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Our story
A 1958 garden court, reopened.
Lumina was built as apartments for the people who made the movies. Today it is a 24-room hotel, run by a small team that still keeps the pool at 82°F.
The building went up on Franklin Avenue in 1958: two storeys of apartments around a kidney-shaped pool, with breeze-block walls to catch the wind and terrazzo floors to keep the rooms cool. Its first tenants were scene painters, editors and screenwriters from the studios over the hill.
By the time we found it, the pool had been filled in and the terrazzo was under three layers of carpet. We spent two years taking things back: the pool reopened, the floors were ground and polished by hand, and the courtyard was replanted with the monstera, bird of paradise and banana that the old photographs showed. A third and fourth floor, set back from the street, added the Terrace Rooms and the roof.
How we run the place
We are a small team of twenty-two, most of whom live within a few miles. There is no resort fee and no upselling at check-in. Breakfast is included because a hotel should feed you in the morning. And if you want a dinner tip, a quiet room or a later check-out, ask: the answer is usually yes.
Timeline
From apartments to a hotel.
- 1958
Garden apartments built around a pool on Franklin Avenue.
- 1987
The pool is filled in and the courtyard paved over.
- 2021
Restoration begins: terrazzo, breeze block, a new old pool.
- 2023
Lumina opens with 24 rooms, the Sunroom and the roof.
Guest notes
What people tell us.
We did not plan to spend a whole afternoon on the terrace, and then we did. The morning bun alone is worth the drive from Pasadena.
The light at six is exactly what they say it is. Quiet room, very good bed, staff who remembered how I take my coffee by day two.
Two kids, one pool and a living room between the bedrooms. That layout saved our holiday. The bikes were a big hit.
Warm enough to swim in January. I worked from the courtyard every morning and walked to Vermont for dinner.
Plan your stay
Your room, the pool, and the hills at the end of the street.
Send us your dates and we will reply within two hours with the right room and the total. No payment until you confirm.