New Day for an Old Hotel in Pasadena

Let the good times roll. The gallant Huntington in Pasadena has debuted as the haute couture Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel after an elegant $100 million refurbishing. The hotel promises to be the drawing card for major social events in the Southland.

Although the landmark hotel--scene of a variety of memorable occasions since 1906--doesn’t officially reopen until next Monday, the Junior League of Pasadena put on the ritz and staged two rousing “Center Stage” high-tech fashion galas on Saturday.

At the luncheon and fashion show earlier in the day, 1,000 people attended; 400 others had to be turned away. That evening, nearly 750 took tours of the hotel and crowded into The Ballroom for a black-tie dinner and the second fashion show. Later, celebrants hopped on the fashion ramp--an act of derring-do because the ramp was none too wide--and danced past midnight.

Other than the Beverly Hills Hotel, perhaps no other Southland hotel is swathed in so much history. The Huntington opened in 1907 as the Hotel Wentworth, but construction after the San Francisco earthquake called workers away, thus delaying completion. Heavy rains drenched the Wentworth’s inaugural season, and owner Marshall Wentworth went into bankruptcy.

In 1911, Henry Huntington purchased the site and renamed it the Huntington. The hotel had its heyday in the 1920s, although the stock market crash and the Great Depression caused lean years.

During World War II, the Army commandeered the hotel, paying a $3,000 monthly fee. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, the Huntington was the scene of debutante balls, weddings and cotillions. But by 1985, it was closed in compliance with earthquake-safety requirements.

The elegant re-do is better than Maine Chance or a face lift. Owners James M. Galbraith, Lary J. Mielke and William R. Zimmerman, who, with Tom Tellefsen, have overseen the rebuilding with Gemtel Corp. and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., were beaming smiles at the ballroom entrance. So were league president Joan Fauvre and Center Stage chairman Lynn McCarthy.

Spike and Debby Booth, Brenda and Bruce Owen, Susan and Stephen Chandler, Cynthia and Terry Perruca and Andrea Gregg (former Center Stage chairman down from Seattle) were among those looking in on the old Georgian Room (formerly a ballroom and now the hotel’s main dining room). They also toured The Grill (with models from the Huntington’s old Ship Room cocktail area) and the gilted and glorious Venetian Room.

What the audience also wanted to see was “Cirque du Chic,” the fashion show inspired by the renowned Cirque de Soleil circus. Agile professional acrobats in elegant costumes wowed the audience. Then Lloyd Hutchins and Margret McWilliams opened the fashion show, followed by prancing and swaggering league member models: Patty Zuber, Lynn DeGroot, Laurie Dryden, Kelly Talt, Lori Vis, Renee Weir, Cornell Chulay, Marcia Penido, Kathleen Capalbo, Dottie Cloughterty, Sarah Shelton, Rita Bristol, Linan Ukropina and Laurie Patruno. As each appeared, the decibel level of cheering guests--not at all shy--rose.

McCarthy stood as her husband, John, sashayed on the runway, applauded by good friends Maribeth and Hal Borthwick. Proud parents cheered on some very cute young models--Sara Alexander, Wynne Cathcart and Melissa Cartelli.

For the celebration, waiters from Ritz Carlton hotels in Laguna Niguel and Marina del Rey worked alongside the Huntington’s waiters in training.

Catherine Krell estimates the evening will net $160,000.