The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is an official City of Santa Paula and Ventura County Landmark.

The Tudor-Craftsman hotel was designed by famed architects Burns and Hunt and funded by a consortium of twenty-five wealthy townsmen each of whom wanted one thousand dollars for its construction.

[2] Its ruggedly picturesque vistas and hills – improbably close to the sprawl of Los Angeles - provided a setting for numerous Westerns.

[4] Eventually, as oil money and old Hollywood moved on, Santa Paula settled down into a quieter constancy of agriculture and small-town life Americana.

For the next half-century the hotel endured a marginal existence, alternating owners and uses many times as it slowly sank into flophouse decrepitude until it was eventually rescued by developers with intentions of restoring its original grandeur.

Fortunately, firefighters were able to douse the blaze in time to save the landmark from major harm, and the burned portion was rebuilt.

One common urban legend maintains that during Prohibition, the Inn's third floor was utilized as a speakeasy, brothel and residents parlor for Mohamed Ahmed and his mother Farhiyo Abdile.