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42-408: The V-shaped building, designed by architects Cramer & Wise in a faux French Normandy style , was built in 1929. At the time, it was a Class A building with more than 50 apartments, with three penthouse units, a subterranean garage, and private and public roof gardens. Located in the heart of Hollywood, the tower became a favorite place of residence for entertainment industry employees. A plaque by

84-467: A capital crowned by a finial globe . There are three steps between the columns leading to the Temple entrance. At the Temple entrance there are two square pilasters , each showing two faces. The round 12-sided building architecture is composed by round arches and narrow round inward windows. Its great dome is composed by a cupola crowned by a golden globe with a finial of lights. The inner portal and

126-483: A business office and cottages in the 1960s and 1970s. Max Heindel, the founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, had a dream, yet to be concretized, of a beautiful Grecian theatre envisioned to be built in the canyon below the chapel and in which performances would be given of plays with a spiritual message and occult truths such as the great dramas of Shakespeare and other inspired classics; as well as of

168-518: A major landmark since it was built. Even before the freeway, it was a landmark on that hill." The building was purchased over the years by South American investors for $ 300,000 in 1937, by Justus P. Seeburg in 1939 for $ 250,000, and by Sam Gutlin in 1953 for $ 642,000. In 1978, the Hollywood Tower was sold to Deseret Properties, a Glendale, California firm owned by Blain Anderson. When Deseret bought

210-545: A movie notable for its setting in a number of Los Angeles landmarks. The Hollywood Tower received ample screen time in the 1980 screwball comedy Midnight Madness , produced by Walt Disney Productions. Lester A. Cramer Lester A. Cramer was an American architect. His most famous work was the Ecclesia , the Rosicrucian healing temple on Mount Ecclesia . Lester Cramer was the student of Emmanuel Louis Masqueray . In

252-453: A number of years to treat patients with non-contagious diseases. Currently , the healing applications are received by the Fellowship's centers worldwide or directly by the healing department at Mount Ecclesia. Over the years, the group built a number of structures on the property, including an administration building in 1913, a chapel in 1914, a guesthouse and healing center in 1938, and

294-443: A unique meditative walking experience. Accommodation and vegetarian meals are also provided during the winter and summer school activities. The Rosicrucian Fellowship observes the basic condition, set by its founder Max Heindel , that no price, membership dues or fees, should be put on its teachings, and never to ask for money for membership, for information, for education, nor for healing . The Fellowship has always balanced along

336-456: Is a way for doing each thing we do. That WAY demands preparation, purification, dedication, consecration, and that is part of the work of the Rosicrucian. Nearly since its inception the Fellowship has been providing the service of spiritual healing ; the first service took place on June 23, 1914. On December 25, 1938, the Rosicrucian Fellowship opened a Sanitarium building which was used for

378-746: Is as following : On the 27th, Mrs. Heindel and I started for Oceanside, nearly exhausted from the strain of packing and moving. The first rain of the season was falling, and we felt some apprehension concerning the effect on the ceremony; but as we looked toward the almost cloud-hidden mountains in the east, we beheld the largest, most glorious rainbow we had ever seen--a double rainbow in fact--and it's [ sic ] southern foot seemed to stand directly upon Mount Ecclesia. Our responsibility to aid thousands of weary hearts to bravely bear their burdens has often seemed beyond our strength; yet always have we found our powers renewed by looking within; and this time it seemed as if all Nature wanted to cheer us and

420-588: Is both scientific and artistic, and to gather all churches into one great Christian Brotherhood.» The Rosicrucians do not seek temporal power. They seek to serve God by helping their suffering fellowmen. A place of training for the work is beautifully attained in Mount Ecclesia, and now THE ECCLESIA, the TEMPLE OF HEALING, is being built by the loving free-will offerings of friends who give not money alone but personal service and prayers. This method of building

462-681: The National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Though the architectural styles differ, the Hollywood Tower is "often cited as the inspiration" for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attractions at Disney parks in Florida, California, Paris and Tokyo. Like the real-life Hollywood Tower, the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" structure at the Disney theme parks bears the same classic "Hollywood Tower" sign and spiraling towers. A made-for-TV adaptation based on

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504-688: The Rosicrucian Fellowship Temple . Mount Ecclesia was founded after Max Heindel, Founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship (8/08/1909) report to have conctact with one anonymous figure identified as one of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross known as "The Teacher", that permanent headquarters be established to support the twin mission of the Organization: to spread the Rosicrucian teachings, (the deeper Esoteric Christian Mysteries); and to heal

546-504: The ephemerides , the books (with millions spread worldwide), most of the course materials sent to the members, the periodical Echoes from Mount Ecclesia (which became the Rays from The Rosy Cross in July 1915), the pamphlets (in six languages) that are distributed freely to people and many other various things, such as flyers , brochures , postcards , posters , etc., that are necessary for

588-405: The 1920s. It specialized in the design of 5 to 10-story apartments/hotel buildings. The firm also built many apartment courts in the foothills of Los Angeles. Mount Ecclesia 33°12′42″N 117°21′33″W  /  33.21167°N 117.35917°W  / 33.21167; -117.35917 Mount Ecclesia (dedicated on October 28, 1911) is the location of the international headquarters of

630-507: The All-Seeing Eye. Then it vanished and our prayers ceased, our purpose having been accomplished. On July 23, 1920 (at noon), during the laying of the cornerstone in the north-eastern corner of the temple, the purpose of The Ecclesia was stated in accordance to the commands of Christ , namely, "Preach the gospel and heal the sick": This work of Christian spiritual healing is one of the methods of serving suffering humanity, by offering to

672-462: The Fellowship's own splendid orchestra composed of permanent students, that it would perform in the theatre works of master composers, particularly those of Beethoven and Wagner whom he knew to be high musical Initiates, and also that classes in initiatory music would be taught there. The Fellowship runs its own printing press , established by Max Heindel in 1912, which is an area of great activity with hundreds of products being produced: printing

714-581: The Heindels decided, on April 30, 1911, to go visit the famous Franciscan Mission San Luis Rey de Francia , founded in 1798 in Oceanside by Junipero Serra the Franciscan friar from Spain. On their way there, by horse and buggy, they stumbled on the location matching the vision given earlier by The Teacher and discovered that the land was for sale. Mr. Heindel interrupted the trip to the Franciscan mission to return to

756-559: The Temple's interior is ornamented with alchemical and astrological symbols. It is a solar temple dedicated to the coming Age of Aquarius . On June 29, 1920 (from 11:55 A. M. until 12:02 P. M.), the vision of an event of Spiritual nature at ground's site was reported as following: Around or over the place where the ground was being broken for the Ecclesia were four large search lights. They faced north, south, east, and west. The one facing south seemed to be situated about seven feet from

798-406: The building and opened the new adjacent development, La Belle, in mid-2010. As of 2015, The Hollywood Tower has been sold to Los Angeles-based developer MWest Holdings, and managed by their subsidiary, Polaris management. La Belle has been sold to Legacy Partners and is now known as "La Belle at Hollywood Tower". The two buildings are effectively separate entities. The Hollywood Tower was listed in

840-502: The building of the Temple had started in 1914. Heindel, who died in 1919, didn't live to see the Temple completed in 1920. His wife, Agusta Foss Heindel, remained active in civic engagement , promoting the Fellowship and working to beautify Oceanside until her death in 1949. Spiritual Healing meetings are held in this holy place at a regular time each day by the Probationers who have consecrated their lives to this work. The architect of

882-492: The building was Lester A. Cramer . As in all the solar temples , The Ecclesia portal is facing east (the rising sun). In front of the portal stand two palm trees . The portal is constituted by a triangular-shaped pediment upon two round columns. At the centre of the pediment, there is an equilateral triangle, symbol of Trinity , inscribed by " the eye of God ." The columns fuse Greek (Ionic, Doric and Corinthian) and Roman (Tuscan and composite) styles, each one with

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924-526: The cross, which was set by Wm. Patterson. Mrs. Heindel planted the rose, which was then watered by all present. May it grow, may it bloom, to adorn the nakedness of the cross and be an inspiration to purity of life that will cover all past sins, no matter how dark the life may have been. The Ecclesia , the Healing Temple, was erected, for the purpose of affording more powerful means for the healing of disease, and dedicated on December 25, 1920. The project for

966-558: The diffusion of the Rosicrucian Christian teachings , the Gospel of the coming Age of Aquarius . The organization generated so much mail that the federal government built the city's first post office on Seagaze Drive in 1936 to keep up with the demand. The historic district of Mount Ecclesia, home to the Rosicrucian Fellowship, is noted for its singular architecture and the preservation of nature grounds and gardens , offering

1008-407: The edge of the subsistence level with its funding and maintenance being achieved through the voluntary giving of members and friends, legacies, book-sale profits, housing rentals and cafeteria income and with the assistance of volunteer workers. By setting the example and through self- discipline , Mount Ecclesia seeks : «to unite and harmonize each with the others by teaching a religion that

1050-614: The fraternal and service organization the Rosicrucian Fellowship (TRF), located on grounds in Oceanside, California . It is also the location of its spiritual temple, called The Ecclesia , situated upon the promontory of a high mesa overlooking the San Luis Rey River Valley and the Franciscan Mission San Luis Rey de Francia . On April 7, 1995, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as

1092-475: The front door reads: "Hollywood Tower. 1929. Sophisticated living for film luminaries during the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood." Actor George Raft owned an interest in the building and lived there for a time. In her novel Stormy Weather , Paula L. Woods wrote: "Hollywood Tower was a seven-story, indecisive gray building at the corner of Franklin and Vista Del Mar in Hollywood. The faux French Normandy apartment building

1134-582: The late 1800s, the records show he was in New York and contracted for the alterations to a four-story brick in February 1897, and for a similar work on a three-story and basement brick tenement in April 1897. Lester Cramer, a Probationer of The Rosicrucian Fellowship , delivered the plans for the construction of the Ecclesia , the healing temple on Mount Ecclesia in 1915. The building was completed in 1922. He also drew

1176-407: The new owner began courting senior citizens as tenants, and by 1981, 31 of the building's 56 apartments were occupied by senior citizens. The building was sold in 2007 for $ 34.5 million to a Phoenix-based developer Alliance Residential with plans to build additional units on the land across Vista del Mar. Since the acquisition, ownership has invested more than $ 1 million in renovations and upgrades to

1218-416: The one facing north. The same was true of the two facing east and west. This made a circle, the diameter of which was about seven feet. The faces of the search lights appeared about twelve inches in diameter. The one facing south was the first to radiate light, next the one to the east, then the west, and lastly the one facing north. The light was pure white and radiated in such a way that at about fifty paces

1260-509: The plans for the "Sanitarium" building in 1929. Lester Cramer still lived in New York in 1915 when he started to work on the Rosicrucian project in LA, but then the records show he ran an architect firm in Los Angeles, Cramer, Bartlett & Wise, Architects and Engineers . In 1925, the firm became Cramer & Wise, Architects and Engineers . Cramer & Wise for a very active architect firm in

1302-527: The property Mount Ecclesia. It took them six months to get ready to leave their cottage in Ocean Park. They finally came down to fellowship's new headquarters on the 40 acres (about 16.19 hectares) land of Mount Ecclesia to dedicate it to the "Great Work of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross". The dedication ceremony was planned for 12.40 PM on October 28, 1911, in Oceanside California. Mount Ecclesia

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1344-459: The property, it was in poor shape, and the new owner invested approximately $ 50,000 in new carpeting and paint. However, Deseret found the project to be difficult to operate due to the adoption of rent control by the City of Los Angeles in 1978, and problems collecting rent from tenants who "didn't get that part" or "didn't sell that piece of music". In order to achieve a more stable flow of rental income,

1386-453: The rays from each fused with those to either side of it, so that beyond this point all space was flooded with a light of great brilliancy. Then from out the place where the ground was broken, within the circle made by the search-lights a rich golden colored cloud formed. It grew rapidly and after passing and enclosing the search lights, it tinted every ray emanating therefrom. Then all that was brilliantly white became softened and mellowed, and

1428-405: The real estate office to buy the land. But the sign on the real estate office door said "Office closed to reopen on Wednesday May 3". On May 3, 1911, they returned with their friend Mr. Patterson to Oceanside to buy the land. Shortly after 3.00 pm (at 3.05 pm) Mr. Heindel signed the deed of purchase and secured it with a down payment. They went home to Ocean Park and the same evening Mr. Heindel named

1470-488: The ride entitled Tower of Terror was released in 1997, though while both the attraction and the movie shared the same basic premise of five people being killed in an elevator, the movie lacked any connection to The Twilight Zone . The Hollywood Tower appears prominently, by name, in the 1948 mystery film Devil's Cargo , part of The Falcon series. It is also featured in Brian De Palma 's 1984 thriller Body Double ,

1512-519: The sick (according to the spiritual method delineated by the Order of the Rose Cross ). On the winter solstice of 1910 The Teacher gave Max Heindel a spiritual vision of the location through "Jupiter Consciousness/picture consciousness/spiritual vision/telepathy" with the mission to find it and start the work. After months of unfruitful search along the pacific coast between Los Angeles and San Diego California,

1554-486: The true physician a means of uniting the power of science with that of religion. The Rosicrucian Fellowship calls out to the TRUE physician, the physician who is not ashamed to pray for his patients while he works for them. Christ Jesus said, "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE." Yet how many physicians and sorely suffering patients have neglected to invite Him to help. There is a way to invoke that divine outpouring, just as there

1596-622: The whole space became an entrancing vision. At this moment a rainbow over-arched the place, one end resting upon the ground to the east, the other upon the ground to the west. In another moment beneath the arched rainbow out from where the ground was broken and from whence the cloud of gold had come, came a cloud of blue, the Ray of the Father, the Healing Ray; it enveloped the earth and filled the firmament. Then all passed away. At this instant in our midst appeared

1638-494: The workers and visiting members were enraptured with the incomparable beauty of the Headquarters site. Those present were: Annie R. Atwood, of San Diego; Ruth E. Beach, of Portland, Ore.; Rachel M. Cunningham, Rudolf Miller, and John Adams, of Los Angeles; George Kramer, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Wm. M. Patterson, of Seattle, Wash.; Mrs. Heindel and myself. At the appointed time I broke ground for the building. All helped to excavate for

1680-460: Was launched that day, through a ceremony of ground-breaking which consisted in planting a large Cross with the initials C.R.C. — representing the symbolical name Christian Rose Cross , who is the Head of the Order of the Rose Cross ( Rosicrucian Order) — painted in gilt letters on the trefoils of the three upper arms and with a climbing rose. An excerpt of the first hand description of the mentioned event

1722-518: Was saying: "Take courage, remember the Work is not yours but God's; trust entirely in Him; He will point the way." So we clasped hands and took heart with new strength to carry on the beautiful work of which Mount Ecclesia is to be the center. The day of the ceremony was an ideal California day; the sun shone in a cloudless sky. Wherever we looked from Mount Ecclesia, ocean, valleys, and mountains seemed to smile. Both

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1764-527: Was so old it probably had a view of the sea when it was built [...] Hollywood Tower, though, was a last vestige of an earlier era. You could tell by the way the planting in the front was kept neatly trimmed and the lobby smelled Spic-and-Span clean." The building directly abuts the Hollywood Freeway , and its neon "HOLLYWOOD TOWER" sign looking directly over the northbound freeway is a Hollywood landmark. Hollywood historian Marc Wanamaker said, "It has been

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