Hotel Virginia, EST 1916Santa Barbara Local Landmark Hotel

In 1922 Maas’ next-door neighbor, Freas Hayman, demolished his home and constructed a three story hotel adjacent to the Virginia Hotel, at 21-31 West Haley Street. Although separate buildings, the hotels were linked on the upper floors and functioned as a single unit.

In 1925, a major earthquake in Santa Barbara caused the buildings to be damaged, and both Mr. Maas and Mr. Hayman hired the Los Angeles architect, C.K. Denman, to make the repairs. His Spanish Colonial Revival design unified the facades of the two buildings, yet maintained their separate identities through the use of different window treatments on the upper floors and spacing and style of openings on the ground floor.

Denman’s use of the Spanish Colonial Revival style was applauded by the City of Santa Barbara as part of its on-going desire to create an image for itself as a romantic Spanish town. As early as 1909, Santa Barbara was looking for a visual image with which to link its Spanish past to future development within the City.

During the many decades after the 1925 reconstruction the Hotel fell into a state of disrepair. In 1998 Laurie and Marc Recordon, local Santa Barbara investors, bought the Virginia hotel property and completed a major renovation. In keeping its link to the Spanish past the hotel reopened with much of the original character of this historic hotel.