LA's Art Deco & Beaux Art Architecture: Private Walking Tour
Description
Immerse yourself in the largely unknown architectural splendour of downtown Los Angeles, and explore some of the most incredible buildings of geometric patterns, brilliant colours, and luxurious materials that characterised Art Deco and its predecessor, Beaux Art. On your private tour, you will see glimmering marble columns, an art-deco library saved from demolition, Greek temples, and buildings designed to emulate the Paris exposition of 1925. You’ll wander through the jewellery district and see one of LA’s old movie theatre companies, which still evokes the feelings of ‘Old Hollywood’. Your tour will end in Santee Alley, where your guide will take you through a bit of the market before parting with you. Your guide will be the best source of food advice for downtown, so be sure not to miss out on all the spots where you can go on a culinary adventure.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Begin your tour at the Los Angeles City Hall, an iconic building in the city used in the films industry many times due to its eclectic style. Then, head towards the LA Courthouse, an Art Moderne architecture example.
Admire the Bradbury Building, a recognised landmark in LA and one of the oldest surviving Beau-Arts architecture buildings downtown.
Walk to Title Guarantee Building from 1930, a former office building now loft-style apartments which showcase the verticality of Art Deco style.
Explore Pershing Square where your tour guide will tell you about Art Deco and Beaux Art that precedes that period and show an example of a Beaux-Arts building which is the 1925 Biltmore hotel.
Discover the CalEdison building from 1931 on a prominent corner where you might be able to enter to see spectacular types of marble on the floor and columns.
See Los Angeles Central Library from 1926, an example of an early Art Deco style saved from demolition in 1978 by Los Angeles Conservatory.
Admire the Oviatt Building, with parts built in the Romanesque Revival style and others changed to resemble the Art Deco style after the owner visited the Paris exposition in 1925, and pass by PacMutual original from 1908 that resembles a Greek temple which was remodelled in the 1930s to give it an Art Deco look.
End your tour at the spectacular Eastern Columbia Building with its iconic clock tower and the spectacular greenish terra cotta originally built as a department store, now luxury condominiums one still owned by Johnny Depp.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(4)
Learned a lot about downtown Los Angeles architecture and history. Eloi was fun and knowledgeable. Highly recommended.
So nice to have a private tour. Tom was super knowledgeable, and we learned a lot from him. He made sure we hit all the items on our list and is willing to adjust as needed. We went through the Grand Central Market and were able to stop and have a small meal before moving on. We're lucky that we are used to walking tours. But it was still a challenge (about 16K steps). Highly recommend this tour!
Dear Michael, Tom will be delighted to hear how much you appreciated his knowledge, flexibility! Thank you for sharing your kind message with us, we will pass on your complements to Tom. Thank you so much for you high recommendation. It means the world to us. We hope to welcome you back on another tour soon. Warmest wishes!
Sam was so knowledgeable of the history of the city as well as the buildings. He shared a few beautiful hidden gems in the downturn area that we loved. My son is interested & intrigued by architecture & this was the perfect tour for that! A surprise rooftop viewing was especially nice!
Dear Ashley, it sounds like you had an exceptional experience with Sam as your guide. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed the hidden gems and that your son loved the architectural part of the tour! We love that you also enjoyed the rooftop viewing with your son. We would love to see any photos you captured along the way. We hope to welcome you back for more adventures. Best wishes!
Meeting Mary Lunch in the market Disney theater Old church (not part of tour) Angels flite (spilt diet coke)
Dear Leigh, thank you for sharing your experience with us! It sounds like you had an adventure meeting Mary and exploring the market and sights like the Disney Theatre and Angels Flight. We're sorry to hear about the spilled Diet Coke—hopefully, that didn't put a damper on your day! We’d love to hear more about your time with us and what stood out for you. We hope to welcome you back on another Travel Curious adventure!
