Page 2 - The Friday Flyer • February 6, 2015.indd

FEBRUARY 6, 2015
Chris stands
in front of the mural on a gate at the hotel. Painted by the artistic previ- ous owners, it was a nice way to remind Old Town visitors not to block the dirt driveway to the one-acre prop- erty bordering Murrieta Creek. The hotel is located on Main St., adjacent to
Making an investment in area history . . . the bridge.
A-2 THE FRIDAY FLYER
PHOTOS BY SHARON RICE
PHOTOS BY SHARON RICE
FROM PAGE A1
Chris and Richard. Horace Parker was a veterinarian, author and local historian, and Leverne was an artist whose paint- ings still grace the halls of the hotel.
These days, five months after buying the historic building, Rich and Chris de- light in taking visitors through the prop- erty. One of the outlying buildings is the original “Emigrant Office” of the U.S. Border Patrol. It adjoins a workshop filled with a jumble of lanterns and tools and all things necessary to keep house- hold appliances, buggies, stagecoaches and early cars in good repair.
An old bus behind the immigration office served as a jail to keep illegal im- migrants until they could be sent back across the border. Also on the property are stables (now serving as a garage), a hen house, a wine cellar (perhaps originally an ice house) made of gran- ite blocks quarried in Temecula, and an
outdoor bar next to a patio shaded by a century-old wisteria tree.
Chris points to a grassy area beyond the patio and describes her vision of turning it into a wedding venue.
As fascinating as these historic out- buildings and their contents are, they don’t compare to the 4,700 sq. foot hotel. The original lobby is frozen in time and features elements of the town’s original switchboard and a post office window. There are 10 bedrooms upstairs, along with two large his and hers bathrooms.
The challenge for Chris and Richard is to restore the Victorian timepiece into a hotel fit for modern-day guests. Elec- tricity and plumbing were updated in the 1960s so there is no big concern there. They do want to upgrade the two large bathrooms that guests will need to share – just the way they did in the old days.
By the end of January, the hotel had
CONTINUED PAGE A3
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