One of L.A.'s most recognizable beautiful buildings isn't typically open to the public—but your one chance this year to peek inside is rapidly approaching.
Bullocks Wilshire, the Art Deco department store turned law school on the edge of Koreatown, is usually only accessible to Southwestern Law School students and faculty. But over one weekend each summer, the school opens up the historic building to public tours through two ticketed events.
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
On Sunday, July 30, visitors can acquaint themselves with the 1920s building's interior through docent-led tours. Tickets are already on sale; a limited number of reservations are available across five time slots and cost $25 per person.
On the previous day, "A Summer Day at Bullocks Wilshire" complements the tour with high tea or lunch off of the original Bullocks Wilshire menu—though unfortunately the $75 tickets have already sold out. If you missed out, you'll just have to settle for this Huell Howser episode recorded on the dining room's final day.
If you've ever driven down Wilshire Boulevard, you've inevitably spotted the landmark building's tarnished copper tower and trim. Bullocks Wilshire was built in a time when the street was lined with Art Deco structures that catered to a new age of automobile-driven luxury. Unlike older stores that catered to pedestrians walking in from the sidewalk, the grand entrance of the Wilshire Bullocks actually resides on its south side facing the parking lot; its elegant tower along Wilshire Boulevard sure isn't too shabby, though. Department stores eventually fell out of fashion, and after withstanding a takeover by Macy's, the L.A. Riots and a few cases of arson, the store eventually shuttered in 1993. Southwestern Law School soon acquired the property and meticulously restored its Art Deco details to how they first appeared back in 1929.
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