San Dimas Hotel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids San Dimas Hotel |
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San Dimas Hotel, August 2008
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| Former names | Walker House, Carruthers Home, San Dimas Mansion |
| General information | |
| Type | hotel |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Queen Anne-Eastlake |
| Address | 121 San Dimas Ave., |
| Town or city | San Dimas, California |
| Country | United States |
| Completed | 1887 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Joseph C. Newsom |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 33 |
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San Dimas Hotel
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| Area | 0.6 acres (0.24 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000233 |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
The San Dimas Hotel is a very old and important building in San Dimas, California. It was built in 1887 by a company called San Jose Ranch Company. This building has had many names over the years, like the Walker House, the Carruthers Home, and the San Dimas Mansion.
It was first built to be a hotel. It was huge, with 15,000 square feet of space, 33 rooms, and 14 fireplaces! But here's a fun fact: it never had a single paying guest. The hotel was built because people thought a lot of new homes would be built in the area, but that didn't happen.
In 1889, a family named Walker bought the building. Seven generations of the Walker family lived there. Later, in 1979, it became a restaurant. The building was empty for a while starting in 1997. Then, the City of San Dimas bought it and fixed it up. Today, it's a special historic place. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Contents
The San Dimas Hotel Story
Building a Railroad Hotel
The San Dimas Hotel was planned as a "railroad hotel." This means it was built near new train tracks. In 1885, the Santa Fe Railway finished its tracks. These tracks connected Los Angeles and San Bernardino. People thought many new towns would grow along the railroad.
The San Jose Ranch Co. built the San Dimas Hotel because they expected a big land boom. Many hotels were built in towns along the railroad. This hotel was only the second building ever in San Dimas. It is also believed to be the only railroad hotel from the 1880s still standing in Southern California.
A famous architect named Joseph Cather Newsom designed the hotel. He and his brother, Samuel, designed many important buildings. The wood for the hotel came from Oregon and Northern California. It was floated down the coast and then brought to San Dimas. The hotel was finished in 1887.
It was built in the Victorian Queen Anne style. It had 15,000 square feet of space. The building had different textures, like diamond-patterned shingles. Ten tons of shingles were used on the roof! It also had a sunburst design and a small tower on top. There were balconies, corner towers, and seven chimneys for 14 fireplaces. A large front porch and 140 feet of veranda wrapped around it. The ceilings were 12 feet high. There were 18 bedrooms, making 33 rooms in total. The windows even had colored glass.
However, by the time the hotel was ready, the economy was not doing well. So, the hotel never had any paying guests. The first people to live there were the owners, Moses Wicks and his partners. In 1889, a newspaper said the hotel was "one of the boom enterprises that never paid." This meant it didn't make money because a hotel wasn't needed there.
From Hotel to Family Home
In 1889, a wealthy merchant named James W. Walker bought the hotel. He also bought 40 acres of land around it. He turned the big hotel into his family home. Mr. Walker became a successful citrus farmer. His home became a very important place for the San Dimas community. Many local clubs and groups met there. It was also where the first school and church services in San Dimas were held.
For 90 years, from 1889 to 1978, six generations of the Walker family lived in the house. From the 1910s to the 1960s, Mrs. Raymond I. Carruthers lived there. She was James M. Walker's granddaughter. During this time, people often called the house the "Carruthers Home." In 1961, Mrs. Carruthers said it cost a lot to keep up the house. She felt like it was still a hotel because of the repair bills. She passed away in 1967.
Even in the 1970s, the family kept the old house in good shape. In 1975, Jim Carruthers, his sister Sue Brunner, and her family lived there. The old hotel desk, with its fancy wood carvings, was still at the bottom of the main staircase. Someone who lived in San Dimas long ago remembered a butler in a tuxedo greeting guests at the mansion.
A Restaurant and Restoration
In 1979, the house was rented out to Don Wilcott. He renamed it the "San Dimas Mansion." He opened a fancy restaurant there called the Mansion Inn. Many changes were made to the building to make it a restaurant. The restaurant was popular for a while. Famous people like John Wayne and Richard Nixon ate there. But it closed in the late 1980s. The Carruthers family still owned the mansion. They rented it out for private events for several years.
The building became empty in 1997. People in the area were worried that the "most historical building in the city" was being left to fall apart. In 2000, the City of San Dimas bought the house. They planned to fix it up and use it for community events. The renovation work started in 2007 and was finished by the end of 2008. The repairs cost $6.5 million. Part of the money came from a grant by the J. Paul Getty Trust.
Why It's Historic
The San Dimas Hotel is a very important building. In 1967, Los Angeles County made it a historical landmark. The State of California also recognized it as a historical point of interest. In 1972, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The house is important because of its unique architecture. It also played a big role in the history of San Dimas. The University of California, Berkeley School of Architecture even chose the building. They used it to show the Victorian Era in their permanent exhibit called "The California House."
Visiting Today
The restored Walker House is now home to the San Dimas Historical Society and Museum. It also has a community art gallery on the second floor. Office space for the San Dimas Festival of the Arts is also located there.
The museum and art gallery are open on certain days. The San Dimas Historical Society offers tours of the Walker House. These tours happen on the third Saturday of each month. Space is limited, so you need to make a reservation.
