MATT’s team undertook an 18-month restoration at the Rose Garden Tea Room at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Originally built for Henry E. Huntington’s private billiard room and bowling alley in 1911, the building has served as the Rose Garden Tea Room–an iconic dining destination since it opened to the public in 1930. The historical portions of the building were preserved and restored while bringing the building up to the current code. In addition, the project upgraded the indoor dining room space, modernized the kitchen, developed new restrooms and ancillary areas, and created a pavilion on its eastern side, opening onto the Shakespeare Garden for exterior dining service. On the west side of the building, the room that opens out to the Rose Garden was renovated and is available for private rentals, in addition to being used for the Tea Room’s general service. The classic and historic tea room connects the indoor space to the physical elements of the surrounding outdoor gardens and makes for a unique tea experience.
The team seismically retrofitted the structural system of the original building while also upgrading the building with new mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems. Site improvements included landscaping for the Shakespeare Garden and new accessible travel paths on the east and west sides of the building.
