

On March 26, Off Vine, the quintessential Los Angeles eatery housed in a vintage Craftsman home, closed its doors after almost 35 years. The 1908 bungalow may soon be no more, as well, as its ownership is now in the hands of the developers Invesco and Sares Regis Group, who want to build a mixed-use project on the site.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has joined an effort to save the building, located at 6263 Leland Way. Miki Jackson is part of the organization Housing Is A Human Right. “It is ludicrous to tear this place down,” Jackson said. “It’s a part of Hollywood history.”

What many may not know is that the home’s former owners, Beryl Wallace and Earl Carroll, were one of the original Hollywood power couples. Wallace was a prolific actress, appearing in over 20 films during the 1930s and 1940s. Prior to that, she starred in several Broadway productions. Her theatrical debut was in a production called “Vanities,” where she met Carroll, a theater director and impresario who opened the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard, an iconic building that remains active as a studio today.

The couple died in a Pennsylvania plane crash in 1948, but the house remained in the Wallace family’s ownership until 2019.

“The developer bought it for $4 million and change. And that was above the estimated value at the time,” Jackson said.

Jackson spoke with representatives from the Hollywood Heritage Museum, and she discovered that, in spite of reports to the contrary, no one has ever attempted to have the building protected as a historical landmark.

“We will do everything we can to block the demolition of the Off Vine-Beryl Wallace home as we separately seek its designation as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument,” AHF president Michael Weinstein said in a statement.

The argument for bulldozing such a location is to make way for more housing, as the city continues to be embroiled in the homelessness crisis, but Jackson said the kind of high-price residential units earmarked for the location would have “The city’s environmental impact report showed 7,000 empty units in Hollywood – just Hollywood,” Jackson said. “I would say almost all of [the new builds] are empty, because they are terribly expensive. There are so many empty units all over the city, that if you read the real estate trade, especially in downtown, they themselves call it a glut.”

But even if the development were to continue, Jackson said the plans could be alerted to include the building. She said the current model has an entrance to an underground parking garage where Off Vine was situated.

“They can move that to one side or another,” she added. Jackson also said that the house could be moved, which is what happened to the current home of the Hollywood Heritage Museum. That building, dubbed “the barn,” was once on the backlot at Paramount Studios before it was saved by the preservation-minded organization and moved to 2100 N. Highland Ave.

Jackson believes that the site has been a proven commodity as a restaurant, and another dining place could be successful.

“I’m sure another restaurant should or could come in. It’s got a state-of-the-art kitchen. It’ll seat 140 people. It’s quite a beautiful and useful property,” she said. little impact.