Before the Taco Bell sign marked this North Hollywood corner, a small real estate office made its pitch with bright yellow boards, a neatly trimmed lawn and a white picket fence. The address, 5962 Lankershim Boulevard, stood above the entrance in oversized numerals. Across the roof, two words left little doubt about what went on inside: REAL ESTATE.
This postcard preserves Roberts Realty at Lankershim and Oxnard, on land now included in the Taco Bell property. Newspaper advertisements and building records give the little office a history beyond its cheerful facade—and reveal that the change from real estate office to restaurant involved more than a simple change of address.
The storefront was doing several jobs at once. Signs offered insurance and notary services, while the changeable boards advertised houses and income property. On the right, two homes on an R3 lot were offered for $19,950 with $2,000 down. The left board promoted five deluxe units for $49,950. These were listings marketed by the office, rather than prices for the office property itself.
The yellow signs were made to be noticed from the boulevard. That approach fits the larger history of Lankershim: the city's SurveyLA report describes prominent commercial signs along the corridor as a way to attract motorists and give businesses a recognizable identity. Here, that roadside advertising surrounded a building whose shutters, shrubs and fence gave it the appearance of a small home.
Turn the card over and its purpose becomes clear:
“I have a cash buyer for a home in your neighborhood.”
The script message asks anyone interested in selling to call, adds “No obligation,” and is signed “Robert.” A bulk-rate postage imprint supplied the mailing machinery behind the personal tone. It is a familiar real estate solicitation, preserved here with the very office a homeowner might have visited.
The card has no visible date or dated postmark. Its connection to the business becomes clearer through a newspaper notice published in 1962.
The statement, dated October 17, 1962, identifies Irving Kugler and Robert Philip Kugler as the people conducting Robert's Realty at 5962 Lankershim Boulevard. Their surname matches the “Kugler & Son” plaque visible above the postcard's doorway.
An earlier name appears at the same address. A May 17, 1958, advertisement in the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News lists R. E. Regan Inv. Co. at 5962 Lankershim. It offers a five-unit North Hollywood property for $30,000. An August 20 ad headed “Call Regan” advertises a two-bedroom home for $12,900 and repeats the office address. The exact transition between Regan and the Kuglers remains undocumented.
The building's history reaches farther back. A relocation application indexed by the city on March 25, 1949, documents the move of an existing office from 6440 Lankershim Boulevard, near Victory Boulevard, to 5962 Lankershim Boulevard at the southeast corner of Oxnard Street. The original site is now occupied by XO Banquet Hall, which uses the address 6444 Lankershim Boulevard. A Los Angeles city record identifies 6440 and 6444 as alternate addresses for the same property.
The relocation application's plot plan places the small office at an angle near the corner of the irregular lot at Lankershim and Oxnard.
An addition application stamped February 1, 1950 names Robert C. Davis as owner and contractor and calls for adding a room to the existing office. These records trace the office building back more than a decade before the Kuglers' newspaper notice.
The next major changes came in the 1960s, and Gulf Oil appears in both the office and restaurant records. The original Taco Bell new-building permit, 1966VN08022, stamped December 6, 1966, identifies Gulf Oil as owner and describes a proposed taco stand. Its plot plan also shows an existing service station and canopy.
An office demolition application stamped August 9, 1967 also lists Gulf Oil as owner. It describes removal of a one-story, 20-by-20-foot wood office at 5962 Lankershim to clear the lot. The city's index additionally lists December 10 for the taco-stand permit and August 10 for the office demolition file; the dates above follow the stamps on the original scans.
The lot descriptions explain why the dates overlap. The office occupied Lot 1 of Tract 9658, while the 1966 taco-stand permit explicitly specifies Lots 2 through 10 only. Taco Bell's 1983 drive-through record identifies Lot 2, with the address 5958 Lankershim Boulevard. By 2009, the restaurant demolition application included Lots 1, 2 and 3 under a single assessor parcel number. Roberts' corner had become part of the later Taco Bell property, but the original restaurant project did not include the office lot.
A certificate of occupancy dated October 17, 1967 identifies the building at 5958 as a 28-by-38-foot taco stand restaurant.
The older restaurant had the compact, mission-inspired appearance familiar from early Taco Bells: a tiled roof, arched openings and a patio with umbrella tables. In 1983, it gained another chapter in the permit record. Drive-through paperwork records initial fee processing on April 26, 1983, with permit issuance indexed August 17. The proposed “addition of a drive thru bubble” carried a valuation of $39,500.
Plans to replace that restaurant were underway by October 15, 2008, when a demolition pre-inspection explicitly identified the existing Taco Bell. The city's record index lists both the demolition permit and new-building permit as issued on January 26, 2009. The new-building application describes a one-story restaurant with a drive-through.
The city's property index records temporary occupancy for the replacement project in May 2009. A final certificate of occupancy dated November 15, 2010, describes the new 1,248-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through.
The September 2011 view shows the larger restaurant with its taller entrance facade and stone veneer. By December 2024, the corner had the white-and-purple appearance seen below. Taco Bell's official location page continues to list the restaurant at 5958 Lankershim Boulevard.
The little office, its listing boards and its picket fence have disappeared from the corner. On the postcard, though, the window still displays its OPEN sign, the latest properties are on display, and Robert is still asking the neighborhood to give him a call.
Explore the corner in Google Street View:
Sources
Explore the collection: Postcards · North Hollywood Postcards
Building and permit records
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety · PRISM archive
- 1949: Office relocation — permit 1949LA12895; indexed March 25.
- 1950: Office addition — permit 1950VN01837; February 1.
- 1966: Original Taco Bell construction — permit 1966VN08022; stamped December 6, also indexed December 10.
- 1967: Office demolition — permit 1967VN18627; stamped August 9, also indexed August 10.
- 1967: Original restaurant occupancy certificate — October 17.
- 1983: Drive-through addition — permit 1983LA70658; April 26 processing, August 17 issuance.
- 2009: Old Taco Bell demolition — permit 08019-20000-02251; indexed issued January 26.
- 2009: Replacement restaurant construction — permit 08010-20000-00541; indexed issued January 26.
- 2010: Replacement restaurant occupancy certificate — November 15.
Location and background
- Los Angeles City Clerk referral memo — August 3, 2017; Council File 17-0160-S477. Identifies 6444 Lankershim as also known as 6440.
- XO Banquet Hall — official contact page, giving the current address as 6444 Lankershim Boulevard.
- Taco Bell, 5958 Lankershim Boulevard — official restaurant location page.
- SurveyLA: North Hollywood–Valley Village — February 26, 2013, page 27; context for commercial signs along Lankershim.
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