The thirteen-story Gaylord apartment building opened in 1924 directly across Wilshire from the Ambassador Hotel. Some claim it was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire, the founder of Wilshire Boulevard.

Units in the Gaylord were marketed as "own-your-own" apartments, with large kitchens and a central refrigeration system that allowed tenants to freeze their own ice cubes.

The Los Angeles Times called the Gaylord one of the largest and most pretentious apartment houses in the country. Since then, the building has been thoroughly renovated inside.

The nautical-themed HMS Bounty restaurant on the ground floor opened in 1962 in a space formerly occupied by The Gay Room and later The Secret Harbor.

The Secret Harbor opened in 1951 as an outpost of Wilshire's leading restaurant family of the 1940s and '50s, brothers Seymour and Harold Dimsdale.

After The Secret Harbor, the space served a brief stint as the Golden Anchor before becoming the HMS Bounty.