If you're considering Pasadena, there's an interesting historical former hotel (built ~1898) called Castle Green. It now (and for a long time) consists of condos, I think mainly studio and 1 bedroom, some of which come on the rental market from time to time.

I don't know what it's like to actually live there, but I toured the building during one of their holiday open houses a few years ago and saw both the main floor (spectacular "public" rooms decorated in Victorian style) and the interiors of a number of the condo units.

Its website is here: Castle Green . Nothing there about renting the condos, but it gives background on the building. It's located on Raymond Ave, a block south of Colorado Blvd, in Old Pasadena. So it's very walkable and close to the Gold Line (aka L Line) LA Metro light rail.

A number of photos (exterior, interior common areas, and interiors of condos) are available on Zillow in previous listings for sale: https://www.zillow.com/b/castle-gree...ena-ca-5XphVM/