The allure of Hollywood comes to life through the residents of the St. Francis Hotel

Photographer Penny Wolin set out to capture the residents of the St. Francis Hotel in Hollywood in 1975. (Penny Wolin)

When she was 21 years old, Penny Wolin checked into a residential hotel in the heart of Hollywood.

The year was 1975 and the building was the St. Francis Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard — the same strip where movie legends have long immortalized their hand and footprints in wet cement.