With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Virtual Tour Shows The Stunning Tile Murals In An Old Downtown Chocolate Shop
LOADING - Dutch Chocolate Shop
While you can't personally go and check out the ornately tiled Dutch Chocolate Shop, you can get a glimpse of the space and its 21 murals via a new virtual tour.
The Dutch Chocolate Shop, located at 217 W. Sixth Street in downtown Los Angeles, is covered in tile work from Pasadena artist and tile maker Ernest Batchelder. Built in 1914, it is mean to look like a German beer hall, and 21 murals depict various town scenes. Impressively, each tile is handmade. Though it is a Historic-Cultural Monument, the space is not open to the public. As Curbed LA reports, it has been shut down for the last two years while the owner, Charles Aslan, has been trying to get another exit put in, which would allow him to get a certificate of occupancy for a restaurant.
Craig Sauer has been working with Esotouric on a number of virtual tours, offering us a glimpse into many locations that are often hidden from view. For instance, he did a tour of the basement and tunnels Barclay Hotel, as well as the currently defunct Angel's Flight. Sauer uses a Matterport 3D camera and accompanying software to create a 360 view that you can move through by clicking circles scattered throughout the image. Sauer told Curbed LA that he intentionally made points at which each mural can be observed.
Support for LAist comes from
After its days of being the Chocolate Shop were over, the space became Finney's Cafeteria and then a Metro PCS store. At one point, it became an arcade where various odds and ends were sold. The tiles had been covered up, only to be rediscovered when Aslan bought the property and unearthed them in 2012. Ken Bernstein with the Office of Historic Resources told the L.A. Times in a 2012 article, "It's certainly one of the most beautiful and extravagant tile interiors in Los Angeles or anywhere. It's a remarkable example of the use of ceramic tile and a preeminent example of Batchelder's work."
According to a site that extensively catalogues historic tile installations in the United States:
The Chocolate Shoppe, which was Batchelder’s biggest commission up until that time [1914], was/is completely covered in his chocolatey brown work--floor, walls, and ceiling, with larger tiles - around 4” x 4” - laid into the walls while bigger murals beneath the groined arches are more mosaic. The Shoppe was to serve as a prototype for a whole chain of soda parlors, each with a different European country as its theme. For whatever reason - some say it was the high cost of Batchelder’s work - this never came to pass, and the 6th Street location was the first and last Chocolate Shoppe.* Opened in 1914 to satisfy the new fad for hot chocolate, the architectural firm of Plummer and Feil commissioned ceramic tile-maker Ernest Batchelder to do the interior. The tiles, all made in Batchelder's Pasadena studio, were sculptured with fanciful Dutch scenes...the windmillls of Holland, dairy maids in wooden shoes, chandeliers of glass milk buckets, etc.**
Los Angeles Visionaries Association (LAVA) made a video inside the shop where you can learn more about the space from tile expert Brian Kaiser.
You can follow developments on the possible reopening and see more photos of the space here.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Restaurants share resources in the food hall in West Adams as Los Angeles reckons with increasing restaurant closures. -
It will be the second national day of protest against President Donald Trump. -
The university says the compact, as the Trump administration called it, could undermine free inquiry and academic excellence. -
Metro officials said it will be able to announce an opening date “soon.” -
While working for the county, the DA’s office alleges that 13 employees fraudulently filed for unemployment, claiming to earn less than $600 a week. -
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to declare immigration enforcement actions a local emergency.
Best of LAist