The Glen Tavern Inn is a hotel located in Santa Paula, California approximately twelve miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in the Santa Clara Valley. It is a landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also an official city and Ventura County landmark.

History

The hotel was built in 1911 and is known for its colorful history. At the time the Inn was built, Santa Paula was growing and prospering as an oil town, and was headquarters to Union Oil. The Tudor-Craftsman hotel was designed by famed architects Burns and Hunt and funded by a consortium of twenty-five wealthy townsmen each of whom anted one thousand dollars for its construction. It was erected directly opposite the train depot to provide accommodations to the many newcomers lured to the area by the burgeoning oil and citrus industries, and to provide a gathering place for Santa Paula's growing high society circles.

During Prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

, the Inn retained something of its Wild West origins as the third floor - at that time an open space not yet built out into separate guestrooms - was utilized as a speakeasy

Speakeasy

A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...

, brothel and gambling parlor. Many legends stem from this era, including tales of murdered prostitutes and shootouts between unruly gamblers. These stories, though mostly unconfirmed, persist with a life of their own as part of the hotel’s rich lore.

In the 1930s, Hollywood discovered the valley hamlet of Santa Paula. Its ruggedly picturesque vistas and hills – improbably close to the sprawl of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 - provided a setting for numerous Westerns. During this era, the Glen Tavern Inn hosted such notables as Carol Lombard, John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

, Houdini and canine thespian, Rin Tin Tin, who boasted his own suite long before “pet-friendly” entered the hospitality lexicon.

Eventually, as oil money and old Hollywood moved on Santa Paula traded fortune, glamour and vice for the quieter constancy of agriculture and small town life Americana. The train depot became defunct, and likewise economic development bypassed the town. For the next half century the hotel endured a marginal existence, alternating owners and uses many times as it slowly sank into flop-house decrepitude until it was eventually rescued by developers with intentions of restoring its original grandeur.

Ghost Stories

Keeping with hotel’s motto “Where the Past Comes to Life,” even the dead reportedly maintain a vivid presence at the Inn [America’s Most Haunted Inns, Robert Child]. The Glen Tavern is a favorite of paranormal aficionados who claim it is one of the most haunted venues in the region, and in July 2007, the Ventura Paranormal Society held its annual convention there [Ventura County Reporter 7/26/07]. Ghost anecdotes abound as believers in the uncanny report encounters with long expired guests who for unknown reasons prefer to extend their stays indefinitely.

The Hotel Today

In 2005-7, the Glen Tavern Inn was extensively renovated by the Jennett Investment Group, and reopened as a full service hotel, restaurant and lounge. It is frequently rented for private parties and events and has largely reclaimed its faded status as a center for local social life. The renovation preserved the Inn’s historical attributes alongside the addition of more modern amenities. It also revived its fabled glamour, and offers visitors a chance to relive the gilded days of excess and adventure at a place where spirited revelers and restless spirits seem to comingle quite amicably.

Mid-renovation, in April 2006, the hotel sustained a fire. Fortunately, fire fighters were able to douse the blaze in time to save the landmark from major harm, and the burned portion was rebuilt.

On February 24, 2008, the Glen Tavern Inn was awarded Certificates of Special Recognition from the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and the California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

for the successful restoration project. [Santa Paula Times, February 27, 2008]

Further reading

• The Great Lifeboat Disaster of 1886 (by J. Allen Miller, new edition by Andrew Farthing. Published by Sefton Libraries, 2001: ISBN 1-874516-09-X)

External links

• Glen Tavern Inn website