The
original Stagecoach Inn, called the Grand
Union Hotel, was built
in 1876 at the southwest corner of what is now Ventu Park Road and
the Ventura Freeway.
James
Hammell, a Santa Barbara businessman,
had the hotel built of redwood from Northern California at a cost
of about $7200. Constructed in the Monterey style featuring two
stories, wraparound porch and balcony, the hotel was publicized
in a Ventura newspaper as a pleasure resort. "Shooting, fishing,
and bathing, and a first-rate table are among the good things on
hand for visitors," said the newspaper write-up that appeared
the summer the Inn opened.
Stagecoaches
continued to ply their way through the Conejo Valley into the late
1800s and many hotel guests used that mode of transportation.
Following
the drought of 1877- 78 Hammell no longer owned the hotel. After
passing through several owners, it was purchased in 1885 by Cecil
Haigh,
an Englishman. His descendants owned the site until it was converted
to a museum.
The Grand Union
Hotel, also called El Hotel Grande, and eventually the Stagecoach
Inn, has
had a variety of uses during its existence. It has served as post
office, tearoom, boys’ military school, restaurant, and exclusive
gift shop. A cowboy movie starring Hoot Gibson and Sally
Eilers was
filmed here in the 1930s.
The Stagecoach Inn's
appearance also changed over the years. During the tenure of Mr.
and Mrs. Kenneth McIntyre, who rented the building for their shop,
Tantony, the facade of the building sported a pillared, Georgian
look.
In the mid-1960s, the
Inn was threatened with demolition by the expansion of the Ventura
Freeway.
The Conejo Valley
Historical Society, which was formed in order to save the building,
was successful in having declared
the Stagecoach Inn a California Landmark in 1965. H. Allen Hays,
grandson of Cecil Haigh, gave the building and about four acres of
land at the present location to the CVHS, who later deeded the property
to the Conejo Recreation and Park District in return for a 50-year
renewable lease to operate the facilities for cultural and educational
purposes.
After the hotel was moved
in 1966, community volunteers and the historical society prepared
it as a museum. A docent council was formed and tours given.
In April of 1970,
a fire of undetermined origin
completely destroyed the museum and most of its contents. It was
rebuilt to appear as it did when it was first
constructed. Although the reconstructed museum was dedicated and
opened on July 4, 1976, the second floor was not completed until
1980.
The Tri-Village,
made up of replicas of a pioneer
home, a Spanish-Mexican
adobe and a Chumash
Ap (tule dwelling) was developed as a
reminder of the Bicentennial by the Conejo Valley Bicentennial-Centennial
Commission. It represents the three historic eras in the Conejo
Valley.
If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its
development. Aristotle |
