- Pico House
The Pico House is a historic building in
Los Angeles, California , dating from its days as a small town inSouthern California . Located on 430 North Main Street, it sits across the old Los Angeles Plaza fromOlvera Street and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Its geographic coordinates are coord|34|03|23.63|N|118|14|22.07|W.Pío Pico , a successful businessman who was the last Mexican Governor ofAlta California , ordered construction a luxuryhotel in the growing town. The architect was Ezra F. Kysor, who also designed theCathedral of Saint Vibiana , and it was constructed between1869 and 1870. The resultingItalianate three story, 33-room hotel, dubbed Pico House (or "Casa de Pico") was the most extravagant and lavish hotel in Southern California, and its opening was cause for much celebration. It had a total of nearly eighty rooms, large windows, a small interior court, and a grand staircase.Its time in the spotlight did not last very long. By
1876 theSouthern Pacific Railroad had linked the city with the rest of the country and more residents and businessman began pouring in. Pio Pico himself started having financial troubles, and lost the hotel to the San Francisco Savings and Loan Company. The business center of the city began to move south and, by 1900, the building began to decline. After decades as a shabby lodging house, it finally passed into the hands of the State of California in1953 , and it now belongs to the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Monument. Parts of this building were renovated in 1981 and 1992. The ground floor is occasionally used for exhibits and other events.The Pico House is currently listed as a
California Historical Landmark (No. 159) and aNational Historic Landmark as a part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District (NPS-72000231).Reference and external links
* [http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21427 California Historic Landmarks] , California Office of Historic Preservation, "Accessed Oct. 26, 2006".
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/losangeles/lawalk/pueblo/pico.html Pico House] , USC Dept. of Geography, "Accessed Oct. 26, 2006".
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