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Roofing in Hollywood for Spanish Tile Homes, Hillside Houses, and Apartment Buildings
Roofing in Hollywood splits between the hills, where Whitley Heights and Beachwood Canyon are rated Very High for fire and Spanish Colonial houses carry clay tile, and the flats, where 71.7% of homes in ZIP 90028 are in buildings of 20 or more units. Only 3.4% of households in that ZIP own their home, so most roof decisions there fall to building owners and property managers.
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Hollywood merged with Los Angeles in 1910, mainly for water and sewer service, so LADBS issues every reroof permit here. What changes from street to street is whether a house sits in one of five HPOZs in and around Hollywood, and which side of the fire map it is on.
Clay tile rules in Whitley Heights and Hollywood's other HPOZs
The Whitley Heights tract was recorded in 1903, most of its lots were built out after World War I, and its Italian and Spanish building restrictions expired in 1928. It became an HPOZ in 1992 and is also on the National Register. Its preservation plan says Mediterranean Revival roofs are nearly always clay tile or pantile, Spanish Colonial Revival roofs are low-pitched clay tile, and Mission Revival roofs pair tile with parapets.
For a reroof, the plan’s guidance comes down to three points:
- Keep the original material. Historic tile, slate, gravel, or built-up roofing should stay in place or be replaced in kind; where a substitute is unavoidable, it should match the original’s scale, texture, and color.
- No asphalt shingle on Spanish or Mediterranean roofs. The plan calls it inappropriate for those styles. Where a roof is already shingle, rusty reds, greens, and browns generally work and light colors generally do not.
- Staff can approve in-kind work. In-kind shingle replacement and tile repairs that reuse the existing tile are delegated to the Director of Planning. Skylights should go on side or rear slopes, flat and close to the roof, and solar panels should stay off publicly visible roofs.
LA City Planning also publishes an HPOZ guidance sheet titled “Roof – Clay Tile.” The other four HPOZs nearby mix Craftsman bungalows with Colonial, Spanish, and Mediterranean Revival houses, and each has its own plan:
Melrose Hill (1988)
45 homes from 1911 to 1926
Spaulding Square (1993)
One-story Period Revival, 1916 to 1926
Hollywood Grove (2011)
Craftsman and Colonial Revival bungalows
Sunset Square (2017)
348 parcels, Craftsman and Spanish Colonial
Source: LA City Planning HPOZ overlay pages.
Beachwood Canyon to Whitley Heights: Class A roofs in the hills
The HOLLYWOODLAND sign went up in 1923 to advertise a housing development in Beachwood Canyon. Housing in the hills is older than on the flats: in ZIP 90068, 85.5% of units predate 1980 and 30.1% predate 1940.
On LA County’s 2025 fire hazard layer, sample points in Whitley Heights and Beachwood Canyon are Very High and Hollywood Boulevard at Vine Street is Non-Wildland. LADBS allows only Class A roof coverings in a Very High zone, and its bulletin P/BC 2026-013 rules out wood shakes and wood shingles everywhere in the city, apart from repairs of up to 5% of a roof approved by modification request.
The Sunset Fire started on January 8, 2025, on the 2300 block of Solar Drive and burned 43 acres of the Hollywood Hills, according to CAL FIRE. Santa Ana winds raise the risk in dry years. On Very High parcels, LAFD’s year-round brush clearance rules also require a roof kept clear of leaves and needles and 5 feet between the roof and overhanging branches.
On a Whitley Heights tile house, the plan’s preference for original tile and the Class A requirement both apply, so we confirm the fire rating of the whole tile assembly, underlayment included, before ordering.
Apartment and mid-rise roofs on the Hollywood flats
Central Hollywood’s housing comes from two eras: in ZIP 90028, 24.9% of units date from 1939 or earlier and 27.9% from 2000 or later, and only 2.5% of homes are detached houses. About 4,000 apartments in more than 30 low- to mid-rise projects were approved in Hollywood in 2019 alone.
Buildings like these usually have low-slope roofs, so work on the flats is mostly flat roof repair and replacement: ponding water, clogged roof drains, split seams, and leaks at parapets and rooftop units. We set tear-off dates with the property manager so tenants get notice.
Hollywood is in climate zone 9, where replacing most of an apartment or commercial flat roof brings in the state’s cool roof requirement.
Roofing in Hollywood: tile repairs, hillside reroofs, and apartment roofs
As a roofing contractor in Hollywood, Overhead Roofing takes on four kinds of jobs here:
- Roof repair in Hollywood’s tile houses: cracked or slipped tile, flashing at chimneys and walls, and tile resets that relay the original tile over new underlayment. See tile roof repair.
- Roof replacement in the Hollywood Hills: tear-off to the deck and a new Class A roof, in tile where the HPOZ plan calls for it.
- Apartment building roofs: flat roof repair, or replacement with TPO or torch-down modified bitumen and a reflective cap sheet.
- Emergency leaks: a 24/7 line and tarping, plus photos and a written estimate for your insurer; we do not file or negotiate claims.
For citywide rules, read our overview of roof repair in the City of Los Angeles. Before you hire roofers in Hollywood, look up their CSLB license. Ours is #1119699 (C-39 Roofing); we are licensed, bonded, insured, and BBB Accredited with an A rating, and our team brings 25+ years of roofing experience. Estimates are free, and every job carries our workmanship warranty.
Common questions on Hollywood tile roofs, hillside fire rules, and cool roofs
Can I replace the clay tile on my Whitley Heights house with asphalt shingles?
Not under the preservation plan’s guidance. The Whitley Heights plan calls asphalt shingle inappropriate for Spanish and Mediterranean style roofs and asks that historic tile be kept or replaced in kind, with any substitute matching its scale, texture, and color. Tile repairs that reuse the existing tile can be approved at staff level.
Is a Hollywood Hills house required to have a Class A roof?
If the parcel is in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, yes. Whitley Heights and Beachwood Canyon are Very High on the 2025 map, and LADBS requires Class A roofing there. LAFD said in April 2025 that the City had not yet adopted the new maps, but state law does not allow the City to lower a recommended zone.
Does replacing the flat roof on a Hollywood apartment building trigger the cool roof rule?
Yes, once more than 50% of the roof is replaced. In climate zone 9, the state’s cool roof requirement covers multifamily low-slope roofs past that point, and nonresidential low-slope roofs in every zone. Smaller repairs are not covered, and exceptions such as area-weighted alternatives exist, so we check which path fits the building before ordering.
Do the Whitley Heights roof rules apply in Sunset Square or Spaulding Square?
No. Each HPOZ has its own preservation plan, and the Whitley Heights guidance applies only there. Sunset Square, adopted in 2017, is mostly Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, and American Colonial Revival houses, and Spaulding Square is one-story Period Revival houses from 1916 to 1926. Read your district’s plan before choosing a material.
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