Pico House

The Pico House was built by Pio Pico, the last Governor of California under Mexican rule, who lived from 1801 to 1894. It was the first three story building and the first grand hotel in Los Angeles. Pico chose architect Ezra F. Kysor to design the "finest hotel in Los Angeles," and to raise funds for its construction and furnishing, Pio and his brother Andres sold most of their vast landholdings in the San Fernando Valley. Construction began on September 18, 1869, and the hotel opened for business on June 9, 1870. Built in the Italianate style, it had deep set round-arched windows and doors, while the Main Street and Plaza facades were stuccoed to resemble blue granite. The hotel contained eighty two bedrooms and twenty one parlors, as well as bathrooms and water closets for each sex on each floor. A French chef presided over a large dining room on the first floor, and the building was decorated with furniture of the best quality, with walnut pieces on the second floor and lighter woods on the third floor that were still pleasing to the eye and of good quality. Many bedrooms opened into an interior court festooned with vines and birdcages. The hotel's prime period came in 1876, when the railroad arrived in Los Angeles and Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria stayed there. Pio Pico did not profit from the hotel, however, because he lost it to foreclosure in 1880 through non-payment of debts. Management changed frequently in the years that followed, and many proprietors were of French or Italian origin. Around 1882, a balcony was added to the Plaza and Main Street facades, and the name was changed for several decades to the National Hotel. The hotel gradually declined and was taken over by the state in 1953.

Los Angeles, California · United States