The Jonathan Club always seemed like one of those LA places I'd never get into—so unlikely, in fact, that I never tried and never even added it to my bucket list.
But then the Los Angeles Conservancy hosted public tours at the end of January—and finally, my ship came in.
Honestly, I knew the Jonathan Club by reputation only—as an exclusive members-only club for people much fancier than I am—and never raelly noticed its Downtown Los Angeles headquarters, which was completed in 1925. (I feel like I would've noticed that weird bridge at the top floor, had I only looked up.)
The Jonathan Club itself dates all the way back to 1895—but just over a century ago, it upgraded from the Pacific Electric Building to its current clubhouse (the "Town Club"), where its sprawling parking facilities (accessible off 6th Street) were the talk of the town.
A new modern parking annex was added to the north end of the building in 1958—and today, the two blend seamlessly inside and offer luxury amenities like gas pumps and super-fast valet service thanks to a belt manlift (click for video).
In fact, most people these days enter from the valet drop-off area in the newer parking garage—and not through the front door facing Figueroa, where you can stand on the terrazzo sidewalk inlaid with the Jonathan Club insignia.
The lobby has changed over time—the ladies-only elevator was ripped out—but it's still a showcase of the Italian Renaissance Revival style of the architectural firm Schultze and Weaver. If it looks a bit like a hotel lobby, that's probably because they also dreamed up the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown LA and the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC.
The beam ceilings, however, were painted by Giovanni "John" Battista Smeraldi, a Vatican-trained Italian artist probably best-known for his work on the ceiling of New York's Grand Central Terminal.
A former barber shop near the parking entrance has been converted into a coffee shop...
...retaining all its original marble-framed mirrors at each of the barbering stations.
But in a corner in the back, you can still get a shave and a haircut—and even a shoeshine.
Upstairs on the second floor is the stunning reading room...
...which leads to the library that railroad magnate Henry Huntington (also a Jonathan Club member) helped get started by donating hundreds of books.
Hollywood set designers contributed intricate wood carvings of literary and philosophical figures like Shakespeare, Dante, Cicero, and Hippocrates.
The third floor is home to event spaces like the Florentine Room, where non-member guests might find themselves at a wedding or some other party, dancing and drinking under original chandeliers, glowing in shocking cobalt blue.
The bronze sconces on the travertine walls of the Main Dining Room are original, too...
...as is yet another ceiling painted by Smeraldi.
You've got to go even farther upstairs to the fifth floor, entirely dedicated to fitness and wellness with a spa, basketball court...
...and a swimming pool (a.k.a. natatorium), recently restored by Tim Barber Architects to bring in more natural light and replace some 1960s-era wall tiles that didn't match with ones that go with the original.
From the fifth floor, you can reach another event space—one that's located on top of that more modern parking structure, where a running track used to be. It's The Great Lawn, an outdoor party area with artificial turf and plenty of fresh air that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The best part up there is the view of other Downtown Los Angeles landmarks, like Central Library...
...and the spacey, mirrored towers of the Bonaventure Hotel.
Now, the Jonathan Club is officially 12 stories high—but there's yet another, unnamed 13th floor above that.
Even with that extra top floor, the building complies with the 150-foot height limit at the time—but you can't take the elevator all the way up there. You have to get off at the 12th floor and then take another staircase up to the rooftop patio (now known as Skybar). Reportedly, this whole area could be sealed off at a moment's notice during Prohibition-era raids.
From Skybar, you can see that there's another rooftop patio at the other end of the building, with an exterior connection to the middle of the building's horseshoe shape. (That's that triangular bridge that's visible from the street.)
To get there, you've got to walk through The Sunroom—a former exterior porch that's been enclosed.
In 2023, a renovation revealed original Batchelder tiles on multiple pillars, hidden for ages under drywall—and now proudly displayed and preserved, thanks to Silverlake Conservation. (The Jonathan Club claims Ernest Batchelder as a historic member, but I haven't been able to independently verify this.)
Massive arched windows provide more skyline views...
...while the skybridge leads to the north rooftop patio.
It's clearly the headquarters for LA's elite, the upper crust of society and business—though the club itself was named after "Brother Jonathan," a political cartoon character who represented a kind of everyman in early America. Maybe the Los Angeles power brokers of the late 19th century and early 20th century saw themselves as just regular guys.
And they were, in fact, exclusively men—until 1987, when the Jonathan Club finally admitted women as full-fledged members. But even then, it took another two years before the ladies would get full access to the bars and dining facilities (including a restaurant that was long known as the "Men's Grill").
By then, the Jonathan Club had long been accused of other exclusionary and discriminatory practices, particularly in curating its invite-only membership based on race or faith. Some of its founding members had been Jewish—but among the California membership clubs' policies towards Jews, the Jonathan Club was "the toughest of all," a Los Angeles Times article said.
As for me, I just wanted to get into the clubhouse, and not the club itself. I've got my hands full with the LA Breakfast Club and all the historical societies and conservatory groups I've joined.
And if I was going to spring for something that was truly for members only, it would probably be the Magic Castle (or Club 33, if I were to ever be so lucky).
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