L. Frank Baum at Hotel Del Coronado
The historic and elegant Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego County, which was built in 1888, is where part of the Oz series was written by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) while he stayed there between 1904 and 1910, according to the Hotel Del Coronado website at hoteldel.com/timeline/author-l-frank-baum. Baum also designed two chandeliers that remained in the esteemed Crown Room.
Because of the Hotel’s connection to L. Frank Baum, you may find an “Oz” display in one of the many gift shops on the lower level of the main building. The shop is open to hotel guests as well as to the public, and includes a wide range of literary and history-themed souvenirs.
While in the store, you may be able to watch a comedy classic such as Some Like It Hot (1958), starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The exterior of the Hotel Del Coronado was featured prominently in that feature film, which was named the #1 comedy of all time by the American Film Institute, according to https://www.afi.com.
Other notable guests of the Hotel Del Coronado include Presidents Benjamin Harrison, William Taft, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush; numerous families of vice presidents; Charlie Chaplin; Charles Lindbergh; Michelle Obama; Will Rogers; Jimmy Stewart; and Mae West.
More About the Author
Read more about classic US author L. Frank Baum and his literary legacy through our DC and Kansas pages.
Hotel Del Coronado is the first stop on the California Author Adventures Trail, if traveling south to north, or the final stop for those traveling north to south.
Patricia Smart
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