The Ouija board that built an LA landmark: Bradbury Building’s spooky origin

George Wyman’s Séance-Guided Design of the Bradbury Building

In 1892, Los Angeles mining tycoon Lewis Bradbury fired his architect and turned to George Wyman, a 32-year-old draftsman with zero building designs to his name.

Torn about taking his boss’s job, Wyman did what any Victorian might do – he held a séance. Using a planchette board, Wyman and his wife reached out to his dead eight-year-old brother Mark.

The message came back clear: “Take the Bradbury building and you will be successful. ” The word “successful” was written upside-down, but Wyman got the point.

He took the job, and on New Year’s Day 1894, his masterpiece opened. The Bradbury Building stands today as a stunning landmark in downtown LA.

Mining Millionaire Wanted a Monument to His Name

Lewis Bradbury got rich from silver mines in Mexico, making $2. 2 million by 1892.

At 69, he felt time running out and wanted to leave something people would remember. He bought a corner lot at Broadway and Third Street near LA’s Bunker Hill.

Bradbury set aside $175,000 for his dream building, planning for it to stand taller than nearby structures as the southwestern corner of the business district.

He saw this as his final legacy that would keep his name alive for years to come.

Sumner Hunt Got Fired Over Boring Plans

Bradbury hired popular architect Sumner Hunt in early 1892 to design his landmark office building. Hunt spent months making detailed blueprints and drawings.

When he showed his finished plans to Bradbury, the millionaire didn’t like them. Hunt’s safe designs looked too much like other buildings nearby.

Bradbury wanted something truly amazing that would make people stop and look. After seeing Hunt’s work, Bradbury simply told him he was fired.

A $5-Per-Week Draftsman Got The Job Instead

After firing Hunt, Bradbury made a choice that shocked everyone in LA’s building world. He gave the job to George Herbert Wyman, a 32-year-old who worked as a draftsman in Hunt’s office for just $5 a week.

Wyman had no formal training and had never designed a building before. Nobody knows exactly why Bradbury picked him.

Some think he saw Wyman’s sketches and liked his fresh ideas. Others think Wyman’s lack of training meant he’d think outside the box.

The Young Draftsman Worried About Betraying His Boss

Wyman felt torn about taking the job. This was a huge chance to design a major building and start his career. He and his wife Belle talked about it for days.

But taking the job meant stealing work from Hunt, the man who gave him a job and trusted him. Wyman saw this as possibly backstabbing his boss.

Both belonged to the spiritualist movement, which was very popular across America then, with millions of followers who believed the dead could talk to the living.

A Ghost Told Him To Take The Job

Wyman and Belle decided to ask for help from beyond the grave. They sat with a planchette board, which worked like today’s Ouija boards.

They put their fingers on a small heart-shaped piece of wood with a pencil attached and tried to talk to Wyman’s younger brother Mark, who died at age eight.

The couple watched as the planchette moved across paper, spelling out: “Mark Wyman take the Bradbury building and you will be… Successful.”

Science Fiction Shaped The Building’s Design

With his dead brother’s blessing, Wyman took the job and looked for ideas.

He found them in Edward Bellamy’s book “Looking Backward,” a science fiction novel from 1887 that was hugely popular in Los Angeles.

The book talked about a futuristic department store as “a vast hall full of light received not alone from windows but from the dome.”

This idea grabbed Wyman’s mind. The Los Angeles Public Library couldn’t keep the book on shelves, with fifteen copies always checked out.

The Builder Never Saw His Dream Completed

Building started in July 1892, but Bradbury died that same month at age 69. He never got to see his vision come to life.

His widow Simona, son John, and lawyer John D. Bicknell took over the project as managers of his estate.

They faced legal fights over Bradbury’s money but stayed true to his vision. The first budget of $175,000 grew to $500,000 as they used only the best materials.

The Building Opened With Stunning Features

The Bradbury Building opened on New Year’s Day 1893, showing off Wyman’s groundbreaking design. The heart of the building had a huge skylit atrium that filled the inside with natural light.

Beautiful French-made ironwork, which had been shown at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, filled the entire space. The five-story structure felt like walking into a cathedral.

Glazed brick in rose and gold colors, light yellow floor tiles, and rich brown marble created what Wyman called a “sunset glow” feel.

One Success Led To Many Failures

The Bradbury Building made Wyman instantly famous in building circles.

Oddly, this success pushed him to get more formal training through mail courses that actually hurt his natural talent.

While his ghost-inspired masterpiece stood the test of time, most of his other buildings got torn down over the years.

His later buildings looked heavy and solid, missing the light-filled magic of the Bradbury. The Bradbury stayed his only truly successful design.

Hollywood Fell In Love With The Supernatural Space

The building became a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and stands as Los Angeles’ oldest protected historic structure.

Its otherworldly interior has appeared in over 100 movies and TV shows, most famously in the science fiction classic “Blade Runner.”

Film directors love its unique look and mysterious atmosphere. The ghostly consultation that led to its creation proved amazingly accurate.

The building made both Wyman and Bradbury permanently famous, though neither lived to see just how beloved their creation would become.

The Planchette Board Prediction Came True

Wyman’s supernatural decision to trust his dead brother’s advice through a planchette board created one of America’s most beloved architectural treasures.

The message “take the Bradbury building and you will be successful” proved prophetic. Though Wyman never matched this achievement again, his one building secured his place in architectural history.

The spiritualism movement that guided his decision was at its peak during this period, with about 11 million Americans believing in communication with the dead.

For Wyman and his ghostly brother, that belief changed architectural history forever.

Visiting Bradbury Building, California

The Bradbury Building at 304 S. Broadway offers free admission to see George Wyman’s supernatural architectural masterpiece.

After mining millionaire Lewis Bradbury fired architect Sumner Hunt in 1892, he gave the job to inexperienced 32-year-old draftsman Wyman, who consulted his deceased brother Mark through a planchette board before accepting.

You can visit the ground floor and first landing Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-5pm. Historic fact sheets cost 25 cents in the lobby.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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