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The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Los Angeles
Pasadena, California, United States · Langham · High Luxury
The Langham Huntington opened in 1914, architect G. Lawrence Stimson's sprawling resort on Pasadena acreage that made the city the most refined winter colony in the Southwest, drawing world leaders, foreign royalty and Hollywood. It ran for decades as the Ritz-Carlton Huntington before Langham took over. The 1932 Picture Bridge, its walls painted by California artists with local landscapes, was restored in 2020, and the 23 acres hold a Japanese garden and the Chuan Spa.
- 380 rooms
- Opened 1914
- Neighborhood: Oak Knoll
- Rooms from 415 sq ft (39 m²)
- Architect: G. Lawrence Stimson
About The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Los Angeles
- The Langham Huntington opened in 1914 on Pasadena acreage that positioned the city as the most refined winter resort community in the American Southwest.
- Architect G. Lawrence Stimson designed the sprawling 1914 structure in the grand California resort tradition, drawing world leaders, foreign royalty, and Hollywood's most powerful figures from its earliest years.
- The 1932 Picture Bridge, a covered walkway with interior walls decorated by California artists depicting local landscapes, was fully restored to its original condition in 2020.
- Forbes has called it 'Pasadena's grand and storied hotel,' a designation reflecting more than a century of celebrity and power on twenty-three landscaped acres.
- The resort sits a short distance from the Huntington estate, whose library, art collections, and botanical gardens were being assembled contemporaneously with the hotel's construction.
History
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena has been one of Southern California's defining luxury addresses for more than a century, and its roots reach directly into the era when wealthy Easterners first discovered Pasadena as a winter resort — a mild-climate sanctuary of gardens and elegant leisure nestled at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains.
The original hotel on this site opened in 1914, designed in the grand resort tradition that characterized the great California hotels of the early twentieth century. Architect G. Lawrence Stimson created a sprawling structure suited to the ambitions of a Pasadena that was positioning itself as the most refined community in the American Southwest. The hotel occupied a site that resonated aesthetically with its distinguished neighbor, the Huntington estate — whose library, art collections, and botanical gardens were being assembled just a short distance away — and the resort's seventeen-acre (later expanded to twenty-three-acre) landscaped grounds were conceived in a similar spirit of cultivated magnificence.
From its earliest years, the hotel drew the elite of American society: world leaders, foreign royalty, and Hollywood's most powerful figures all made it a regular destination. The property's isolation on an elegant Pasadena street, its scale, and its mature gardens created an atmosphere of genuine escape that the grand downtown hotels could not replicate. Forbes has called it "Pasadena's grand and storied hotel," and the designation is not hyperbole.
In 1932, the Picture Bridge was added — a covered walkway spanning the hotel's grounds, its interior walls decorated by California artists with scenes of local landscapes and cultural life. The bridge became one of the most beloved features of the property, a distinctive architectural gesture that doubled as a gallery. In 2020, following a restoration to its original 1932 condition, the Picture Bridge was fully reinstated as a centerpiece of the resort experience.
The hotel passed through multiple ownership eras and name changes over the decades, reflecting the larger dynamics of California luxury hospitality. It operated as the Ritz-Carlton Huntington, then became the Langham Huntington, Pasadena when the London-based Langham group assumed management — bringing with it the heritage of the Langham, London (opened 1865) and its sister properties. Under Langham's stewardship, the resort has seen systematic renovation of its gilded ballrooms, guest cottages, and public spaces while preserving the historic core that gives it its singular identity.
Today, spread across twenty-three acres with a swimming pool, tennis courts, a spa, and dining venues ranging from a steakhouse to afternoon tea in the lobby lounge, the Langham Huntington stands as the clearest embodiment of the Southern California grand-dame resort tradition — a hotel that predates the film industry's golden age, has hosted a century of celebrity and power, and shows no signs of diminishing relevance.
The setting
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena occupies a storied estate at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue in Pasadena, the refined resort city northeast of Los Angeles that drew Gilded Age wealth as a winter retreat. The original hotel was built in 1906 and later acquired by railroad tycoon Henry Huntington, whose adjacent estate became the world-renowned Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, reachable in thirty-eight minutes by transit. The Norton Simon Museum lies forty-four minutes away, and the Rose Bowl Stadium sixty-four minutes. The hotel's manicured Japanese garden and Chuan Spa embody the same Gilded Age estate tradition that defines Pasadena's enduring identity as a sanctuary apart from Los Angeles. 19.6 miles from shops of Rodeo Drive.
Restaurants and bars
- The Langham Club — Restaurant
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Sauna
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Tennis
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
- AAA Four Diamond (2025)
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