Hotel Laguna
An article about the current restoration of Hotel Laguna in Laguna Beach referred to it as “a blighted but beloved landmark”. Henry Goff built the Alpha Hotel on the site in 1888 and rebuilt it within months after it was destroyed by fire. It was abandoned amid the depression in the 1890s, to be purchased, expanded and renamed Hotel Laguna in 1897 by Joseph Yoch. By the 1920s, Laguna Beach was an established art colony and growing rapidly. Yet in the midst of a building boom, the hotel declined, was condemned as a fire hazard and razed. Today’s Hotel Laguna, a California Mission-style three-story building with Spanish arches and bell tower, opened in 1930. It declined as it passed through several owners before being shuttered December 31, 2017. A commemorative ribbon-cutting on October 12, 2021, reopened the ground floor with two restaurants.
Laguna Beach, Orange County
Photographer: John Bare