Wilshire United Methodist Church
James and David Allison were inspired by Brescia’s Church of St Francis in Italy and the La Giralda in Sevilla, Spain, in their design of the Wilshire Congregational Church built in Los Angeles in 1925. The church buildings were bought by the Wilshire United Methodist Church in 1931. With its 144-foot tower in the style of a thirteenth-century Italian campanile, the church soars above its neighbors in a neighborhood that has remained characterized by relatively low-rise commercial and residential structures. In 1994, the building suffered almost five million dollars in damage from an arson fire. It was restored to its original splendor the next year. The church building is a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
Images by John Bare