Hotel Wentworth (Pasadena)
| The Langham Huntington, Pasadena | |
|---|---|
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena
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| General information | |
| Location | Pasadena, California |
| Address | 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue |
| Coordinates | 34°07′13″N 118°08′00″W / 34.1203°N 118.1333°WCoordinates: 34°07′13″N 118°08′00″W / 34.1203°N 118.1333°W |
| Opening | 1907 (original building), 1991 (current building) |
| Owner | Great Eagle Holdings, Hong Kong |
| Management | Langham Hotels International |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
Charles Frederick Whittlesey (1906) Myron Hunt (1914 remodeling) McClellan, Cruz, Gaylord and Associates (1991 reconstruction) |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 380 |
| Website | |
| pasadena.langhamhotels.com | |
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is a luxury resort hotel located in Pasadena, California that dates back to the Gilded Age.
The original hotel on the site was built by General Marshall C. Wentworth, a Civil War veteran, and designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in the Spanish Mission Revival-style. It opened in February 1907 as the Hotel 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 the 1906 earthquake. Heavy rains that year kept away prospective guests, and the Wentworth closed its doors in July 1907 after its first season.
The Wentworth was purchased by railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington in 1911 and reopened in 1914 as The Huntington Hotel after a major redesign by the architect Myron Hunt which added the hotel's upper two floors and its iconic central belvedere tower. It remained under Huntington's management until 1918. The hotel eventually comprised over 20 acres. Between 1920 and 1926, 27 bungalow cottages were built on the grounds to accommodate long-term guests. California's first outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool was also added to the hotel in 1926, when the hotel, formerly a winter resort, began operating year-round.
The hotel was later owned by Stephen W. Royce, who sold it to the Sheraton Corporation in 1954. It was subsequently renamed the Huntington-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.
In the wake of the disastrous 1985 Mexico City earthquake, seismic tests conducted on the hotel showed the main building to be unsafe. The main wing closed on October 20, 1985. The 89 rooms in the 1967 Lanai wing and the 18 cottage homes remained in operation as the Huntington Sheraton Lanai and Cottages, while the six-story main building sat vacant. Huntington Hotel Associates (HHA), consisting of developer Lary Mielke, Tom Tellefsen, William Zimmerman and James M. Galbraith, announced plans in 1986 to demolish the main wing of the hotel and replace it with a replica. 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. HHA bought the hotel from Keikyu in December 1987. Sheraton ceased operating the hotel in January 1988, and it was renamed the The 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.
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