On October 14, 2024, the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission approved the Certificate of Appropriateness for the Miramar Santa Monica project (Project). In addition to preserving the landmarks of the property—the Moreton Bay Fig Tree and Palisades Building—the project includes adding new residential condominiums, restaurant and retail space, parking, and publicly-accessible open space. Involved since 2009, Chattel prepared a Historic Resources Assessment in 2010, the Landmark Designation Application in 2013 to designate the property as a Landmark Parcel consisting of the designated Moreton Bay Fig Tree, Palisades Wing, and verdant landscape. Chattel has been involved in the City of Santa Monica (City) entitlement process for the Project and activities associated with preparation of the Environmental Impact Report, certified in 2020. Chattel also prepared a Conformance Report and a Preservation Plan in 2024 and participated in design collaboration with architects Pelli Clarke & Partners and landscape architects GGN.

Built about 1888, the site of the Miramar Santa Monica was originally home to the 30-room mansion and grounds of Senator John Perceval Jones—one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. Sometime before 1900, the Fig Tree that still survives today was planted by Jones’ second wife, Georgina Frances Sullivan. Unlike any other parcel in Santa Monica, this property has always been a privately held, entire city block. After being sold to razor magnate King Gillette and his wife Atlanta around 1913, the next owner, J.C.H. Ivins—a hotelier and real estate agent—was the first to convert the property into a hotel and opening it to tourists in 1915. Owning the property from 1921 until 1929, Gilbert F. and Carrie Y. Stevenson constructed the Palisades Wing in 1924.

What was originally intended to be the northern third of a larger hotel designed by William Ache, the Palisades Wing is an L-shaped, six story apartment hotel of reinforced concrete frame construction in the Renaissance Revival style clad in brick and terra cotta, at the northeast corner of the property. The Palisades Wing was oriented to the garden at the west and Ocean Avenue, and did not provide any amenities typical of a hotel. Grand unrealized plans for the “Miramar Hotel and Apartments” included a total of 800 apartment hotel rooms, landscaping, and a clubhouse in the original Jones house were curtailed by the Great Depression and Stevenson was forced to sell the property. From 1932 until 1940, the Santa Monica Miramar Company ran the Miramar Hotel. All the buildings on the property apart from the Palisades Wing were demolished to prepare for a new development plan. By 1940, the Palisades Wing was painted white which lasted until the 1980s.

With several different ownership changes and additions to the property over the years, founder of Dell Technologies Michael S. and Susan Dell eventually purchased the property in 2006 with plans to upgrade the existing hotel. By this time, several new noncontributing buildings—including the Ocean Tower, Administration Building, and six bungalows—had been altered and the Palisades Wing and Fig Tree were the only features to survive relatively unaltered. The Fig Tree was designated as a historic resource in 1976 and the Palisades Wing (now known as the Palisades Building) and the entire property as a Landmark Parcel were designated as a City Landmark in 2013.

The Palisades Building would continue to function as part of the hotel with approximately 100 of the total 300 guestrooms, integrated with the modern buildings via hyphen connections to both the Ocean and California Buildings. Made of glass, the hyphens clearly distinguish the historic building from the new ones. The glazed architectural terra cotta features, remain relatively intact with overpaint and incompatible repair work. RLA Conservation of Arts & Architecture and Griswold Conservation Associates, LLC performed several rounds of tests and mock-ups on the terra cotta and brick features, providing recommendations and restoration treatments.

All the historic wooden, double-hung windows were replaced with contemporary aluminum sliding windows sometime after 1978. For the Project, these non-compatible windows will be replaced with Jeld-Wen aluminum clad wood windows to closely match historic. In the past, there was a sign that read “Hotel Miramar” in a block typeface atop the Palisades Building, visible from Ocean Avenue and Palisades Park. Constructed around 1940 and removed sometime between 1950 and 1969, it will be reconstructed based on historic photographs slightly north of its original location.

Bound by the Palisades, California, and Ocean Buildings, the Palisades Gardens will include an outdoor dining terrace, a pool, and a fountain in addition to a garden area designed in a similar style to a formal estate garden. The new design will improve the accessibility of the historic garden entrance which is being restored for modern use.

Plans for the new Miramar Gardens embrace the Fig Tree as a central feature. Replacing the driveway, an pedestrian deck—elevated above the buttressed root system for protection—will surround the Fig Tree along with a garden of primarily plants native to California. The Fig Tree would be visible and accessible to guests and the public from Ocean Avenue. A 130-foot wide porte cochere would be at Second Street, also hosting a view of the Fig Tree through the lobby. The lobby of the Ocean Building also visually connects the Palisades Building, Fig Tree, and their respective gardens. The redevelopment of the Miramar Santa Monica will improve upon hotel amenities while preserving and enhancing access to historic resources.

More information about the design and preservation efforts of the Miramar Santa Monica can be found in these following videos. Click to watch!