{"nrhp_refnum":"10000425","name":"California Club, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"538 S Flower St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.05058481100008,"lon":-118.25662361899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story private social clubhouse at 538 South Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles, built in 1929-30 and designed by Robert D. Farquhar in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the building as a distinctive work of society architect Robert D. Farquhar, with George W. Kelham as consulting architect. It holds some of the largest and most refined historic interiors in Los Angeles and keeps very high historic integrity. It also records the Club's move from a cramped Fifth and Hill Streets site to a larger facility suited to 1920s Los Angeles.","narrative":"Built in 1929-30 at 538 South Flower Street, the California Club is an eight-story clubhouse in downtown Los Angeles, immediately south of the Los Angeles Public Library and its park. Architect Robert D. Farquhar designed it in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, with George W. Kelham as consulting architect. The steel-frame building is clad in red-brown Roman brick, with restrained stone trim, a stone entrance surround, and a hipped clay tile roof above a series of setbacks. Inside, the Main Dining Room, Main Lounge and Great Hall feature oak paneling, marble pilasters, and ornate coffered plaster ceilings. The second-floor Ladies' Dining Room has murals by decorator Anthony Heinsbergen. The Club moved here from a small, noisy site at Fifth and Hill Streets that lacked parking and room to expand, while its rival, the Jonathan Club, had built a much larger clubhouse. Few changes have been made to the exterior or major interiors, and the Club still occupies the building.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Robert D. Farquhar, architect; George W. Kelham, consulting architect","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Italian Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still occupied by the Club as a clubhouse, described as in excellent condition with very high historic integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.786072-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/10000425.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000425/bbb431c5ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000425/bbb431c5ba-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Epolk","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:California_Club_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Epolk</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:California_Club_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859007","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Club","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5020327"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/california-club-the-10000425/"}