This post originally ran in 2019.
The hospitality industry has been an essential part of California’s economy for more than a hundred years, and hospitality spaces have been a defining element of California architecture. These three buildings are among my favorites, encompassing a variety of styles, each of which beautifully reflects California’s unique relaxed-yet-elegant aesthetic.
Clos Pegase Winery
The Clos Pegase Winery was designed by Michael Graves, with input from the SF Museum of Modern Art, as what Napa writer James Conaway called “our first monument to wine as art.” The estate’s design is an ecclectic mixture of postmodern, neoclassical and Mediterranean styles that harmonize with its environment.
Ahwahnee Hotel
Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel was completed in 1927, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood. Its style, known as Natural Park Service rustic, developed shortly after the service’s founding in 1916, was among the first to aim to work in harmony with its environment, setting a trend that would grow in the state. The hotel’s materials–stone, wood, glass and concrete–blend perfectly into the scenery, especially Half Dome in the background.
The Beverly Hills Hotel
This hotel has been an icon since 1912, before the city of Beverly Hills even existed. Designed by architect Elmer Grey, it’s a Mediterranean Revival style building that luxuriates in its palm-tree-lined setting, and it has played a key role in the history of Hollywood from the film industry’s very beginnings in California.