Pico House — Attraction in Los Angeles

Pico House is LA in the beginning. Los Angeles is notorious for tearing down its past and seemingly never looks back. Pico House seems to have survived. Once the premier hotel in Los Angeles, it is now a cultural arts center.

At the time of my visit, it was host to a Dia de Los Muertos art collection, that I must admit was quite good. As of recent art associated with this celebration has become overly commercialized and overdone. However, the collection at the Pico House seems to have been deliberately picked and thoughtfully displayed.

Walking around the once lobby, I could not help imagine what it might have been like to have lived in the glory days of this building. The lower level has been clearly gutted to allow for the display of art. As I went to one of the lobby, I got a look of the dual staircase that possibly led guests to their rooms. What seemed to have been the ballroom was at the time of my visit under some sort of construction.

But, one the most spectacular spaces in this building, which I got a glimpse of though a window was its courtyard. An amazing space indeed that could be host to an event that I would be...

The neighborhood is so in shambles. A transitient randomly came up, snatched my coffee and threw it at me insisting that I give her my jacket while onlookers stood by laughing outside this building once. Also, the inside of the building could be preserved to it's original nature better. They should bring back the original interior design and host it as an active...

Built by one of the founding fathers of Los Angeles, Pio Pico - an Afro-Latino, The Pico House was the first Luxury Hotel in Los Angeles. It actually had indoor facilities on each floor! A must see at El Pueblo de Los Angeles...