Palm Court (Alexandria Hotel)
| Palm Court (Alexandria Hotel) | |
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Palm Court, 2008
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| Coordinates | 34°02′51″N 118°15′01″W / 34.0475°N 118.2502778°WCoordinates: 34°02′51″N 118°15′01″W / 34.0475°N 118.2502778°W |
| Governing body | private |
| Designated | 1971 |
| Reference no. | 80 |
 Location of Palm Court (Alexandria Hotel) in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
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The Palm Court, also known at other times as the Franco-Italian Dining Room, the Grand Ballroom and the Continental Room, is a ballroom at the Hotel Alexandria in downtown Los Angeles, California. In its heyday from 1911 to 1922, it was the scene of speeches by U.S. Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson and Gen. John J. Pershing. It is also the room where Paul Whiteman, later known as the "Jazz King", got his start as a bandleader in 1919, where Rudolph Valentino danced with movie starlets, and where Hollywood held its most significant balls during the early days of the motion picture business. Known for its history and its stained-glass Tiffany skylight, noted Los Angeles columnist Jack Smith called it "surely the most beautiful room in Los Angeles". The Palm Court was designated as a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM#80) in 1971.
Built in 1906, the eight-story Hotel Alexandria was designed by noted Los Angeles architect John Parkinson. In 1911, the firm of Parkinson and Bergstrom was hired to design an addition that would double the capacity. The Palm Court was part of the 1911 addition. When the design of the new "crystal palmroom" was announced, the Los Angeles Times wrote:
"The room will be one of the largest of its kind in California and will be available for social affairs of every nature. Its primary object, however, will be more of a furnishing a convenient place for afternoon teas, card parties and evening receptions."
When the new ballroom opened in October 1911, it was acknowledged for its beauty. The room was "christened" in a gala attended by 385 of the city's "most prominent names." The Alexandria orchestra played throughout the evening," and the Los Angeles Times reported the next day on the city's spectacular new room:
"The great room, over one hundred feet in length and seventy-five feet in width, was a sunburst of light. Great crystal chandeliers blazed from a dozen vantage points, while softer and smaller lights were placed along the four sides of the room. ... The perfection and symphony of the great room held the guests spellbound upon their arrival. As the stately ladies and gentlemen entered the salon the pause each made at the threshold as with intense interest they swept the salon with their gaze was noticeable."
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