At the corner of Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst Avenue, the patio that Eater LA called one of the city's most extensive no longer serves oysters, burgers or cocktails. Messhall's final day was October 17, after 14 years in what Eater described as a historic Los Feliz building. When it announced the closing on social media, the restaurant gave no reason. It thanked its team and the community and invited guests to raise a glass during its final month, according to What Now Los Angeles.
Walk up to the corner this week and the famous part of the building is open. The dome that made this the Los Feliz Brown Derby was never Messhall's room. A Chase branch has occupied it since the early 2010s, under the arching wooden ceiling that once cooled the dining room with water. The space that went dark is the restaurant wing beside the dome. Since the 2010 re-leasing, the building has run as a landmark room with one steady tenant next to a restaurant wing that changes hands.
The dome is still taking customers
Chase's branch locator lists the location at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd as "Los Feliz and Hillhurst," with these posted hours:
- Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Sunday, closed
When the bank took over the domed portion of the old Derby, it kept the arching wooden ceiling, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2012. That ceiling was a key part of a primitive air conditioning system. An earlier Times story described the method: water was pumped to the roof and trickled across the domed shingles, cooling the room by evaporation. The same story described the ceiling as a lamella, built in diamond patterns from small pieces of wood.
So anyone with a deposit to make can still stand under the structure that made the building famous, six days a week, with no reservation or ticket.
One address, two buildings
People often call 4500 Los Feliz Blvd the Brown Derby as if it were a single building. In practice it has worked as two. The Times reported that a "car cafe" with carhops was added to the Brown Derby in the 1940s, and that this structure survived as the restaurant next door. Messhall moved into that wing in 2012, replacing a Louise's Trattoria. Eater's opening coverage credited partner Bill Chait, owner of the Louise's chain, and Rob Serritella with the revamp. Chef Keith Silverton ran the opening menu of regional American comfort food.
Here is how the two halves have traded places over the decades, as the Times and Eater reported it:
| Era | Domed building | Restaurant wing beside it |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Willard's chicken restaurant | Not yet built |
| 1940s | Brown Derby fine dining | Car café with carhops and 24-hour service |
| 1960s to early 1990s | Michael's Los Feliz | Part of the same restaurant site |
| Early 1990s to 2009 | The Derby nightclub | Louise's Trattoria |
| Early 2010s to today | Chase branch | Louise's, then Messhall from 2012 to October 2026 |
The 1940s row carries the best-known name. In 1941, legendary director Cecil B. DeMille bought the property and brought in Brown Derby fine dining along with 24-hour car service, in keeping with that era's drive-in fad, according to the Times. The Times called it the fourth Brown Derby, part of a small restaurant chain popular with the entertainment industry in Hollywood's Golden Age.
The nightclub years gave the dome a second fame. The Times reported in 2001 that scenes for the film "Swingers" were shot at The Derby while it was open. The club served fans of old-style supper clubs and swing dancing, and its ornate oval bar became famous in the Joan Crawford movie "Mildred Pierce." The bar was not original to the building.
Messhall leaned on the wing's age. Eater reported that the restaurant kept original steel and exposed beams dating back to 1929, paired with exposed brick, polished steel and reclaimed wood. The room it leaves behind keeps that structure on view.
The year the corner was almost condos
Two buildings at one address only matter because the buildings are still here. In 2005, the Times reported that a developer who had bought the property the year before wanted to level the structure. The plan was a five-story complex just south of Griffith Park, with 81 condominiums and commercial space. Jay Platt, a preservation specialist with the Los Angeles Conservancy, told the paper the building was "one of the few remaining examples of buildings that were deeply associated with the city's nightlife and glamour."
A Save the Derby Coalition formed. The Times said it drew members from music and dance groups, history buffs, architecture fans and neighborhood groups, and that they sent scores of emails, calls and letters to the office of then-Councilman Tom LaBonge. LaBonge told the paper:
"I love Los Angeles history. I like to see buildings restored and reborn. This one has character."
On May 19, 2006, the city adopted the Los Feliz Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Boulevard as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 843. The entry appears on City Planning's monument list and in the City Clerk's council file. According to the Times, the designation effectively killed the development. One of the sellers later told the paper that the would-be developers came out ahead, because the project would have finished just as the condo market collapsed.
Of the four Brown Derbys, the original on Wilshire Boulevard and the locations in Hollywood and Beverly Hills were all demolished. Los Feliz has the last one standing.
How the split became the plan
Once demolition was off the table, the owners re-leased the building in two pieces. The Derby nightclub moved out around the end of 2009. In late 2010 the landlord signed a 10-year lease with Chase for a 5,800-square-foot branch in the former club space. Louise's renegotiated its 5,200-square-foot lease for another 10 years. The property was also being divided to make room for a third retail space of more than 2,000 square feet along Hillhurst. The landlord said the renovation included exterior restoration, a new roof and new air conditioning, done within the historical guidelines.
In August 2012, the property sold for $9.25 million to a company owned by a Los Feliz family, the Times reported, and the new owner planned to operate it as it was. Louise's closed that summer and reopened the next month as MessHall, with Bill Chait as partner. The Los Angeles County Assessor's record for the parcel lists its most recent ownership change as recorded on August 8, 2012.
That split explains this fall. When Messhall closed after 14 years, the half of the building with the 2006 designation and the ceiling written about since the Golden Age went on with business as usual next door.
The corner this winter
Seen from Hillhurst, the corner is now one open business and one empty restaurant room. The dome is open on bank hours. The wing next to it, with its 1929 steel and its long patio, sits empty after Messhall's farewell. In the post quoted by What Now Los Angeles, the restaurant wrote: "We are grateful for every moment, every guest, & every person who made Messhall what it has been."
For anyone tracking the turnover along Hillhurst, the Derby corner follows the same pattern as the rest of Los Feliz Village: the buildings stay and the tenants change. The dome is also worth adding to an architectural walk through Los Feliz. Go on a weekday or a Saturday morning, when the doors are open and the wooden ceiling is in plain view.
The Derby's 2006 designation drew on a written record of its owners, its ceiling and its nightclub years. At RSR Real Estate, we bring the same care to the provenance of historic Los Feliz homes, so the story of a house is part of how it is shown and valued. If you own a home with a history worth telling, Request a Private Consultation.
