Name: The Barn that Made Hollywood: 40 Years of the Hollywood Heritage Museum
Start: 2026-05-23T11:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-05-23T15:00:00-07:00
Location: 2100 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA, United States, California 90068

The Barn that Made Hollywood: 40 Years of the Hollywood Heritage Museum

In celebration of our 40th anniversary as an early Hollywood history museum, we present "The Barn that Made Hollywood," a look at both Hollywood Heritage's history as a preservation advocacy group founded by four women intent on protecting historic Hollywood and the Lasky-DeMille barn.
Our 40th anniversary exhibit draws together the historic rise of Paramount Pictures and the story of the five women who founded Hollywood Heritage, which led them to save the extremely significant Hollywood artifact that ultimately became the building that houses our museum.
Film industry pioneers Jesse L. Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille came West to Hollywood in 1913 to make a movie. They rented a 1901 barn from early Los Angeles real estate entrepreneur Jacob Stern to use as their production facility. Their film THE SQUAW MAN was the first full-length feature made in Hollywood and it was a success! Many more films followed and the studio grew around the barn which was originally located at Selma Avenue and Vine Street. When Jesse L. Lasky Productions merged with Famous Players in 1916, they acquired Paramount to distribute their films and by 1926 the studio expanded so extensively that they relocated to a lot on Marathon - moving the beloved "Barn" along with them. By 1929 it became a gym and a shooting location. In 1979 the "Barn" was cast out of the studio and lie derelict in a parking lot. Enter our five founders, Marian Gibbons, Mildred Heredeen, Christy Johnson (McAvoy), Frances Offenhauser and Susan Peterson (St. Francis) who set a plan in motion to move and restore the structure. On February 15, 1983, on the 11:00 news, the "Barn" was ferried through the streets of Hollywood on a truck, to its current location. After a complete restoration, an exhibit was installed and a museum was born.
This exhibit is largely drawn from the Hollywood Heritage archive and features such items as the original lease to the "Barn" executed between Jacob Stern and the filmmakers, the first item donated to the museum by a Hollywood family, actor House Peter's makeup kit (complete with its rabbit foot for powder application), relics from the Paramount gym (including a fitness photo op), Charlie Chaplin's camera, a new acquisition (gift of Marc Wanamaker) of DeMille's binoculars, exhibits about Hollywood residential landmarks, Wattles Garden and Estate and the Janes House, the rise of Hollywood Boulevard and much more that brings early Hollywood history to life.
During the exhibit, the Silent Society will present monthly screenings (Jan. through April) of related silent films with live musical accompaniment!