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Cockatoo Inn

1950s architecture in the United StatesDefunct hotels in CaliforniaDefunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los AngelesHotels in CaliforniaLandmarks in Los Angeles

Cockatoo Inn was a hotel located on Hawthorne Boulevard and Imperial Highway in Hawthorne, California. The hotel was a popular destination in Los Angeles, serving US politicians, Hollywood actors, and members of the American Mafia. Cockatoo gained a reputation for being a gathering place for the elites in Los Angeles. The 210-room hotel featured intricate European furnishings, grand banquet halls, and an eccentric bar.The hotel was founded in 1958, when a notorious American Mafia member Andrew Lococo built the hotel. Cockatoo Inn quickly became popular in Los Angeles. Guests of the hotel include John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Mickey Rooney. An acting US Attorney identified Andrew Lococo as a prominent member of the American Mafia, making Lococo subject to federal investigations. Shortly afterward he was convicted of horse race-fixing, gambling violations, and perjury in a grand trial. Lococo proceeded to sell the hotel two years after his conviction. The hotel business continued to prosper, but by the late 1980s, the hotel began to suffer and became bankrupt in 1991. The next corporation to buy the bankrupt hotel was also unable to make the Cockatoo Inn profitable and sold the property to investors from China. The Cockatoo inn soon fell into disarray and shut down, prompting Chinese investors to sell the property to a property developer.After purchasing the property in 2004, the developer demolished the hotel with plans for a new three hotel complex to replace it. The project was met with neighborhood appeals however, the developer was able to approve the project and pushed forward with its construction. During the complex's construction in 2009, the hotel industry in Los Angeles was suffering from average daily rates for hotels falling 15% in just 2009 alone. Despite obstacles of slow construction, franchising regulations, economic downturn, and financing troubles the developer completed the three hotels. In 2019 plans were announced for an expansion of the complex for a total of seven hotels and 760 rooms. The complex currently includes a Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express, with the "Cockatoo" name having been adopted by a Comfort Inn across from the complex on Acacia Avenue.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Cockatoo Inn (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Cockatoo Inn
Acacia Avenue,

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Latitude Longitude
N 33.929817 ° E -118.350907 °
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Comfort Inn Cockatoo Near LAX Airport

Acacia Avenue 11500
90250
California, United States
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Beach Boys Historic Landmark
Beach Boys Historic Landmark

The Beach Boys Historic Landmark is a memorial which commemorates the site of the childhood home of Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. The monument, located at 3701 W. 119th Street, Hawthorne, California, stands on the former location of the Wilsons' house, which was demolished in the mid-1980s during construction of the Century Freeway. Music industry notables such as Dick Clark and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were among the letter-writers who supported the BBHL's landmark application process. Its status as a California State Historic Landmark, No. 1041 Site of the Childhood Home of the Beach Boys, was granted by the California State Historic Resources Commission in a unanimous vote on August 6, 2004, in Ontario, California, and the monument was dedicated on May 20, 2005. The image face of the landmark was inspired by the album cover of Surfer Girl. The lineup of the Beach Boys at that time was Brian, Carl, and Dennis; their cousin Mike Love; and David Marks (who grew up in a house across the street from the Wilson home.) Al Jardine, the group's original bassist, would later rejoin the band soon before David's departure. Six gold 45 records are embedded in the base of the landmark, each with the name of one of the Beach Boys; the three Wilson brothers to the left, and Love, Marks and Jardine to the right. The names of donors, Wilson friends and family members, and the Beach Boys Landmark Committee are engraved into the monument bricks. The construction work was undertaken by Scott Wilson, Dennis's adopted son. The landmark plaque reads: It was here at the childhood home of Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson developed their unique musical skills. During Labor Day weekend 1961, they, their cousin Mike Love, and a friend Al Jardine, gathered here to record a tape of their breakthrough song “Surfin’.” This marked the birth of the rock group known worldwide as the Beach Boys, and the beginning of a historic musical legacy. The music of the Beach Boys broadcast to the world an image of California as a place of sun, surf, and romance. Less than a month after the unveiling of the landmark, it was targeted by graffiti vandals.