My Tiki Hut and Bar in Echo Park

When I first joined Tiki Central I said I was planning on making a Tiki Bar. Well, it first started with way too many mugs but one day me and my wife stumbled upon a Witco Bar with 4 stools. After much deliberation we said screw it and bought ourselves the Witco Bar. We live in a 600 square foot house in the hills of Echo Park (Los Angeles) and thus we were in desperate need of a place to store the bar. So I tore down an old gazebo and slowly rebuild it as a Tiki Hut.

A few design thoughts were taken into consideration. We always liked the classy look of the Beverly Hills Trader Vic's and noticed that they used bamboo to a minimum. So, for the most part we stayed away from bamboo except for the ceiling covering. For the roof we wanted to stay away from anything too flammable since we do live in Los Angeles. So I chose corrugated metal taking my cue from Bob Brooks' 7 Seas. Just like 7 seas, I plan on having a sprinkler on the roof for a simulated rain storm accentuated by the loud sounds of the water hitting the roof. The interior wood is redwood and pine stained with "Dark Walnut" and covered with 3 layers on low gloss Tung Oil. The floor and back bar though are covered with three layers of Varathene Oil Polyurethane.

The boxing squirrels! A wedding gift..

The bar at night with some candles.

Although the Witco bar and chairs were in pretty good shape, it still needed some TLC. 2 of the stools had worn down to the bare wood. I refinished them with a Dark Walnut stain and put a tung Oil coat on it (low gloss I believe). They matched the other 2 stools perfectly. We upholstered the bar stools with a dark red nougahyde. The 3 original panels on the bar were gone and instead were covered in some weird Hawaiian fabric stapled on cardboard. So I bought some wood and with some Tapa from Oceanic Arts, I redid the panels.

The bar still needs some finishing work as well as electrical, plumbing, more decorating, lighting, all the landscaping, the hardscaping, etc.. A lot of work to do but the hut is 90% there and we wanted to share it.

Hope you like it!

The corrugated A-frame roof looks great! The boxing squirrels are a great touch of classic bar humor.

Your first lamp acquisition should be a fishnet float light to hang from the Outrigger beam over the entrance. The decision to have no bamboo at all strikes me as a little hard core, the "tropical hardwood" look is best achieved with...tropical hardwoods. Will the bar back wall get a mural? Tropical stick shades that are see thru like at the Kona Kai below...

...would look good on the windows...these are all mere suggestions, of course, you have demonstrated to have a great eye so far. Just don't put a heart on the entrance door... :wink:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-01-15 21:17 ]

Excellent job...
When's happy hour?

Big Bro!

Some awesome suggestions and I'll take 'em to heart. I know bamboo will eventually seep itself into the Tiki Bar and thus I started without any - a clean canvas if you will.However, I'm going to bring in some subtle bamboo edging to hide rope light for the ceiling I think. I would have loved to have used Teak and Mahogany but I was financially restricted with exotic woods from the Home Depot. The windows are a really cool idea and I'll try to use 'em. they do need to be water proof though as the location does bring in rain through the windows.

Indeed, I will get a floater light for the front of the hut. Would look really cool and quite perfect. Also, I agree that the back wall needs something different. The American flag is something I picked up at a thrift store and is actually from the 50's. To some extent I have always liked the connection between Tiki and the US in the Pacific during WWII. Thus the American flag to give it that Michener "Tales of the South Pacific" feel. I actually thought I had bought a 48 star flag but upon closer examination once I got home it had 50. Regardless, the flag is temporary until we get something more tropical. We saw the Witco outrigger wall piece and thought that might be nice. Although the orange might be a bit too kitschy. Thus, indeed maybe a mural. Would you actually suggest painting something on the back wall?

Again thanks for all the great ideas and taking the time to respond.

Very Cool Tatoo! Great looking space you have built. The flag above the bar reminds me of another bar that Donn Beach built long ago.
The original Don the Beachcomber location not far from you that started all of this.
The metal roof must sound great with the rain hitting it and sound effects!

On 2008-01-15 16:48, Tattoo wrote:
When I first joined Tiki Central I said I was planning on making a Tiki Bar. Well, it first started with way too many mugs but one day me and my wife stumbled upon a Witco Bar with 4 stools. After much deliberation we said screw it and bought ourselves the Witco Bar. We live in a 600 square foot house in the hills of Echo Park (Los Angeles) and thus we were in desperate need of a place to store the bar. So I tore down an old gazebo and slowly rebuild it as a Tiki Hut.

A few design thoughts were taken into consideration. We always liked the classy look of the Beverly Hills Trader Vic's and noticed that they used bamboo to a minimum. So, for the most part we stayed away from bamboo except for the ceiling covering. For the roof we wanted to stay away from anything too flammable since we do live in Los Angeles. So I chose corrugated metal taking my cue from Bob Brooks' 7 Seas. Just like 7 seas, I plan on having a sprinkler on the roof for a simulated rain storm accentuated by the loud sounds of the water hitting the roof. The interior wood is redwood and pine stained with "Dark Walnut" and covered with 3 layers on low gloss Tung Oil. The floor and back bar though are covered with three layers of Varathene Oil Polyurethane.

The boxing squirrels! A wedding gift..

The bar at night with some candles.

Although the Witco bar and chairs were in pretty good shape, it still needed some TLC. 2 of the stools had worn down to the bare wood. I refinished them with a Dark Walnut stain and put a tung Oil coat on it (low gloss I believe). They matched the other 2 stools perfectly. We upholstered the bar stools with a dark red nougahyde. The 3 original panels on the bar were gone and instead were covered in some weird Hawaiian fabric stapled on cardboard. So I bought some wood and with some Tapa from Oceanic Arts, I redid the panels.

The bar still needs some finishing work as well as electrical, plumbing, more decorating, lighting, all the landscaping, the hardscaping, etc.. A lot of work to do but the hut is 90% there and we wanted to share it.

Hope you like it!

That's a cool looking hut. I like the dark stain. A little bamboo or even rattan would bring in some contrast. I too am going to be building a bar & turning our patio into a tiki paradise. Thanks for some ideas.