Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainBuilt in 1917 for studio-era actors, this Hollywood Blvd building housed Clara Bow, Stan Laurel, and Rudolph Valentino — and was the site of a resident's murder in 2011
6533 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
$$
Black Rabbit Rose magic theater tickets required for interior access. Check website for current show schedule and pricing. Exterior and building facade are publicly viewable.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1917 building on Hollywood Blvd. Stairs to upper floors; contact venue for specific accessibility information.
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Photos OK
Est. 1917 · Built 1917 by Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn for aspiring actors · Silent film residents: Clara Bow, Stan Laurel, Viola Dana · Rudolph Valentino reported speakeasy in basement — Prohibition era · 2011 hallway murder of resident by another resident · Now houses Black Rabbit Rose magic theater
The building now known variously as the Hillview and the Hudson Apartments was constructed in 1917, during the early consolidation of the film industry in Hollywood. Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn — both among the founders of what would become Paramount Pictures — commissioned the building as housing for the stream of young performers arriving to work in the studios. The timing placed it at the center of the industry's formative years.
The building's early resident roster is documented and reads as a who's-who of the silent era's second tier: Clara Bow lived here before her stardom trajectory accelerated. Stan Laurel was a resident before he paired with Oliver Hardy. Viola Dana, a prominent silent film actress, is also recorded as a tenant. The building functioned as a transit point for performers who were working and aspiring rather than established.
Rudolph Valentino's connection to the building is more specific and, appropriately for Valentino, more theatrical: he is reported by building management and paranormal accounts to have operated a speakeasy in the lower levels during Prohibition. Valentino's social activities and his central place in 1920s Hollywood nightlife make this plausible, though documentary evidence for the specific speakeasy claim is limited to building tradition rather than primary records.
In 2011 the building was still operating as a residential apartment complex when a resident murdered his fiancée in the hallway. The case was prosecuted and resulted in a conviction. The event added a concrete modern incident to the building's accumulated dark history.
The ground floor now operates as Black Rabbit Rose, a magic theater that opened in 2018 and brought entertainment use back to a building with deep ties to Hollywood performance.
Sources
The Hillview's paranormal accounts divide between the lower levels — where the speakeasy tradition points — and the upper hallways and common areas, where reports of period-appropriate figures have come from residents over the decades.
The most documented single account comes from a former building manager who described encountering, on multiple occasions, a man dressed in 1920s-era clothing in the lower level of the building. The description is consistent in period detail but the figure is not specifically identified as Valentino in the original account — that identification comes from building tradition layering the speakeasy history onto the figure.
The hallway where the 2011 murder occurred is the most recently active location for reported phenomena. Accounts from residents afterward describe an uncomfortable quality to that section of the building — not specific apparitions but a persistent sense of presence. This pattern is common in the years immediately following a violent death in a building: the location becomes charged in the community's perception even when specific paranormal phenomena are not reported.
Discover LA's survey of haunted drinking establishments in Los Angeles includes Black Rabbit Rose / the Hillview, grounding the building's reputation in a mainstream tourism context. The convergence of silent-film-era celebrity history, documented Prohibition-era underground activity, and a modern violent crime makes the Hillview an unusually layered dark-history site.
Notable Entities
The ground-floor magic theater offers ticketed performances in a space connected to the building's silent-film-era history. The Hillview/Hudson's layered history — Paramount co-founder connections, Valentino's reported speakeasy basement, 1920s celebrity tenants — provides backdrop for the venue's own theatrical programming.
The 1917 building facade is visible from Hollywood Blvd. The building stands as one of the few surviving residential structures from the Boulevard's silent film era. The architecture and street presence reflect the original use as actors' housing.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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