The First 100 Years of Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers Are High. So Is the Granada.

Santa Barbara has its own skyscraper — the Granada Building. The building was constructed between 1920 and 1924. It is eight stories tall, just one and a half stories shorter than the first skyscraper. The California Theater Company developed the site, which originally cost a mere $800. Its architect, A.B. Rosenthal, was from Los Angeles and was known for this type of building, of which he designed many around the country. Most of them looked just like our Granada Building. It is this building that prompted the city leaders of the day to impose a 60-foot height limit for all future buildings. Thanks to benefactors in this community, the Granada has been reborn into one of the world’s state-of-the-art performance centers, thereby ensuring that the building will be here for another 100 years.

Read the full article by Robert Ooley, FAIA on the Santa Barbara Independent website.