The building now known as 18135 Highway 12, in Boyes Hot Springs, is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the area. The original business, Kramer’s Inn, goes back at least to 1918. That building was destroyed in the great fire of 1923, and the current one dates from that year. It has housed many other businesses since, including, Keller’s, Mike and Rose’s Grocery, Mas por Menos, Highway Tattoo, Lucrative Clothing Store, Onesome Cowboy Ranch, Heritage Furniture, and now, in 2026, The Art of Upholstering.
Long may it stand and serve our community!
The first five photos, courtesy of the Sonoma County Historical Society. Join today and watch for the reopening of the museum this fall!
A popular resort hotel in the 1920s, vacant in the 1970s and after, it was the subject of several serious attempts at reuse, all of which failed.
Circa 1920s. To the left is the Associated gas station, to the right, Zwickl (or Zwickles) Resort. The trees at center line Mountain Avenue. The Zwikl building still stands, much altered.
In March of 1922 the Index Tribune informs us that “C. Clementi (sometimes spelled Clemente), well known resort man of Fetters Springs, has started construction on his new hotel. The building will be of solid brick construction and will contain 15 rooms with all modern conveniences…Mr. and Mrs. Clementi have been very successful since establishing their resort in Sonoma Valley and their excellent French cuisine has won for them a big patronage.” The Charles Clementi family immigrated from France sometime between 1912 and 1915, and established a French restaurant in their brick home in Fetters Springs. Mrs. Clemente’s brother-in-law, a Mr. Schaff, constructed additions to the house, creating the hotel. The Clemente’s sold in 1928, moving to Ben Lomond in Santa Cruz County. (On various documents and articles, the year it was built is listed as 1906, 1909, 1910, and 1922.)
Here is a timeline accoridng to what’s available in the Index Tribune:
1931- the building was called the Robin Hood Inn, owned by Robert Whitehead, “wealthy retired capitalist of Oakland…”
1935- it was noted that “William Scott opened the Robin Hood Inn.”
1936- “Norman Jensen, a San Francisco architect, is stopping at the Robin Hood Inn. He is making plans for the reconstruction of the baths at Boyes Springs.
1938 “Mora Castle Property at Fetters Sold.” Sold to Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Zielke of Sant Rosa. “ The fine brick building is to be renovated, redecorated, Venetian blinds added, and other improvements made.”
An ego-based name change!
Then in December of 1940 “Hotel being Changed to Apartments” “Paul Zielke Converting Brick Holtel At Fetters Into Modern Quarters.”
“The famous brick hotel at Fetters Springs, known as Paul’s Castle and one time called Clementi’s after its original owners and later Robin Hood Inn, is being converted into ten apartments. Paul Zielke, the owner who now operates the Golf Clubhouse, believes that small modern apartments will help solve the housing problem in Sonoma Valley”(!) So, not a new problem!
March 1942 -“Trade Apartments Here For Big Ranch and Resort” “Mr. and Mrs. Paul Zielke have traded their apartment house formerly Robin Hood Inn at Fetters, for a large ranch and Eel River resort.”
Circa 1950s. Stucco has been applied to the brick.
Apparently it was vacant and all but abandoned after 1972. There is no mention of the Clemente or Clementi Inn again until January of 1981, when a DBA Clementi Inn was established by a partnership of three men, Kenneth Crutchlow, Dennis Kirby, James Felich. “It was purchased for $25,000 by Kenneth Crutchlow of England, along with a full set of plans. ‘I bought it from four guys who specialized in historic buildings,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why they couldn’t make a go of it.’Not sure who these men were, but what an ominous statement!
April 1981- For Sale. “Clementi’s Inn in Sonoma County Landmark No.28, and comes with 77 years of history. Plans are approved for restoration in 6 residential apartments.” $105,000″
July 1983- For sale, $150000
Feb 1984- For Sale 80,000
Jan 1984-For sale $145,000
Feb 1985- For Sale $69,500
April 1983- Letter to the editor from Kenneth Crutchlow stating that the property was in foreclosure.
July 1983- For sale, $150000
Feb 1984 -For Sale 80,000
Jan 1984-Fro Sale $145,000
Feb 1985- For Sale $69,500
On 10, 1989 County design review of proposal to develop as 12 room hotel, by Reiner Keller, architect.
June 9, 1989 Owner listed as Michael Brausen, developer.
Dec 1989 – “There’s absolutely no doubt in Michael Brausen’s mind that the Clemente Inn will rise Phoenix-like, reinvigorated and restored as a showplace hotel, rivaled only by the Sonoma Mission Inn.” “The small clapboard house next to the inn on Hwy 12 was bought to provide parking…According to Brausen, the house itself has a little bit of history-it was once owned by Sally Stanford, reputed madame, ex-mayor of Sausalito, and long time associate of Jaunita Musson…”
Brausen started the long, convoluted permit process. He got approval from the Board of Supervisors, but, since he wanted mini-bars in the rooms, the Liquor Board insisted he have a full bar. However, the Supes approved his permit with the stipulation that there would be no bar. In November of 1990, the bar impasse was resolved. He would have a bar in name only!
Then in July 1991, this astounding headline in the IT: “Old Fetters inn eyed by Soviet buyers.” “Glasnost flourished Sunday as four Soviet businessmen gathered around a Western-style barbecue to kick off a week of negotiations which may culminate in a historic Soviet/American joint venture in Fetters Hot Springs….”The Soviets will actually own the property, ”Brausen says. “This will be the first time an American can actually stay in a Soviet hotel, built by Soviets and run by Soviets and Americans.”
Aug 1991-More about the Soviet deal: “They plan to bring Soviet woodworkers, restaurant personnel, and other artisans to deck out the dilapidated inn, using many finished and unfinished materials from the USSR…When you come in, you will think your are in Moscow,” Brausen said. “If this doesn’t work, the building will probably have to be torn down,” Brausen said prophetically. (Amazing how it being a Soviet hotel was considered a good thing.)
“Russian architect Edouard Ovsipian’s plans suggest a miniature Russian palace, with extensive façade and hight-pitched roof and towers.”…”Ovsipian is an award-winning Soviet architect who built Moscow’s first Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream parlor.”
Whatever you think about the design, it would have been an awesome landmark for the Springs
And then, in 1992, “Soviet collapse doesn’t topple ‘Club Red’”! Soviet funding is gone as Yelstin has frozen the nation’s assets.”…Brausen is now “regrouping” with American investors…
Sept 1993- “‘Club Red” near dead”-“A local entrepreneur still hopes to turn a dilapidated hotel in Agua Caliente (not Fetters?) into a Russian-American “Club Red”- but the plan has been stalled for so long that he’s now trying to sell the building.” …Brausen said the ailing California economy-not to mention the dissolutions of the government of the former Soviet Union-has kept the local project from becoming reality.”
May 1996-Enter Jon Early
Shortly after this ad was published, Jon Early teamed with developer Rick Derringer, who was also developing the Chauvet Hotel in Glen Ellen, to work on the Clementi project. They got the support of the Citizens Advisory Commission and then, in 1997, got the approval of the Board of Supervisors for general plan amendments, zoning changes and use permits for a fourteen room hotel.
Five months later, Early decides to sell. In a peeved letter to the editor of the Index Tribune he said “(the author of the article)leaves readers with his naïve and ignorant impression that somehow it is socially unacceptable for developers such as myself to expect a profit after buying a foreclosed property at a good price, and then spending a year of major headaches with the county bureaucracy and many thousands of dollars on unretrievable fees and consultation expenses on the hope that I might get logical entitlements to do something nice with a crappy old eyesore.”
2000-Marty Edwards buys the building, but after so many years of neglect, the structure is beyond salvaging. In June 2009, the building was demolished, leaving a huge pile of bricks behind a chain link fence. The county backed out of buying the lot for parking, the Permit Department threatened to fine her for having a junk yard, and a contractor wanted $80,000 to haul away the bricks. The ruble was hauled away eventually, but I don’t know the details.
Yes, the ruble stayed there until 2012.Grafitti exposed during demo hints at the unauthorized use of the building during its abandonment.The vacant lot in 2013. 2026. The poppies are taking over. I’m not sure if that is the “Sally Stanford house” in the background.
I’ve been working for some time on a couple of posts about the Happy Dog and the Gateway Arch, both on Highway 12 near Verano Ave. Obviously, you can’t talk about one without talking about the other. (Well, not so obvious to me until I started thinking bout the nature of human made landmarks). As usual, there is a lot more to know than I originally expected. I found it necessary to include Moosetta’s Deli and other buildings in the post. Progress was slow, and then, as they say, life happened. Everyone is fine, but some hospital time was experienced. So, I did not finish either post.
Next month!
Here is a teaser.
Above is from the archive of photos I created in 2008. I printed two copies of all 477 images and gave one to the Sonoma County Library and the other to the Sonoma Valley Historical Society.The Arch in 2025, with the new advertising.Left to right, what is today the Verano Cafe, the Steve’s Auto building, and the Happy Dog. Moosetta’s was located in the first building, the Art Store in the second. Moosetta’s had at least three locations.
Hey! Why don’t you click over here and shoot some rasbuckniks to the Springs Museum? Er..donate, that is, please!
Index Tribune courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society.
2024 is the Centennial Year of Sonoma Valley Grange #407
2015
The Grange was founded in Washington D.C. in 1867 to advocate for farmers. America became less rural, and the Grange evolved into a general community service organization.
On May 6, 1924, some residents of Sonoma Valley met with the Master of the Sebastopol Grange in the Sonoma High School auditorium to organize a Grange for the Valley. The event was important enough to be reported on the front page of the Index Tribune. The IT devoted several paragraphs to the historic accomplishments of the Grange nation-wide, ending by pointing out “one of its grandest achievements is the establishment of rural mail delivery and parcel post in all sections of the country…to publicly proclaim that if it was right for the government to carry mail to the homes of people in the cities, it would be right for it to carry mail the homes of people in the country…” It’s important to notice that things we take for granted had to be advocated for in the past. This kind of advocacy is at the heart of the purpose of the Grange.
One of the main functions of the Grange is to lobby elected representatives on issues relevant to farmers (and community wellbeing in general.) This is done by issuing resolutions. In 1926, Grange #407 resolved, “Whereas: Country banks, through mergers with city banks chains have largely degenerated into agencies for the collecting country deposits to be loaned to city people for riotous living(!) Resolved: ” that “ the California State Grange urge its delegates to consider with an open mind any plan…” to create, “a chain of purely rural banks controlled by farmers.” This shows how radical the Grange was in those days.
By 1928 the membership put forth a “Proposal for a new Grange Hall,” stating, in part, “Whereas, the Sonoma Valley Grange, Number 407, has prospects of increasing their membership, and, Whereas, the Sonoma Valley Grange is paying quite a sum of rent, Be it Resolved, that we the Sonoma Valley Grange, begin laying plans for creating a fund whereby in the near future we may own our own building….”
It took a while. It wasn’t until 1934 that the Grange was able to buy the building on Sonoma Highway from Selig Rosenthal. The IT reported on the front page, on April 6, 1934, that Grange #407 had “purchased the social hall on the highway near Verano from S. Rosenthal…The hall, built originally in connection with the resort (Rosenthal’s), is to be the new home of the Grangers, and they plan to add a dining room and in time make other nice improvements” which they proceeded to do during the next few years.
A few other notable events occurred in 1934.1930s, showing the front addition to the building.
1934 was the middle of the Great Depression. In that year Grange #407 wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, protesting a National Recovery Administration regulation requiring farmers to buy a minimum of one hundred gallons of gasoline to receive a lower price. “The financial statements of the oil companies show large earnings,” they stated, and they resolved that they “they protest(ed) vehemently” against the regulations.
Beginning with its founding in 1867, women were prominent in Grange leadership, serving as presidents (masters), secretaries, and treasurers. Eunice Peterson , a charter member and past master (president) of the Sonoma Valley Grange, was the first woman to serve on the Sonoma-Marin Fair board in 1940 and 1941 and ran for state assembly in 1938.
During the 1940s Grange 407 remained active, and progressive, in political matters. In that year, at a Six County conference held at the Rutherford Grange Hall, the members resolved,
“Whereas: the present war hysteria has encouraged reactionary groups to violate the civil rights of religious and political minorities. And Whereas: unlawful action of this sort was the first step toward the complete loss of freedom in the countries now ruled by dictators. Therefore, Be It Resolved: that the Grange members here assembled, go on record as strongly opposed to these extra-legal practices, and we demand that our law enforcement officers give to theses minorities the full protection guaranteed to them under the Bill of Rights in Constitution of the United State of America.”
This sounds eerily relevant today.
Appropriate to the Grange radical tradition, in 1952 the California State Employees Union Local 14 met at the Hall. Executive Secretary Richard L. Rumage “lashed out at the use of what he termed “labor spies” in state hospitals…” but the Grange was always also about family and tradition. In May of 1950 the Home Economics Club of the Grange held, at its monthly luncheon, a special Mother’s Day program honoring the oldest mothers present, Mrs. Susy Musanti, 84, and Mrs. Aline Lourdeaux, 85.
In 1948 Grange #407 incorporated as a “general nonprofit corporation.”
In 1975 Grange #407 celebrated its 50th anniversary at the hall. “Arnold Griewe was master of ceremonies for the evening. Singing and gymnastics (!) by Lisa Lanning and Julie Griewe were performed for the 120 in attendance,” the Index Tribune tells us. Past masters Florence Sullivan, Ernie Semino, John Spraks Myrtle Bowie and Clarence Jenkins were honored.
The organization prospered into the 1980s, putting on pancake breakfasts, flea markets, and serving as a polling place, among many other events and functions. However, like Granges all over the country, the membership began to dwindle and age. In 2005 the Index Tribune published an article under the headline, “The Graying of the Grange,” interviewing older members Edith Lanning, Arvilla MacAllister, and Marianne Erickson. Just a few years later,some younger folks, with interests in wine and food and community building, joined and revitalized the organization, much to the delight of the old timers.
2005
A major building project, partially funded by generous donors and the local Rotary Club, produced new ADA compliant restrooms, and a new commercial kitchen, vastly improving the usefulness of the Hall. The hall continued to be a popular rental venue, especially for the Hispanic community, as it hosted many a quinceañera and baby shower.
2015, demolition for the restroom project. Jim Callahan at right.
Fun at the Grange!
Edith King taking pancake moneyEric Morrison flippingWendy Loots and EdithThe “Whole Hog” dinner 2014Loooking in to the old kitchen. Brake drum dinner bell upper left.Christmas party 2009
Your humble correspondent has been a member since 2008, and served a president for a number of years. He also designed the mural (seen in the very first photo), which was painted in 2010 by Randy Sue Johnson, with funds provided by a County Redevelopment Façade Improvement grant.
Some other things needed updating:
Index Tribune, documents and photos courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society. Other photos by author.
Public art grows in fits and starts hereabouts but we are starting to build up a nice stock of murals. Here we look at four of them.
The mural on the front of the Sonoma Valley Grange building, located at 18627 Sonoma Highway. The Grange has owned the building, which was probably originally a dance hall, since 1934. See (https://springsmuseum.org/2022/06/28/the-sonoma-valley-grange-traditionchange-and-renewal/) for more about the Grange. Through the Redevelopment Façade Improvement project, the Grange got funding for the mural in 2010. It was designed by Michael Acker and painted in collaboration with Randy Sue Collins. It depicts a bit of Boyes Hot Springs and Grange history. It being on the west facing wall, it takes a terrific beating from the sun, and has been restored twice.
The Republic of Thrift building at 17496 Sonoma Highway has two murals sponsored by the Monarch Project (https://www.socoimm.org/) along with others. On the west facing wall is the giant Monarch butterfly, completed in June 2020. According to the Index Tribune, “Artist Rima Makaryan, just 17 years old, painted a Monarch butterfly as part of “The Monarch Project,” a Sonoma County nonprofit organization working to tell the stories of immigrants and empower the community.” “We are working to have a conversation about immigration through art,” said Makaryan. “Oftentimes immigrants are labeled aliens or talked about negatively. The goal of the Monarch Project is to find beauty in the subject.” The mural, painted on the west-facing wall of the thrift store, features a Monarch butterfly filled with words describing the immigrant experience, such as resilience, hope, amor, sacrifice and fear. Makaryan noted, “The words are meant to embody the journey and diversity of all migrants. It’s all about the beauty of the topic, good and bad.”
On the east wall a fantastical spray-paint mural by the artist Chor Boogie (https://chorboogie.com/), along with a crew of high school students was painted in 2018. the Led by Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, community partners were Artescape and La luz Center. Co-sponsors were the California Arts Council, the NEA, and the Bank of Marin.
The building at 17400 Sonoma Highway displays yet another Monarch Project mural. Completed in June 2021, it features an image of Dmitra Smith, “…a powerful force fighting against racism in Sonoma County,” according to their website. “Ms. Smith is the former Chair of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights, and was the program manager for the Junior Commission, having mentored over 100 Sonoma County students between 2013- 2020. Smith is a co-founder of the essential workers’ mutual aid collective Food for All – Comida para Todos.”
At the time the mural was painted, the building was the home of Sonoma Originals skate shop. Sadly, it is now empty.
We actually have a lot of art in the Springs, some of it “official,” as the above are, some harder to find, personal expressions, often ephemeral, but worth noting, as we will do in future posts
Index Tribune courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society
Farrell’s Resort existed on land near the corner of Siesta Way and Sonoma Highway, between the years 1945 and 1958. A county court photograph from that year shows the resorts sign on the highway. An Index Tribune story in 1959 about a barn fire on the property mentioned “the pioneer Ferrell’s Resort property,” which implies, to me, it didn’t exist in 1959, as the barn was being burned by the fire department for training.
This photo is an exhibit from a lawsuit involving a traffic accident in 1958, courtesy of the Sonoma County Library. Difficult to see, at left, below the Richfield sign, half obscured by a power pole (!) is a sign advertising Farrell’s Resort. Thomson Ave (not East Thomson!) is at left. Across the highway is Baker’s Drive-In, current site of the Fruit Basket.
The property behind the Arroyo Vet building continued as a trailer park until 2020 when affordable developer Milestone Housing (https://milestonehousing.com/projects/) bought the land. In 2022 they started construction on a 92 unit apartment complex intended for senior households that have incomes in the 30 to 60 per cent of area median income. In May of 2023 construction is ongoing. See photos below.
Apartment construction, February 2022 through May 2023
In 1977, on part of the Farrell’s site facing the highway, Stan Goldsmith built a commercial building to house his Mark’s Sporting Goods. Goldsmith owned the whole property and told the Index Tribune that “…future plans at the 1.5 acre site include similar buildings housing quality small shops and possibly a patio restaurant.”
Goldsmith had founded a successful chain of sporting goods stores, located throughout California, which he sold before moving to Boyes Hot Springs. According to some of his ad copy, “In 1954 Stan Goldsmith revolutionized the retail sporting goods business by building the largest sport store in northern California (10,000 sq ft.) and becoming the first to combine active sportswear with sports equipment…Stan Goldsmith founded the Marin Skin Divers Club, the Northwoods Bowmen’s Club and designed the first nylon covered sleeping bag. Stan’s and the first air compressor to fill dive tanks in Northern California.” Index Tribune advertisement, 1979.
Mark’s Sporting Goods in Boyes Hot Springs, named after Stan’s son, opened in 1977. It was the second Mark’s. the first one was in Grass Valley, in an identical building.
Tragically, Stan was killed in the crash of his private plane in 1982. His widow sold and the store continued operating until 1990, when Doug McKesson bought the building, but not the entire parcel, to house his Goodtime Bicycle Company. McKesson sold to Dr. Rhonda Stallings and Rich Lee in 2000. A major remodel was necessary to convert the space. The new Arroyo veterinary Hospital opened in 2001.
1990s
2023
Appropriate, whimsical rafter-tails were added during the conversion to an animal hospital.
Digression the First: The original Arroyo Vet Hospital was started by Dr. Hansen 1979, in a building on Sonoma Highway at Arroyo Rd, which was probably built in the 1920s, and had housed various businesses including Becker’s Real Estate Agency. Dr. Rhonda Stallings took over from Dr. Hansen in 1997, the same year your correspondent moved into a house just a block up Arroyo Road. Imagine our sense of security knowing we could WALK our sick cat to the vet’s office. And thank you to Rhonda for saving Ralph’s life.
Ralph
1950s
Digression the Second: The photo below shows a streetlight proposed for the Redevelopment sidewalk project. This was offered by landscape architect Ron Wellander and installed in 1997. The design was not used. It stands today, in 2023, lonely, unlit.
The first hearings for the sidewalk project were held in 1984. The initial pilot project was completed in 2002. The entire project, two miles of sidewalks and streetlights, was finished (except for one very irritating and dangerous gap) in 2016. Thirty. two. years.
I can’t resist sharing this text from a Coldwell Banker website. The addresses represent the apartment site.
Please stay tuned to the Springs Museum. We aim to bring you all the best in local lore!
Thanks to Rich Lee and Doug McKesson for their memories
Index Tribune courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society
Zan postcard courtesy of Stanford University Library, Special Collections
UPDATE, September 17, 2023
According to Mrs. Mary Farrell’s obituary in the Index Tribune in January of 1956, her resort was “part of the former Appleton ranch.” Before Appleton, a certain ”Mrs. Loud came to California in 1864…Her husband was Alfred C. Loud, who settled on what was afterward the Appleton ranch.” Index Tribune of Jan 14,1922 obit of Mrs. Loud.
In the 1975 obituary for Appleton’s daughter, the renowned Carrie Burlingame, Horatio Appleton established his ranch “in the Springs area in 1865.” He was “a pioneer vineyardist and a descendant of the Greenleaf and Adams families of New England.” He was instrumental in identifying the Phylloxera louse that decimated American vineyards in the 19th century.
Appleton appears as a property owner on the Reynolds and Proctor maps of 1877 (65 acres) and 1889 (160 acres). (See below). According to the Index Tribune, in 1888: “Several new town sites have been laid out and surveyed in this valley the past few months…Verano is …another new town site which has lately been laid off on the Appleton and Burns places…” (see Boyes abstract map). Parts of the town of Verano (not El Verano), were later owned by Nathan Cantor and Selig Rosenthal. Some of this became the Acacia Grove mobile home park with a carve-out for the Grange in 1934. Read more about Rosenthal, et al, here.
in 1877 Horatio Appleton published a plat of a cemetery on part of his land. (see below)
1877 Reynolds and Proctor map. Sonoma Highway runs through the green area. Its left boundary is Sonoma Creek. Agua Caliente Creek, the south boundary of Appleton’s ranch, joins Sonoma Creek at the bottom of the green area.1880s map of Verano, oriented to match the first map. This was a fanciful depiction of a town that never existed as such, though it did have a railroad depot. Eventually, the “Town of Verano” moved or expanded to the south side of Agua Caliente Creek, as can be seen in the quad map below. The dark line is the approximate outline of the Appleton ranch.Rosenthal’s resort, 1934, showing the lots he sold to the Grange. Sonoma Highway is at left.Map from the abstract of title to Henry Boyes’ land. James Burns land is labeled. Appleton, next to it, is not. An abstract of title was a document used to prove ownership in the days before title insurance. More here.Appleton’s Oak Dale Cemetery, 1877. Another fanciful map.
Thanks to the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, for everything, really, and to the Rumsey Map Collection.
Bernard Cabanot was born in France in 1861 and came to the US in 1876. He lived and worked in San Francisco and Redwood City until 1914, when he came to Boyes Hot Springs and opened his French Resort. (There was another French Resort operated by the Dutil , Lounibos and Verdier families in El Verano. Please see: https://springsmuseum.org/2020/12/13/dutil-french-cottages-verdiers/)
“One block from the Northwestern Pacific station and the post office,” refers to the P.O. located at the Woodleaf Store.
He built several buildings in Boyes, including the Woodleaf Store, which was constructed in 1921 and rebuilt after the 1923 fire.
Woodleaf Store, Boyes Blvd. and Sonoma Highway, 1930s. This building still stands, part of the Sonoma Mission Inn.
We have images of two different buildings for the resort. The oldest ones are of pleasant one-story bungalows, dated 1919 (first two images). The second building is two stories and dates from 1925 (above).
According to the Index Tribune, Cabanot’s Resort was not destroyed by the great fire of 1923 so it’s possible the larger building was built along side of the smaller ones. Both places are described in ads as being “next to the theater,” which was at the corner of Boyes Blvd. and Gregor Street, where the apartment building is today.
The original Cabanot’s?Index Tribune
The two story became the Casa Blanca Apartments, by which name it is still known today (2022).
As of September 2022, major repairs were taking place. All the exterior siding was removed, plywood was applied as earthquake bracing, and new doors and window were being fitted. Not historic preservation but perseverance. With several nearby historic buildings being bulldozed recently, we will take what we can get.
Under Construction 2022
Thanks to Lorrie Baetge Fulton of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society for research help, and to the Gordon Lindberg Collection of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, who also provided the Index Tribune material.
The fortunes of Boyes Hot Springs have waxed and waned. In the heyday of the resorts, it was a prosperous summer retreat. As the resorts declined, property values fell, and Boyes became “the other side of the tracks,” for a time gaining a reputation for being dangerous. The story goes that the State of California released parolees there because rents were so low, but in 1988 Sheriff Dick Michaelson told the Index Tribune “the practice ceased a couple of years ago.” When yours truly move there in 1997, the rumor was alive and well.
2007, Google Street View2009, Street View. The Barking Dog moved in 2004. here it sits empty.
In that year (1988) things were looking up for Boyes. Young people form San Francisco were discovering that they could afford to buy houses there. New businesses were opening, such as the Central Laundromat at the corner of Highway 12 and Central Avenue. But wane followed wax once again and the laundromat went out of business and the building stayed empty until the Barking Dog Roasters opened there in 1995. According to the Index Tribune, “ A building once held up as a bad example has received new life-and a major renovation…Barking Dog Roasters at 17999 Sonoma Highway was formerly the Central Laundromat-once pictured in this newspaper as an example of the problems along Highway 12 through Boyes Hot Springs. The new restaurant opened in mid-June, after a six-month renovation that involved new wiring, plumbing, flooring, interior plaster, and outside stucco….’It has been a real labor of love,’ Peter Hodgson (one of the owners) said.”
2008
“The Dog,” as we know it, moved to its present location on the corner of Vallejo in 2004. The original building then went into another decline, sitting empty until Karen Waikiki commenced her grand transformation of the structure into El Molino Central, which opened in 2010.
Kathleen Hill wrote in that year, “When asked how she chose the name, Waikiki told us that every town in Mexico used to have a “Molino” where people took their dried corn to have it ground into masa, a very important and essential function.”
Update: El Molino under construction 20102010
El Molino has been a huge success, even being declared the best Mexican restaurant in the Bay Area at one point. It continues to be packed with hungry people from all over the Bay Area and probably the world, given the restaurant’s proximity to the Sonoma Mission Inn.
20212016202120222022UPDATE: More recent photos of the flowers, courtesy of Mark, showing the leaves.UPDATE: More recent photos of the flowers, courtesy of Mark, showing the leaves.Art by Michael Acker
As of 2024, The Barking Dog moved to Broadway in Sonoma and became Samstad Coffee Roasters.
Sonoma Index Tribune courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society
In 1882 Captain Henry E. Boyes, a retired officer of the Indian Navy, arrived in Sonoma Valley with his wife Antoinette. Looking for a genteel and healthful retreat, they were persuaded by T. L. Leavenworth to buy 110 boggy acres of his 320-acre portion of the Rancho Agua Caliente land grant. After developing the hot springs as a resort, in 1902 he sold his portion of the corporation and built a grand house overlooking the springs, which he called El Mirador.
The house was the scene of “ many hospitable social affairs” according to the Index Tribune. On the evening of September 16, 1905, “El Mirador,” the beautiful home of Captain and Mrs. Boyes, was the scene of a delightful party…The home was brilliantly illuminated and decorated in waving palm branches, asparagus ferns and flowers…About sixty ladies and gentlemen were present…regular dancing (was) interspersed with clever vaudeville numbers…The hit of the evening was Jack Kelly, who sang several ragtime numbers…About 11:30 the doors of the dining room were thrown open and the guests invited to partake of a typical English supper, which was greatly enjoyed…Dancing was then continued and before the guests departed flash-light photographs were taken of the party.”
If only we had those photos!
In July of 1912 a farewell reception was held at El Mirador for the Boyes. After 30 years in the valley, they were departing for San Diego. Speeches were made and “dances and vocal solos by Mrs. Emparan and Miss Ramona Granice…” were enjoyed. Ominously in hindsight, the new owner of the house, Mr. Carlow, gave a “fire-extinguishing demonstration on the hillside.”
The house, along with many other buildings in Boyes Springs, burned in 1917. Antoinette Boyes died in San Diego, year unknown. Captain Boyes died in San Francisco in 1919.
The Mirador property was bounded by the present day streets Central Avenue, Vallejo Avenue, and Calle del Monte
In following years, the property was divided into several lots. Today Madera St. runs through it. Was this street the “approach” to El Mirador? Is the structure below the last visible remnant of the house?
Photo by author, 2022.
Index Tribune and photographs courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society.
UPDATE:
These images are from the Robert Parmelee collection, courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society.
Capt. Boyes, at Mirador, perhaps, with a pet. A cat perhaps?Map from an abstract of title, which was a legal document tracing ownership of land that was used before title searches were possible. It seems to show Boyes’ parcel where El Mirador was located, stating that it was 25 acres. the abstract is dated 1909. Notice that in that year, Agua Caliente was considered a town, Boyes Hot Springs just a resort encompassing a small(ish) piece of land.Cover of the somewhat lengthy abstract.
