Downtown Los Angeles branch of in 2014Entry terrazzo to the Jonathan Club
Jonathan Club is a social club with two California locations—one in Downtown Los Angeles and the other abutting the beach in Santa Monica. The club is routinely ranked as one of the top clubs in the world by Platinum Clubs of America. Membership is by invitation only. As of 2024[update] the initiation fee, which the club does not publicize, is around $50,000 with monthly membership dues in addition to this to remain in good standing.
The club has two founding dates set in stone at the entrance to its Downtown Los Angeles building — 1894 (when it was a political club) and 1895 (when it segued into a non-political social club and was chartered by State of California). The club bases its anniversaries on the June 8, 1895 date.
For much of its history, the club was accused of discrimination.[citation needed] In 1965, the club was charged with "anti-Negro" and "anti-Jew" bias and a complaint was raised that the membership dues of Mayor Sam Yorty were being paid by city taxpayers to support such discrimination. Yorty told a news conference he knew nothing about such a circumstance. In 1975, the club did not admit women as members. Women guests were "limited to certain floors, dining rooms and entrances", though later policy changes allowed women to "use the main elevator and lobby" at the club. It voted to admit women in 1987, and today has more than 650 female members.
The club today
The club provides dining, events, and athletic and wellness programs for members. Jonathan Club partners with the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and provides volunteers and funding to civic organization L.A. Works to combat homelessness.
The Jonathan Club operates under laws for 501(c)(7) Social and Recreation Clubs. In 2025 it reported $39,537,990 in total revenue and $74,314,831 in total assets. The Jonathan Club Charitable Fund is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. In 2024 it reported total revenue of $672,720 and total assets of $4,919,373.
Past and present members
Prominent members include:
John D. Bicknell, founder of law firm that became Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Herman Wolf Hellman, founder of Farmers & Merchants Bank; real estate investor
Henry Huntington, railroad builder; land developer; rare art and book collector
Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, career U.S. Naval officer who perished aboard USS Arizona in 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor; posthumously received Medal of Honor
Earl Warren, governor of California; chief justice of U.S. Supreme Court
Hal Roach, comedy writer, director and producer; created Hal Roach Studios
Harold Lloyd, comedy movie star in silents and talkies; founded own studio
Edmund G. Brown, lawyer and politician; governor of California
Paul Gray Hoffman, automobile executive; president of Ford Foundation; received Medal of Freedom for work as first administrator of Marshall Plan after WWII
John A. McCone, industrialist; head of Atomic Energy Commission; director of CIA; headed McCone Commission to investigate causes of 1965 Watts riots and propose cures to avoid future outbreaks
Ronald Reagan, movie actor; governor of California; president of the United States
Arnold O. Beckman, prolific chemist and inventor; industrialist; funded first transistor company and fueled creation of Silicon Valley; philanthropist, including to Caltech where he studied and taught
Peter O’Malley, owner and president of Los Angeles Dodgers
Locations
In 1924, the Club opened its present location at 545 S. Figueroa Street, one block west of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Since 1927, the club has had a beach location in Santa Monica, in a building designed by architect Gene Verge, Sr.
