El Rey Theatre

The El Rey Theatre stands before you as a towering monument to a vanished era of cinema. Built in nineteen thirty-one, this Art Deco landmark was designed by the celebrated architect Timothy Pflueger to anchor the rapidly expanding streetcar suburbs of the West of Twin Peaks neighborhood. Its name, Spanish for The King, reflected the grand ambitions of its creator, movie theater impresario Samuel Levin, who envisioned the site as a centerpiece for the growing commercial corridor on Ocean Avenue. The building is defined by a massive one hundred and fifty foot stepped tower that once served a dual purpose, acting as both a beacon for the neighborhood and a functional guide for aircraft navigating the thick coastal fog.