The Clock Tower Building at 225 Santa Monica Boulevard was built between 1929 and 1930 in the Art Deco style, and its stepped silhouette and clock tower remain the most distinctive element of the downtown skyline. At the time of construction it was one of the tallest buildings in Santa Monica — an unusual presence in a city that was mostly low-rise beach development.
The building appears in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), where it provides the backdrop for one of the film's key scenes. It has since been converted to offices and residences, but the facade and clock are preserved. Worth a look from the street as an example of the architectural ambition of the late 1920s in what was then still a relatively modest beach town.