Hollywood Heritage Museum

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Hollywood Heritage Museum The Hollywood Heritage Museum is housed in the beautifully restored Lasky-DeMille Barn (c. 1901). It is the oldest extant studio in Hollywood.

The Barn was used as the production office for the first feature-length film made in Hollywood. The structure was the production facility of famed filmmakers Cecil B. DeMille (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) and Jesse L. Lasky, who first leased the "barn" in December of 1913. The non-profit preservation organization Hollywood Heritage runs the museum and programs Evenings at the Barn with booksignings and lectures by historians and celebrity guests. We are open Saturday - Sunday from 11:00AM - 3:00PM. Call ahead during Hollywood Bowl season. The museum is sometimes closed due to Bowl events. Tickets are $10 for Adults. Members and children under 12 are admitted for free. Join our Group on Facebook to share your photos! https://www.facebook.com/groups/39926509228

10/19/2026

The documentary LAST PICTURE SHOWS by Sean Baker opens tonight at the Laemmle Noho, followed by q & a with Hollywood Heritage's Board of Directors' member Ross Melnick. There are a few tickets still available for purchase.

Hollywood Heritage Vice President Julie Fleischer and Museum Director Angie Schneider were delighted to attend the 2026 ...
10/19/2026

Hollywood Heritage Vice President Julie Fleischer and Museum Director Angie Schneider were delighted to attend the 2026 Golden Globe Foundation Grantee Mixer!

The event brought together other non-profit organizations and creative professionals for an inspiring day of conversation and presentations exploring the future of entertainment, journalism, and storytelling in an ever-changing media landscape.

We are especially grateful to the Golden Globe Foundation for its generous $5,000 grant supporting Hollywood Heritage's educational programming and museum exhibitions. Their commitment to the arts, education, and preservation helps organizations like ours continue sharing Hollywood's remarkable history with future generations.

Thank you to the Golden Globe Foundation for a wonderful event and for supporting the organizations that keep the arts and storytelling alive! With

After years of graffiti build up on the Hollywood Studio Museum sign on the Hollywood Freeway, Hollywood Heritage Presid...
10/13/2026

After years of graffiti build up on the Hollywood Studio Museum sign on the Hollywood Freeway, Hollywood Heritage President, Chris Schneider gave the sign a good cleaning. Do you ever wonder why it says Hollywood Studio Museum and the history of the Barn's names? In 1956 (70 years ago this year) the Barn became a state landmark. Thanks to Cecil B. DeMille's team and LA Supervisor John Anson Ford the barn was registered landmark #554 and listed as Cecil B. DeMille Studio Barn. In 1979, when the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce/Hollywood Historic Trust acquired the barn, it was initially going to be called the Lasky-DeMille-Goldwyn Museum. When Hollywood Heritage opened the museum in 1985, it was given the name Hollywood Studio Museum (that is why the freeway sign has that name). The first barn roof sign as a museum said The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company in the same font as the famous photo of the location filming truck. The museum had closed in 1996 due to a fire but reopened in 1999 with the new name, Hollywood Heritage Museum at the Lasky-DeMille Barn. This was because the exhibits weren't just about film history but Hollywood's history and heritage too. What are your thoughts on the name? Since we are working on new signage what will catch people's eye as they are driving 35 mph down Highland Avenue?

10/12/2026

Demonstrated at our booth during The Annual Archives Bazaar with LA as Subject is the early projection of moving pictures. A highlight was an artifact from the Hollywood Heritage Museum, a hand-cranked Power's No. 6 Projector. Our projector is serial number 40923 with patent dates on the plate from 1904 through 1916. In a 2005 article from the Desert Sun about our projector gifted by Richard Nederhauser, "This Powers film projector was one of the first commercial projectors manufactured from the late 1800's through World War I. In 1910, Powers was in competition with Simplex, which later won the field. Hundreds of Powers projectors were built up to 1920. After that, they were nonexistent, losing mainly because the projection was all open. Fire laws outlawed exposed open nitrate film, which would burst into flames just from the heat of the arc lamp. Nitrate fires were so hot the machine would melt. The shutter would not close because of burnt oil, and when the projectionist stopped cranking, the film would catch fire. In 1950, safety film came into being, therefore there were no more fires of that type. This projector had actually been in a fire." In our museum, we also have a Simplex projector that continues to tell the story of film projection.

Visit Hollywood Heritage's "Hollywood in Miniature" exhibit at our Preservation Resource Center on Hollywood Boulevard w...
10/11/2026

Visit Hollywood Heritage's "Hollywood in Miniature" exhibit at our Preservation Resource Center on Hollywood Boulevard with Art Conservator Donna Williams and Hollywood Heritage founder and architect Fran Offenhauser. Learn about Hollywood's real life historic core (protected by Hollywood Heritage 40 years ago) and the painstaking restoration of this tiny version of Hollywood that traveled in the 1940s to offer the country a glimpse at the geography of the famous movie town. Already you'll be able to see some of the restored signs glowing under the black light when the lights go out!

Saturday, October 24 @ 11am

This event is not at the Museum. It is at our Hollywood Boulevard storefront at Cahuenga.

Tickets: https://www.hollywoodheritage.org/event-details/hollywood-in-miniature-oct-2026-11-00-am

📷Hollywood Heritage founder Christy McAvoy chats with CD 13 councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez about the Hollywood Miniature.

The final funding for the Lasky-DeMille Barn's new roof is in reach! We are accepting donation in any amount right now! ...
10/10/2026

The final funding for the Lasky-DeMille Barn's new roof is in reach! We are accepting donation in any amount right now! And guess what? We have a $10,000 Match Challenge on the table! Donate Now to Double Your Contribution!

To build on the momentum of the $50,000 grant from the Hollywood Historic Trust, Hollywood Heritage Board member Brian Curran is offering a matching challenge to our members and supporters to help us move closer to our fundraising goal. Every dollar donated to the Barn Reroofing Campaign will be matched up to $10,000. Donate now and double your contribution toward Phase 2 of our re-roofing project.

DONATE HERE: https://www.hollywoodheritage.org/ways-to-support-us

Visit us at the 21st Annual Archives Bazaar and ask us about our archive! The stories of L.A., all day, in one place.Sat...
10/09/2026

Visit us at the 21st Annual Archives Bazaar and ask us about our archive!
The stories of L.A., all day, in one place.

Saturday, October 10, 2026
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Golden Eagle Ballroom
Cal State University Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032

L.A. as Subject, in partnership with the Cal State LA University Library and the Cal State LA Pathway Programs Office, will be hosting this year's Archives Bazaar.

The Archives Bazaar is an annual event, free and open to the public, which gives anyone with an interest in the region a one-stop opportunity to engage with over 80 archives from large institutions, community organizations, private collectors, and more. A day full of programming will include talks from the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, Balboa Art Conservation Center, and The Performance Art Museum.

The Hollywood Historic Trust has awarded Hollywood Heritage $50,000 towards the reroofing of the historic Lasky-DeMille ...
10/08/2026

The Hollywood Historic Trust has awarded Hollywood Heritage $50,000 towards the reroofing of the historic Lasky-DeMille Barn home of the Hollywood Heirtage Museum!! This award completes our phase 1 funding for the Barn Reroofing Campaign allowing us to soon proceed with the shingling of the main gallery roof. This award puts us at over 70% of our fundraising goal for the entire reroofing project! The grant award is particularly significant due to Hollywood Heritage and the Hollywood Historic Trust’s shared history in saving the barn.

In 1979 Paramount Pictures Corporation, encouraged by Hollywood Chamber President Jack Foreman, donated the barn to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber then established the Hollywood Historic Trust that same year to help save the structure and find a permanent home. The barn was moved from the Paramount Lot on Melrose to the parking lot of the Hollywood Palace theater. In determining the future of the barn, The Hollywood Historic Trust took a chance on a new organization, Hollywood Heritage, to be its stewards.

In 1982, in agreement with Paramount Pictures donated the barn to Hollywood Heritage, who then signed a lease with the County of Los Angeles for land across from the Hollywood Bowl originally designated for a film museum. The barn was delivered to its current home in February 1983 and the Hollywood Heritage Museum opened soon after in 1985.

The Lasky DeMille Barn is integral to the histories and missions of both Hollywood Heritage and the Hollywood Historic Trust. We are honored to be recognized with such a generous contribution.

The Hollywood Historic Trust is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the rich cultural heritage of Hollywood.

📷
1. October 1979, the Barn was relocated from Paramount Studios to a lot on Vine Street in Hollywood. Photo: LAPL

2. A previous fundraiser for re-roofing involved celebrity signed shingles.

3. The Barn on the move to its permanent location as the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

4. The Hollywood Heritage Museum at 2100 N. Highland Avenue across from the Hollywood Bowl.

Happy October 🎃!
10/01/2026

Happy October 🎃!

Happy National Silent Movie Day! 🎥September 29 is National Silent Movie Day, celebrating early cinema while raising awar...
09/29/2026

Happy National Silent Movie Day! 🎥

September 29 is National Silent Movie Day, celebrating early cinema while raising awareness of the importance of preserving surviving silent films—and the history and technology that made them possible.

Today we're highlighting one of our visitors' favorite exhibits at the Hollywood Heritage Museum: our collection of early motion picture cameras. These remarkable machines offer a glimpse into the ingenuity of the filmmakers who created movie magic more than a century ago.

📷 Photos 1–8: The Herbert O. Carleton Camera Collection
Four of these historic cameras came to Hollywood Heritage through Herbert O. Carleton (1887–1962), an early motion-picture cameraman, inventor and technician who began his career working for Thomas Edison and later developed important motion-picture printing technology.

Photo 2: Pathé 28mm Camera, c. 1922
A smaller version of Pathé's famous 35mm field camera—the type used to photograph The Squaw Man in 1913–14. Introduced in 1912, Pathé's 28mm system used safety film and helped bring motion pictures beyond professional studios and theaters.

Photos 3 & 4: Prevost 35mm Camera, c. 1912–13
Its unusual mechanism is believed to have been developed at the request of Universal founder Carl Laemmle as filmmakers sought alternatives to technology controlled by the Edison-associated Motion Picture Patents Company. It even includes an early matte slot for creating effects such as keyhole and circular images.

Photos 5 & 6: Williamson Tropical Model 35mm Camera, 1909
Innovation in 1909! This camera could actually be mounted upside down to photograph reverse action and featured a “trick” crank for exposing film one frame at a time. The numerous brass inlays were to reduce expansion and shrinkage in the wood cabinet to allow for use in tropical climates.

Photos 7 & 8: Prestwich 35mm Camera, 1908
With its wooden body and 300-foot film magazines, this camera dates from cinema's pioneering years. A built-in film punch allowed the cameraman to physically mark sections of film requiring special instructions at the laboratory.

Carleton himself went on to develop the Duplex Automatic Technicolor Printer, used to print the color sequences in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923).

📷 Photos 9 & 10: Charlie Chaplin's Bell & Howell

Our Bell & Howell 35mm camera, “The Bullet,” was used by the Charlie Chaplin Film Company and was likely operated by Chaplin's longtime cinematographer Rollie Totheroh. After Chaplin's studio property was sold at auction in 1954, the camera was eventually donated to Hollywood Heritage and is now preserved in our permanent collection.

Photo 10: Rollie Totheroh's grandson, David, stands with his grandfather's "Bullet".

These cameras remind us that preserving film history means preserving more than the films themselves. The cameras, equipment, artifacts and stories of the people behind the lens are part of that history, too.

While the Hollywood Heritage Museum at the Lasky-DeMille barn is closed for restoration. Keep your eyes on posts like these as we make the museum virtual for the time being.

Address

2100 N Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90068

Opening Hours

Saturday 11am - 3pm
Sunday 11am - 3pm

Telephone

+13238742276

Website

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