Lewis Bradbury was a gold-mining tycoon who made a fortune in Sinaloa, Mexico in the 1890s. In 1892, he became a real estate developer with his sites set on Downtown LA.

He began planning to construct his dream- a five-story building that would be located on Broadway and Third Street. Bradbury hired a local architect, Sumner Hunt, but Bradbury was ultimately displeased at Hunt’s “inadequate” design. One of Hunt’s draftsmen, George Wyman, did better in Bradbury’s eyes and he was hired to do the design.

The designs weren’t inherently different so this issue has raised some controversy about who should be considered to be the architect of the building.

The building opened in 1893 and was completed in 1894, but Bradbury didn’t get to see it because he died in 1892. It cost him a total cost of $500,000, which was about three times the original budget of $175,000.

In 1971, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and in 1977 was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is one of only four office buildings in Los Angeles to be so honored. It was also designated a landmark by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and is the city’s oldest landmarked building.