This historic building was built in 1908 by Abbot Kinney*, the founder of Venice Beach. The Venice Rose Hotel was turned into a hotel in the 1920's and in the 1950's, it was purchased by Helen Neal, who raised her two sons, Tom and Dick, on the property. 

*Abbot Kinney, a wealthy tobacco mogul, world-traveler and co-owner of Ocean Park Casino and Resort, envisioned a resort town culturally reminiscent of Venice.  He called it "Venice of America" complete with canals, gondolas, amusement piers, hotels, and beautiful Venetian buildings. 

His dream of "Coney Island of the Pacific" was realized on July 4, 1905 when he transformed a deteriorating marshland west of Los Angeles into an amazing miniature version of Venice, Italy with 16 miles of canals.

In 1929, most of the canals were filled in to accommodated the new automobile boom.  In 1994, the City of Los Angeles refurbished the six remaining canals to their original condition.  Today the canals are home to some of L.A.'s most beautiful homes and Venice Beach, which is the 2nd most popular Southern California destination (Disneyland being #1)