Seeing art in architecture and gardens
in Pasadena and the Getty

by Lucy Komisar

The huge brown stone Spanish tiled roof Langham Huntington Hotel dominates Pasadena like an historic memory.  A sojourn here is not just a place to rest your head; it's a place to get your head full of history and also art.

Covering 23 acres in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills, it was built as a winter resort in 1906 by General Marshall C. Wentworth, who had served in the civil war, though general was an honorary title. He had built a grand summer resort in Jackson, NH, but his Pasadena venture was ill-fated. It failed after the San Francisco earthquake, because construction workers were not available and torrential rains flooded the building which had only a temporary roof. Wentworth gave up and went back East.

Fortunately, Henry Huntington, a railroad tycoon, was developing the famous Huntington Gardens and thought this would be a great place to put his guests. He bought it, finished it, and reopened it in 1914 as the Huntington Hotel. There were formal dinners and dances in the gilt-ceilinged Georgian ballroom which is still there, and gilded, like the age it still represents.

A tour of the hotel is a bit like touring a museum. A highlight is the famous picture bridge, the only one in the United States. A picture bridge has paintings hung in succession from its beams. The 1920s manager Stephen Royce went to Lucerne, Switzerland, saw one there and insisted the Huntington had to have one. As Huntington was an art collector, he couldn't object. Royce commissioned the bridge from Frank Moore, a local artist, who painted 41 panels, all California scenes, and finished the work in 1932.

Another stunning work of art is the Japanese garden, also built in 1920s. A focal point is the red bridge at the bottom. See it peaking through this photo. If you wander down, you'll find places where you can: sit and contemplate. The adjacent lawn holds 150 people and is popular for weddings.

During World War II, the hotel rented itself out to the U.S. Army.  Senator John F. Kennedy in July 1960 had lunch there with heads of the Democratic party to discuss his possible nomination as Democratic presidential nominee.

The building went through various owners, and in January 2008, it was bought by Langham Hotels International, headquartered in Hong Kong, which owns the Langham in London. So, it's now the Langham Huntington.

The décor is soothing and tastefully elegant, with grillwork, wood paneling and Chinese and English paintings hung in the public rooms and corridors. That feeling carries over to the warmly furnished bedrooms. From our window, we could see the horseshoe garden, the original entrance where people arrived in horse carriages.

A holdover from the gilded age – well, actually, we have one ourselves, don't we – is the Club Lounge available to gilded guests. It's set up with intimate groups of tables and chairs or couches to afford comfort and privacy.

I chatted with a businessman staying there who explained that it was perfect for him, because he regularly came to town for meetings at a nearby medical center he owned. With the five food and drink services -- continental breakfast, mid-day snack (ie lunch), afternoon tea, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres (enough for dinner), and chocolates and cordials – he never had to worry about meals. He'd just stop at the 8th floor for the on-going shifting buffet. He was a repeat guest.

I took advantage too, inviting my aunt and uncle for drinks and delicious canapés, accompanied by a charming mountain view, before we went out to dinner at one of Pasadena's trendy fish restaurants.

Wandering around the hotel, I discovered the Lobby Lounge, really the old lobby, because it looks out on the horseshoe garden. Look further and you see the San Gabriel Valley. Afternoon tea is served there Thursday through Sunday.

If the Japanese Garden reminds you that Southern California is wonderful for gardens, don't forget the Huntington Library, Art Gallery & Gardens practically next door. It has a superb botanical garden, with sections highlighting the fauna of different parts of the world. But I'd been there before and decided this time to go further afield, to the newer Getty Museum, which opened in December 1997. Its gardens are a highlight.

We took the 45-minute garden tour. The docent told us that the idea of installation artist Robert Irwin was to create a counterpoint of color and texture to the buildings. He calls the Central Garden "a sculpture in the form of a garden aspiring to be art." See these trees that are actually sculptures. The bottoms are bark-colored iron. The top plants are real -- pink bougainvillea when they bloom.

We learned that there are more than 500 varieties of plants in the garden. The shrubs and flowers are arranged by color and texture – not the normal way such a garden would be ordered. The rocks look attractive set among the greenery. We walked along a path that followed down a hill.

But there's another purpose, our docent said. "Listen." A stream flows through the rocks. And the boulders and stones have been placed in the stream bed to create a "sound sculpture."

If you go:

Pasadena is 16 miles from Burbank Airport, 27 miles from Los Angeles International Airport.

The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa
1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
800-591-7481; 626-568-3900
www.Pasadena.Langhamhotels.com/
380 guestrooms, including 38 suites and 8 cottages.
3 lighted tennis courts with pro; wifi; spa.
9 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA  91108
626-405-2100
www.huntington.org/
Wed-Mon 10:30 to 4:30.
Admission $6 to $20.

Pasadena Convention Visitors Bureau
300 East Green Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 795-9311  
(800) 307-7977  
www.pasadenacal.com/

The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310-440-7300 (English, Spanish), 7305 TTY.
visitorservice@getty.edu
www.getty.edu
Tues-Sun, free admission.
Tours scheduled through the day focusing on architecture, gardens, sculpture, collection highlights, as well as visits to an artist-at-work and experiences for children.

Photos by Lucy Komisar