If only the walls could talk at the Historic Santa Maria Inn, what stories they could tell of the celebrities, statesmen - even a U.S president - and just ordinary folks who have stayed and dined there.

Instead, the tales are left to be told by former guests, local history buffs and the owners and operators, who this month are celebrating the hotel's 90th anniversary.

Co-owners Blanche Hollingsead and Hardy and Judy Hearn and general manager John Reinacher settled into the comfortable chairs of the venerable hotel's lobby this week to reminisce about its famous visitors, original artworks, stolen antiques and, yes, even its ghosts.

THE BEGINNING

The modern 164-room hotel that rises six stories above South Broadway today is a far cry from the homelike hotel opened by Frank J. McCoy in 1917.

McCoy came to Santa Maria Valley in 1904 to work at the Union Sugar plant and realized the area didn't have a comfortable hotel. When he retired in 1915, he bought property eight blocks south of the city's center and began construction of his dream.

The Santa Maria Inn opened May 16, 1917, with 24 rooms, 24 baths, a kitchen and a dining room. Two years later, McCoy added 12 more rooms, and in 1923 he added another 21 rooms and a second dining room. Another 28 rooms were added in 1928.

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During its early years, the Santa Maria Inn began developing a reputation as “the” place to stay for travelers journeying along El Camino Real.

Original guest books in the administration office attest to the inn's famous and not-so-famous visitors.

“It's very interesting to look through these old books,” Hollingsead said, gently stroking one of the worn volumes. “They would sign ‘so and so, traveling with nanny,' and so forth. What a way to travel in those days.

“And, of course, they signed with such a flourish,” she added. “Their signatures were very beautiful and stylish.”

Some of those signatures bear the names of President Herbert Hoover, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, pianist and composer Ignacy Paderewski and actors Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Deitrich, Douglas Fairbanks, Jean Harlow, Mary Pickford and Rudolph Valentino.

Cecil B. DeMille stayed at the inn while filming his 1923 silent epic “The Ten Commandments” in the Guadalupe Dunes.

“William Randolph Hearst brought his guests here to stay on their way to (Hearst) Castle,” said Judy Hearn. “This is where they would stay overnight before continuing their journey to - what did they call it? Camp Hill?”

Hearst himself and his mistress, Marian Davies, also stayed at the inn. A page from a guest book bearing Hearst's signature is among the historical photos and memorabilia framed and displayed today in the room just north of the lobby.

Paul Harris, who founded the Rotary Club in 1905, stayed at the Santa Maria Inn in 1923 when he came to establish the Santa Maria Rotary Club's charter.

“Marilyn Monroe was here when she was a very young girl,” Hollingsead noted. “She lived in Santa Maria with foster parents and came to dinner here.”

Although some historians and relatives of former employees disagree, some say Monroe attended Main Street School, which Hardy Hearn also attended.

They might have been there at the same time, although he doesn't remember a Norma Jeane Baker, as she was known then.

“I always joke with people that Hardy dipped her pigtails into the ink wells,” his wife said mischievously.

A GOLDEN AGE

As the valley grew and prospered, so did the Santa Maria Inn. In 1941, McCoy added the Olde English Tap Room. Designed to capture the atmosphere of an English pub, it even had peg-plank wooden floors and wormwood paneling.

The inn became a showplace and gathering spot for locals.

“So many people come and tell us they're here because their families have been coming here every anniversary or every Thanksgiving for decades,” Judy Hearn said.

“It's true,” Hollingsead said. “A lot of people in Santa Maria have ‘grown up' here. This is where they came to their first sit-down dinner. They were taught how to sit and which fork to use when they came here with their families to eat.”

Hardy Hearn added, “Seventy years ago, I was probably here for dinner on a Sunday night.”

And still more celebrities came. Anne Baxter, Jack Benny, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Doris Day, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, David Niven, Kim Novak, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne added their names to the growing list of nearly 100 famous guests.

Today, doors in the old portion of the hotel are adorned with stars and the names of the celebrities believed to have stayed inside those very rooms.

CHANGING FORTUNES

In 1950, the fortunes of the inn and the town itself suffered a blow that struck many of the popular stopping places up and down El Camino Real.

America was changing, becoming more mobile, with faster cars capable of traveling greater distances. To accommodate that change, Highway 101 was built east of the city.

No longer did travelers motor past the inn. Instead, they were drawn to the new chain motels popping up farther apart along the new thoroughfare.

Eventually, the inn closed its doors and sat cold, shuttered and neglected. Vandals damaged it; thieves raided it.

“A lot of the antiques were stolen out of here when the hotel was closed,” Reinacher said. “Occasionally, we get a chance to buy them back. Someone will call and say, ‘Hey, I've got the original ... . Are you interested in buying it?'”

In many cases, he is, and some of the stolen items now have been returned to their original home.

For several years, attempts were made to reopen the inn, but all failed until 1981, when it was finally reopened and renovated.

The six-story tower was added south of the lobby in 1984. The tower's bottom floor became host to a series of shops. The Wine Cellar & Martini Bar, health and fitness facilities and banquet rooms opened downstairs.

Slowly, the inn began to regain its faded glory.

HONORING HISTORY

In 1999, the inn was purchased by Hardy and Judy Hearn and Robert and Blanche Hollingsead, who the following year spent $2.5 million on renovations.

“What struck me as very unique was when they said why they purchased the inn,” Reinacher said. “I was the hotel manager here before they purchased it. Prior to my arrival, the hotel was in, shall we say, a ‘deferred maintenance' situation. ...

“I asked them why they were interested in buying it. Bob said he had come here for years and years and developed a deep love for the property,” he continued. “And Hardy came here when he was young.

“I was struck by the love and respect they had for the property. I'd been in the hotel business for a long time, and it had always been ‘profit, profit, profit' at other hotels. I was struck by their attitudes.”

Hollingsead added, “Still, to this day, we put the money back into the property.”

That included expanding the Olde English Tap Room, a move that angered many in the community.

“It used to be a very small bar, and they designed this plan to virtually expand it to two and a half times the size it was,” Reinacher said. “I can't tell you how many phone calls I got from the community. People were so irate. They were so upset: ‘You're ruining our hotel!'”

But the owners were committed to preserving history and maintaining the inn's character even as they improved it.

“We saved as much as possible of the original Tap Room when we expanded,” Reinacher continued. “We saved the top of the bar. ... The wood came from somewhere back in Massachusetts. It's not available out here. We had a heck of a time matching that.”

Robert Hollingsead died in 2002, but Blanche and the Hearns have continued with virtually continuous renovations.

A year ago, the pool and spa area were completely renovated. Wireless Internet access and dual phone jacks are being added to all rooms. All the specialty suites now have tubs with spa jets.

A new entryway from the parking structure to the rear of the lobby is under construction, and a multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art kitchen will be created next year, Reinacher said.

“There will be no kitchen like it around,” he said. “It will be all computerized, and the equipment will talk to each other.”

Hollingsead added, “It's really going to be a challenge. We'll have to close down the kitchen completely and still service the clientele.”

Hardy Hearn said that problem has been resolved: “There are big portable kitchens we'll be bringing in.”

Still, they said, preserving history is uppermost in their minds.

“Everything we do is to preserve and maintain history for people to enjoy and remember it,” Hollingsead said. “It's still building memories for a new generation. And it's looking pretty good.”

Inn trivia - Pirates, poker and Phineas the frog

nHardy and Judy Hearn also own the Edgewater Inn in Pismo Beach and the Best Western Big America in Santa Maria. With Blanche Hollingsead, they also own the Radisson at the Santa Maria Public Airport.

nJudy Hearn brought many of the roses in the garden near the pool from the original stock at Hearst Castle. She and husband Hardy are both directors of the Friends of Hearst Castle - Judy a director emeritus.

nThe poker table in the Coach Room is the original table where the inn's founder, Frank McCoy, played cards.

nWhen the floor in the Olde English Tap Room was pulled up during its expansion, all sorts of things were found, ranging from old bottles to items general manager John Reinacher tactfully calls “interesting artifacts.”

nA four-foot replica of Columbus' ship Santa Maria displayed outside the Olde English Tap Room was handcrafted by a man in Minnesota and sold to the inn by his widow following his death.

nWhen “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” was filmed in the Guadalupe Dunes last year, Johnny Depp stayed at the Historic Santa Maria Inn.

nA whimsical frog named Phineas on a bench in front of the hotel was commissioned by the late co-owner Robert Holligsead from an East Coast sculptor. Tourists often have themselves photographed seated next to it.

The ghosts of the Inn

The Historic Santa Maria Inn is haunted by more than memories of the many famous people who have stayed there during its 90 years.

Co-owner Judy Hearn noted the hotel has a “resident ghost” in Room 221.

“But he's friendly,” added John Reinacher, general manager of the inn.

“He's a very friendly ghost,” Hearn continued. “He's very happy to be here.”

Reinacher said Room 221 isn't the only apparently haunted area of the inn. Paranormal investigators have brought a variety of sensing equipment to the hotel and verified there is otherworldly activity not only in Room 221 but also in the gardens, the cellar and the Olde English Tap Room.

Room 221 is said to be haunted by a sea captain and his mistress, who's been reported floating at the end of the bed. A group of spectral party guests also has been seen.

Around the hotel, doors slam closed, ghostly hands are felt, clock hands spin rapidly, oven doors open and close wildly, a ghostly piano has been heard, rooms turn ice cold and a balloon once dogged a houskeeper - even decending the stairs behind her.

“A number of guests have reported ghostly activity,” Reinacher added. “(But) they don't scare anyone.”

“But they do startle them,” added co-owner Blanche Hollingsead.

Judy Hearn explained: “The lights will go on and off suddenly.”

With a chuckle, Hardy Hearn added, “That's John back there flipping the switches.”

May 6, 2007