![]() To say the finished project is stunning would be a gross understatement! Since the transformation, the hotel has been written up by everyone from Vogue to Architectural Digest to Time – and it’s not very hard to see why. A woman after my own heart, she told the Los Angeles Times, “Always our job first and foremost is to respect the architecture and breathe some new life into it.” Yaaaaas! With that mantra in mind, Breer preserved the building’s concrete flooring, pressed-tin ceiling, and exposed beam work. Sally worked her magic, converting the site into an operable lodging, all the while keeping intact all of the original firehouse elements that make it so unique. He quickly tapped interior designer Sally Breer, with whom he partnered on two prior projects, to reimagine the station’s interior. 17 did change hands and the owners began making plans to transform the space into a hotel, but those plans did not reach fruition until hospitality magnate Dustin Lancaster was brought onboard in 2016. There were no takers, though, and it was removed from the market in 2007.Īt some point, Engine Co. At the time, the 8,721-square-foot, 2-story structure boasted the station’s original kitchen, an indoor handball court, and parking for 13 cars. In 2006, he put the property up for sale for $2.95 million. The former firehouse was subsequently sold to photographer Robert Blakeman who transformed it into four separate artist studios which he shared with various contemporaries over the next 20 years. The station operated at that site for the next five decades before being decommissioned in 1980, at which point Company 17 re-located once again to a new building eight blocks south at 1601 South Santa Fe. Whatever the case, per LAFire the Santa Fe Avenue facility opened its doors on September 9th, 1927. Though subtle, the differences are just enough to lead me to believe the 1904 firehouse was razed during the bridge project and a replacement then built at the new location. And while the original featured one bay door, the hotel has two. The former boasted an intricately paned, three-panel window with angled projections across its second floor (as you can see here), while the latter has six separate flat windows in that spot. 17 is quite different from that of the Arts District Firehouse Hotel. Though similar, the edifice of the original Engine Co. I’ve come across a few reports stating that to accommodate the project, the entire building was picked up and moved the short distance to 710 South Santa Fe Avenue, but I don’t believe that to be true. At its inception, the handsome vine-covered building (which you can see here) sat facing Seventh Street, in pretty much the spot where Bread Lounge stands today When the Seventh Street Bridge, which ran in front of the station, was raised above grade in the mid-20s, Engine Co. Interestingly, it was situated in a slightly different location at the time – at 2100 East Seventh Street, about 100 feet north of its current home. 17, which started servicing the downtown area on April 1st, 1905. The Arts District Firehouse Hotel began life as Engine Co. The Arts District Firehouse Hotel is so artfully designed and unique that I couldn’t help but snap some pics while waiting for my drink, which turned out to be quite fortuitous, because, as it turns out, the place is a filming location! Undeterred, I ventured right on over there as soon as we arrived in town to grab that matchbook – and an iced latte from the lobby coffee bar, natch. to take care of some business a few weeks later, I, of course, tried to reserve a room at the property, but it was completely booked. One look at Emily’s story and I decided I had to snag some of the hotel’s matches ASAP to add to my new collection. As it so happens, I had recently changed up my kitchen décor by adding some pops of pink, including a bowl filled with two rose-colored matchbooks. While there, she recorded an Instagram story showing an assortment of blush matchbooks displayed at the check-in desk. Case in point – a few months back favorite blogger Emily Schuman, of Cupcakes and Cashmere, did a photo shoot at the Arts District Firehouse Hotel, a stylish fire-station-turned-lodging in downtown L.A. I typically scoff at the notion, but he’s 100% right. The Grim Cheaper likes to say that I fixate on the silliest of things. ![]()
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