| The Langham Huntington, Pasadena | |
|---|---|
 The Langham Huntington, Pasadena | |
  The Langham Huntington Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area The Langham Huntington The Langham Huntington (California) Show map of California The Langham Huntington The Langham Huntington (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| General information | |
| Location | 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue,Pasadena, California |
| Coordinates | 34°07′13″N118°08′00″W / 34.1203°N 118.1333°W /34.1203; -118.1333 |
| Opened | 1907 (original building) 1991 (current building) |
| Owner | Great Eagle Holdings |
| Management | Langham Hotels International |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Charles Frederick Whittlesey (1906) Myron Hunt (1914 remodeling) McClellan, Cruz, Gaylord and Associates Local Architects, WATG (Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo) Design Architect and Architect of Record (1991 reconstruction) |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 380 |
| Website | |
| langhamhotels.com/pasadena | |
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is a resort hotel located inPasadena, California, that dates back to theGilded Age.
The original hotel on the site was built by GeneralMarshall C. Wentworth, a US Civil War veteran,[1][2] and designed byCharles Frederick Whittlesey in theSpanish Mission Revival-style.[3] It opened in February 1907 as theHotel Wentworth, but the structure was only partially complete, with the first four stories finished and a temporary roof. The hotel's completion had been delayed due to a shortage of construction crews caused by rebuilding in San Francisco following the1906 earthquake.[4] ThePacific Electric had already constructed theirWentworth Lineinterurban railroad to serve the hotel in 1906.[5] Heavy rains in 1907 kept away prospective guests, and the Wentworth closed in July 1907 after its first season.[6]
The Wentworth was purchased by railroad tycoonHenry E. Huntington in 1911 and reopened in 1914 asThe Huntington Hotel after a major redesign by the architectMyron Hunt which added the hotel's upper two floors and its iconic centralbelvedere tower.[6] It remained under Huntington's management until 1918.[1] The hotel eventually comprised over 20 acres (8.1 ha). Between 1920 and 1926, 27 bungalow cottages were built on the grounds to accommodate long-term guests.[7] California's first outdoorOlympic-size swimming pool[8] was added in 1926, when the hotel, formerly a winter resort, began operating year-round.[6][9]
The hotel was later owned by Stephen W. Royce, who sold it to theSheraton Corporation in 1954.[6] It was subsequently renamed theHuntington-Sheraton Hotel. As a Sheraton, much of the hotel's interior period detailing was covered over, and the Lanai Building was constructed next to the swimming pool in 1967. Sheraton sold the hotel to Keikyu U.S.A., Inc. in 1974, but continued to manage the property.[10]
In the wake of the disastrous1985 Mexico City earthquake, seismic tests conducted on the hotel showed the main building to be unsafe. As a result, the hotel's main wing had to be closed without notice on October 20, 1985, causing a chaotic scramble to relocate hundreds of social events booked at the hotel over the coming months.[11] The 89 rooms in the 1967 Lanai wing and the 18 cottage homes remained in operation as theHuntington Sheraton Lanai and Cottages, while the six-story main building sat vacant. Huntington Hotel Associates (HHA) announced plans in 1986 to demolish the main wing of the hotel and replace it with a replica.[12] After a year of debate and numerous pleas from preservationists, Pasadena voters chose on May 19, 1987, to give zoning approval to the demolition of the main building.[13] HHA bought the hotel from Keikyu in December 1987.[10] Sheraton ceased operating the hotel in January 1988, and it was renamedThe Huntington Hotel & Cottages. The contents of the main building were sold to the public in June and July 1988 and demolition of the main building began on March 27, 1989, lasting three months. The lanai and cottages closed in mid-1990 as construction of the new main building progressed.
During the demolition and reconstruction of the main wing, the two historic ballrooms, the Viennese Ballroom (originally the hotel's dining room) and the Georgian Ballroom (originally the hotel's theater) were retained and incorporated into the new hotel, in addition to the other outbuildings such as the pool, lanai and bungalows, which were not required to be demolished. The $100-million reconstruction project revealed 10stained-glass windows made ofopalescent glass in the Georgian Ballroom, which had been covered over by the Sheraton Corporation in 1954 when the space was converted into a dining room.[7]
The hotel reopened on March 18, 1991 with 383-rooms asThe Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel.[14] The new building largely replicated the exterior of the original, but offered modern facilities. It was renamedThe Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in April 1998.[6] In October 2007, the hotel was sold to Great Eagle Holdings for $170 million[15] and renamedThe Langham Huntington, Pasadena, on January 8, 2008, managed byLangham Hotels International.
