Blue Baths

The Blue Baths occupy a Spanish Mission style building distinguished by its creamy stucco walls and vibrant blue-tiled roof. Constructed in nineteen thirty-one, the facility was designed to provide a glamorous escape during the economic hardships of the Great Depression. A young woman named Jean Batten, New Zealand’s pioneering aviator, once caused a public stir here by swimming in a silk bathing suit. The local council had strictly enforced a modest dress code, but the star pilot successfully defied their rules.