I took these pictures on Friday, July 8th, 2022. These photos were taken at 1212 Bar in Santa Monica, CA, which is on one end of the Third Street Promenade. Shortly after taking these pictures, I tripped over a curb and broke a bone in my foot.
But enough about me, this restroom lock is WILD. Let’s dive in!
Man, where to even BEGIN with this!
As you can see, it’s got a rectangular boxy housing with four screws in the corners. There’s a handle on the outside of it which, when twisted up and down, will make the latch extrude or retract.
The handle itself is unusual – it’s so trapezoidal that it’s nearly triangular. It’s a fascinating choice to angle this in both length and in depth!
Look at the latch next. Don’t miss the fact that it actually extends out the back of the casing too, going all the way through the entire apparatus. That is one LONG bolt! Probably the longest bolt I’ve ever seen, and it’s thick, too, just like the rest of this set. This is some heavy duty bathroom locking.
The most notable part here though is the addition of the screw drilled into the door just above the casing, which stops the latch from rotating clockwise past the 10:00 mark or so. This extra little engineering was presumably done because, otherwise, the latch would keep rotating – perhaps forever? What would happen without that screw, would the latch just keep being pushed out until it fell to the floor?? Who on Earth would make a lock like this??
In the other direction, if we were to rotate the latch counter-clockwise, we’d be stuck at the 11:00 mark, and the bolt would be retracted but still safely in the housing. The screw prevents rotations beyond this one specific instance.
It just baffles me that it’s necessary in the first place. How bizarre. How bizarre!
There are some other interesting things going on here too. The keeper is obviously a different metal with different screws and a different height, so it’s obviously from some other set, making the lock’s origins even more mysterious. (Or, if it IS from the same set, it further calls into question the design abilities of this company.)
You can see other screws and screw holes around the lock, suggesting that different locks and different keepers have been used, making me wonder just how many times they change out these bathroom doors. You’ll note screws for a handle on the other side, with a faded impression of where a handle probably used to be on this side. And there’s another handle on this side below that now too, obviously to offset the screwing locations.
Wider views reveal a doorstop and a square coat hook, which I always enjoy.
The overall vibe of this bathroom is very nice, good wood, nice floors, consistent design in the ceiling. But the fixtures are absolutely wild here. I’ve never seen a restroom door lock like this one at 1212, and I probably never will again. Gosh, I was lucky.
I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did! Wow!