The Arlington Hotel was a historic

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

, United States. Opened in 1876, it was one of the grandest hotels in the West. The original building burned down on 15 August 1909, and a replacement hotel was completed in 1911 at a cost of over one and a half million dollars. This building suffered further misfortune when a strong earthquake devastated the town in 1925, and the hotel was left in ruins.

History

The Arlington Hotel was built in 1875 as the first luxury hotel in Santa Barbara. It occupied a plot on State Street, located between Sola Street and Victoria Street. It was a three-storey building set back from the road with a long

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

and many windows on the upper two floors. There was a six-storey observation tower at one end and the hotel was set in landscaped gardens. It had about ninety guest rooms, with gas lighting, fireplaces, speaking tubes for communication, and "pure mountain stream water". On the lower floor there was a reading room, a smoking room, a saloon, two billiard rooms, a reception room and a private dining room. The hotel overran its budget, costing $170,000 to build, including the furnishings and landscaping. It was opened on 27 February 1876 and is thought to have been named after Arlington House, the family home of Confederate Army General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...

. After the arrival of the railroad in Santa Barbara in 1887, an annex was added to provide accommodation for additional guests. Among the famous guests who stayed at the hotel were Presidents Harrison, McKinley and Roosevelt, many other American and foreign dignitaries, and

Princess Louise Princess Louise may refer to: ;People: * Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, 1848–1939, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom * Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, 1867–1931, the ...

, the fourth daughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. A fire broke out in the evening of 15 August 1909, and the hotel was gutted; by morning, only the chimneys remained standing. There were no casualties, probably because most of the guests were out at dinner when the fire started. A

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

architect, Arthur Burnett Benton, was commissioned to build a replacement hotel in the old Spanish

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

style. The new structure had 250 rooms arranged in five storeys and a number of decorative bell-towers. Fire safety was an objective in its construction and it incorporated red roof tiles, steel beams, and much brick and concrete. It cost one and a half million dollars to build and was opened in 1911. Santa Barbara experienced a magnitude 6.3 earthquake at 6:44 am on 29 June 1925 and the Arlington Hotel was among many hotels and commercial buildings that were seriously damaged. A hotel guest told a reporter on the ''Santa Barbara News Press'', "It all happened in a minute. The crash of falling timber and steel beams, and the walls of the hotel, made an indescribable inferno of sound". On this occasion, two people were killed when a large water tank in one of the bell towers came crashing down; ironically, it had been placed there to provide a ready source of water in case of fire. The devastation to Santa Barbara was such that the downtown area had to be razed, and the city planners were able to enforce strict building standards when it was rebuilt. The Arlington Hotel was not rebuilt, and the

Arlington Theatre The Arlington Theatre is the largest movie theater and principal performing arts venue in Santa Barbara, California, United States. In addition to regular screenings and artists, it is home to many events associated with the annual Santa Barb ...

now stands on the site it previously occupied.

References

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External links

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at Calisphere Hotel buildings completed in 1876 Hotels in California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California History of Santa Barbara, California 1876 establishments in California 1925 disestablishments in California