Photo: The former Mogen David Temple under renovation in Sept. 2024.
Mazel Tov! Regina O’Brien and Hardy Wronske’s restoration of the former Mogen David Temple in the Angelus Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles has been completed just in time for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year! They have invited the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, WAHA and their supporters to tour the temple to celebrate.
The event will consist of a presentation on the cultural history of the space, the restoration journey (including period correct landscaping) and tour, with an interlude of musical entertainment by Janet Klein who will sing Hebrew Vaudeville songs for your listening or dancing pleasure - and there will be refreshments! Following Janet Klein’s performance she will DJ recorded vintage music for dancing on the spacious, original wooden floor (only recently uncovered for the first time in decades!).
The tour will include access to the 22 stained glass windows (including the one in memory of Clark Gable), both stages, the backstage dressing rooms, the upstairs apartment and offices as well as the grounds.
Doors open at 1:45 PM.
$22 (plus fees) for Members of ADSLA and WAHA
$25 (plus fees) General Admission (non-member)
Tickets will be offered first to members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. Some remaining tickets may be available to non-members. Once you join you will have access to members only events!
Tickets are non-refundable. For limited space events there is always a waiting list. You can contact us to be matched with a buyer. Please message us through this website.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Regina O'Brien Wronske is a Southern California native who attended UCI, the University of Madrid, Spain, and UCLA, where she received her BFA. She later went on to study Environmental Design (Architecture) at Otis.
Regina has been involved in the preservation community since the late eighties, serving as the Chair of the Modern Committee of the Los Angeles Conservancy, ModCom, for many years.
The Modern Committee was fundamental in preserving many of the best examples of Modernism in the Southland.
Regina has been a union Set Decorator for more than 25 years, working on movies, commercials, and more recently series TV.
Hardy Wronske, her husband, has a naval architecture background. He founded the design/build firm Heyday Partnership in 2003 and went on to build many award winning homes, elevating the small lot subdivision typology.
In 2015 he founded Everelle Build Corp, which continues to innovate on a variety of projects.
In 2020 the couple was approached to purchase 1518 Gramercy Place from the Church of Divine Guidance whose leadership was retiring, and had closed the church due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They have spent the last 3 years completely renovating, upgrading and restoring the building to its former glory.
Katharine Rudnyk is an Urban Horticulturist and is in the Green Hall of Fame. She will speak on landscaping of the 1930s with regard to the temple building.
HISTORY OF THE BUILDING:
The Mogen David Congregation began in the Gramercy neighborhood near West Adams, in 1925 in a private home. The Ladies Auxiliary raised $50,000 to build a synagogue for the congregation in this neighborhood that was drawing more affluent and acculturated Jews West from the Boyle Heights area. The building was designed in an Art Deco style by architect David Carthage Coleman and was built by contractor Samuel J. Fishkin in the W.G. Nevins tract. Dr. Gershon Epstein was the rabbi at the time that the temple opened on September 20, 1933. See the Los Angeles Times clipping below for the newspaper article announcing the opening. Also, according to this story, the Jewish population in Los Angeles numbered around 75,000 people, but the census referenced in the historic context statement about the evolution of Los Angeles’ Jewish population states 91,000.
By the early 1950s the Jewish population was moving even further west and the congregation began looking for property in a neighborhood that would better serve its members. They landed on Pico Boulevard where they remain today. In 1957 the Gramercy Place property was converted into the Church of Divine Guidance, a non-denominational Black Christian congregation founded by Dr. Clayton Donovan Russell. In 2020 the church closed during the pandemic and were forced to sell the building.
Longtime preservationist Regina O’Brien and her husband Hardy Wronske purchased the property and commenced a restoration and renovation of the 7,200 square foot property that has taken three years.
Clipping from the Los Angeles Times announcing the opening of the Mogen David temple on Sept. 20, 1933 just in time for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
PARKING
The building did not originally have parking as the members of the synagogue would walk to services. Parking in this residential neighborhood is challenging and there are no paid public parking lots in the vicinity. Only street parking is available. If you can find a spot, there won’t be any time restrictions, but you may have to walk a few blocks. We recommend looking for parking on Pico or Venice or try Wilton and Cimmaron, just West of the Temple location.
Arriving by Uber or Lyft is recommended. If Ubering from home is too far, you might also consider parking in Hollywood (approximately 4 miles north) or Downtown (LA Live is about 2.5 miles away on Pico) in a paid lot and then catching an Uber from there. Those of you who recently went to Hotel Figueroa know about parking there. It is just 2.6 miles from Gramercy Place.
There is a parking lot for the Speakeasy Gym and Food 4 Less at Western and Venice Blvd. If you can’t find parking anywhere else, patronize the market. This is located at 1717 S. Western Avenue (90006). It is an 8 minute walk west to the temple. Walk down Venice Blvd and turn right on Gramercy Place. The temple will be on your right.
ACCESSIBILITY
The building has a four steps up to get inside. The interior has no stairs, except if you want to see the upstairs (completely remodeled) apartment accessible from outside in the back of the building. There are four flights up.
DINING
El Chollo (opened in 1923) is on Western, not far from the event location.