Whittier

#276: Standard Oil Building (Whittier)

#276: Standard Oil Building (Whittier)

January 10, 2026
The Standard Oil Building is one of Whittier's oldest office buildings, dating from an era when the hills just east of Whittier were covered in oil derricks. Since Standard left in 1930, it's had a second and third life as a college dorm and a restaurant/retail complex. But it's still got many of the charms of its original mission revival design.
#272: Hotel Hoover (Whittier)

#272: Hotel Hoover (Whittier)

November 19, 2025
For 95 years now, the old Hotel Hoover has housed travelers, permanent residents and low-income elderly folks. The building itself is a fine (if loose) interpretation of Spanish colonial architecture. Also worthy of your attention is the story of the Oak Room, the steakhouse downstairs that gave Whittier its first cocktail lounge, helping to lubricate this formerly dry town.