The Huntington
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2100
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The Huntington Gallery is currently closed for renovation. Visit "The Blue Boy," "Pinkie," and other favorite works of British and French art in the Erburu Gallery during the renovation. The former home of Henry and Arabella Huntington, built in 1911, the Huntington Gallery is undergoing extensive electrical, plumbing, and seismic repairs. The work is expected to take 18 months to two years and is scheduled to be complete in the summer of 2008. |
Huntington Gallery Renovation
The Huntington Residence to re-open in
May 2008 after a two-year renovation
Designed in the style of an Italian villa by the esteemed Los Angeles architect Myron Hunt, the Huntington mansion, constructed between 1909 and 1911, was one of the most elaborate houses built in Southern California at the time. Henry Huntington wanted a palatial setting in which to display his growing art collections, and his treasures were indeed an integral part of the living environment — Mr. Huntington read in the library room amid British grand portraiture and Louis XV furniture with Boucher tapestries hanging on the walls.
Since opening to the public in 1928, more than 30 million visitors have passed through the historic house to see important paintings by Gainsborough, Lawrence, Hogarth, Reynolds, Turner, and Constable as well as major pieces of French decorative arts, and sculpture.
The house is, in a sense, the fundamental work of art “collected” by Mr. Huntington at the San Marino Ranch. Decades of lean finances has meant, however, that the institution has not been able to keep up with the relentless degradation caused by the effects of sun, rain, and the passage of time. Major repairs and maintenance have been underfunded, deferred, or undertaken only on an emergency basis. The building’s mechanical and electrical systems, state-of-the-art for their period, are now well beyond their useful lives and present critical safety issues. (A faulty electrical circuit started the 1985 fire that caused extensive smoke damage and destroyed a painting by Reynolds.) Water leaks have caused damage to the structure in recent years.
The Rose Hills Foundation Donates Lead Gift
Fortunately, a lead gift of $10 million from the Los Angeles-based Rose Hills Foundation enabled The Huntington to get under way with the major renovation project. The total cost for the project will be about $20 million and will take two years to complete..
“We are extremely grateful to The Rose Hills Foundation for its generosity and commitment to The Huntington,” said Huntington President Steven Koblik. “This is a strategic leadership gift that has allowed us to move forward in addressing our most pressing physical challenge – repair of a very significant architectural treasure in Southern California.”
The Ahmanson Foundation has also made two grants totaling $1.5 million. Gifts also include $1 million from Paul and Heather Haaga and $500,000 from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
“The house is of immense importance in the architectural history of Southern California, a splendid example of the way in which Myron Hunt sought to merge a classical Mediterranean lifestyle with the California dream,” said John Murdoch, Hannah and Russel Kully Director of Art Collections. The building’s basic structure is a reinforced concrete frame, one of the first applications of this type of seismic engineering in a residential project in the United States.
Subsequent work in the 1970s strengthened the building significantly, but only partially — and with now-dated technology. The structure is being reinforced for earthquake safety and the mechanical and electrical systems entirely replaced.
Huntington Trustee Anne Rothenberg chairs the Art Collections Committee and has been working with Huntington staff and architects on the project. The renovation, she said, will preserve the original feeling of the house on the ground floor, albeit with a new lighting system and new presentation of the principal full-length portraits.
The upstairs will see the addition of two new galleries. One gallery will be used to display the fruits of the French Art Research Project — French furniture, sculpture, decorative arts and textiles from 1680 to 1800 that have recently undergone conservation. The other gallery will be used to display the institution’s significant William Morris collection.
“The house is the heart of the institution, said Rothenberg. “This restoration is going to renew and refresh it but also add space for the display of additional collections. It will continue to serve as the linchpin for the plan of the entire institution but with a wonderful fresh sparkle that would make Mr. Huntington proud.”