At the beginning of the 20th century, Gualala was an important logging area and a stop on the stage route between Fort Ross and Mendocino Village.

The Milano Hotel which stood on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean between Gualala and Bowens Landing was a two-story, flat front Italianate building. It was built entirely of redwood by local craftsmen under the direction of the owner Batiste Luchinetti who operated it as a hotel, saloon and dining room.

The upstairs contained seven hotel rooms and two bathrooms. The ground floor contained a saloon, a dining room, a sitting room, a kitchen, and the family living quarters.

The hotel was bounded on the south by Big Gulch which, in 1905, was spanned by a timber trestle carrying both the coastal road and the railroad. The trains passed about fifty feet from the front porch of the hotel. The trestle was torn down in the 194Os.

Excerpted from the NRHP Nomination.

The Milano Hotel was destroyed by fire in 2001.