Draft:Pico-Burnside Baths
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Comment: Only addition is the 1995 article which is also LA Times. Avgeekamfot (talk) 10:44, 10 August 2026 (UTC)
City Spa & Health Center, formerly known as Pico-Burnside Baths, is a Russian-style bathhouse on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1955, the bathhouse has been associated with the Russian and Eastern European Jewish schvitz tradition in Los Angeles.[1]
The bathhouse has also been associated with the origins of WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, founded by artist and designer Leonard Koren in the 1970s.[2][3]
History
[edit]City Spa opened in 1955 as the Pico-Burnside Baths.[1] The establishment developed as a traditional Russian-style schvitz, a form of communal steam bathing associated in Los Angeles with Russian and Eastern European Jewish immigrant culture.[1]
A 1996 Los Angeles Times feature described City Spa as a gathering place whose clientele crossed ethnic, religious and professional lines. The article described Eastern European patrons, members of Los Angeles's Jewish community and people working in the entertainment industry using the bathhouse.[4]
In 1989, Kambiz Besharat and his brothers purchased the bathhouse and subsequently remodeled it. Besharat, whom the Los Angeles Times described as an Iranian Jew of Russian heritage, had visited Russian-style bathhouses with his father as a child.[1]
The establishment continued operating under the name City Spa & Health Center at 5325 West Pico Boulevard.[1]
Bathing tradition
[edit]City Spa follows traditions associated with the Russian schvitz. In its 2005 coverage, the Los Angeles Times described the bathhouse's Russian rock room, cold plunge and plaitza, a traditional treatment involving wet branches used in a heated steam room.[1]
The newspaper placed City Spa within a broader history of immigrant bathing traditions in Los Angeles, describing the schvitz as a ritual historically practiced by Russian and immigrant Jewish communities.[1]
A decade earlier, a 1996 Los Angeles Times profile had described City Spa as a social institution as well as a bathhouse, emphasizing the interactions among patrons from different cultural and religious backgrounds.[4]
Association with WET magazine
[edit]Pico-Burnside Baths became associated with the origins of WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, an influential Los Angeles-based publication founded by Leonard Koren.[2][3]
While studying architecture at UCLA in the 1970s, Koren organized an event at Pico-Burnside Baths that brought together guests in various states of dress and undress. Koren later recalled that the social atmosphere created by the event inspired him to develop a magazine devoted to bathing culture.[2]
LA Weekly reported in 2012 that the first party associated with WET was held at Pico-Burnside Baths.[3] The magazine subsequently became known for combining art, design, architecture and bathing culture.
In a 2025 feature examining Los Angeles bathing culture, the Los Angeles Times identified City Spa as the former Pico-Burnside Baths and noted the bathhouse's connection to Koren and WET.[2]
Historic significance
[edit]The property was evaluated as part of SurveyLA, the citywide historic-resources survey conducted by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. The survey identified the property as historically significant as the founding and longtime location of Pico-Burnside Baths, later City Spa.[5]
SurveyLA recorded the building's construction date as 1956 and identified its historic association with Los Angeles's Jewish community.[5]
The survey evaluation does not itself constitute designation as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Herman, Valli (April 14, 2005). "It's a purifying day in the neighborhood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Wittich, Courtney (May 13, 2025). "Steam, soak, repeat. Bathing in L.A. is an art — just ask these spa devotees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Rothman, Tibby (April 4, 2012). "WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, Which Celebrated Hot Tubs as a Metaphor in '70s Venice, Gets a New Book". LA Weekly. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- 1 2 Jordan, Michele (May 20, 1996). "Wizards of Aaahs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- 1 2 Wilshire Community Plan Area: Individual Resources (PDF). SurveyLA (Report). Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
External links
[edit]Category:Bathhouses in the United States Category:Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Category:Jewish culture in Los Angeles Category:1955 establishments in California
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