A menu for the "Quaker Room" restaurant at the William Penn hotel showed up on eBay and it got me thinking about the place. It's been called The Sinclair since 2020 and most of the theming is gone (that lobby fireplace is still pretty nice) but the exterior is fairly intact. It's not just the architectural changes (I'm guessing parapet ordinance?) but the loss of the name makes me think about how folks a century ago had such interest in early American history and British history and how those things are not so much in the zeitgeist today. I think about how later owners probably don't care and maybe don't even understand the meaning behind the details and names that tell a story. I took it as an opportunity to read about William Penn and downtown-adjacent "microloft" living.
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929658445_2193d5173f_b.jpg)
Menu on eBay
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929671645_4cbf1d58d0_z.jpg)
Matchbook detail
Matchbookalbum.com
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/WilliamPenn.jpg)
William Penn on Wikipedia
William Penn Hotel (1928, Rust & Chapman) ?? Is that what it looks like to you?
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929711625_3edc64a15d_b.jpg)
5/2/28 permit
LADBS
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53928357467_45732a16d9_b.jpg)
The William Penn Hotel in 1929
Dick Whittington Photography Collection/USC
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929711995_dd0da43c99_b.jpg)
The William Penn Hotel in 1982
William Reagh/California State Library
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929711630_3078d8cb9b_b.jpg)
2014
GSV
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929603724_609f4f6d4e_b.jpg)
2023
GSV
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53929603804_38dacac7ac_b.jpg)
Lobby fireplace in 2019
Yelp
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-...hl76GT4zPYn3DA