National Register of Historic Places in Santa Cruz County

National Register #83001242: Mansion House Hotel
26 August 2005
(Click Photos to Zoom)
National Register #83001242
Mansion House Hotel
418-424 Main Street
Watsonville
Built 1871

The Mansion House Hotel, designed by Thomas Beck, is the oldest surviving commercial facility in the Pajaro Valley. It is the only Second Empire building in Watsonville. When it was new, it was the leading first class hotel in central California and housed such dignitaries as Ulysses S. Grant.

The Mansion House Hotel was built on the corner of Main and Beach Streets where it fronted on both streets and had visible exposures on three facades including the rear. In 1914 it was moved to its present location to make room for the Lettunich Building. After the move, the building was visible only from its Main Street facade and rear facade.

After the move it continued to serve as a fine hotel until the late 1920s when more modern hotels were then built in Watsonville. By the 1950s, the hotel had become a cheap flop house. It was finally condemned in 1968.

In 1978, the property was purchased by Hoffman & Associates just twelve days before its scheduled demolition. Hoffman & Associates completed a $1.9 million rehabilitation project in 1981.

Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1983.

A historical marker reads:

The Mansion House
418 Main Street

On the corner of Main and East Beach Streets, where the Lettunich Building now stands, was the Pacific Exchange Hotel built in 1856 by T.D. Alexander. By 1871 the owners decided that a larger and more modern hotel was needed and Thomas Beck was hired to draw up the plans. It was named the Mansion Hotel.

Many of the old hotel's registers have been saved and include such signatures as General Tom Thumb and Ulysses S. Grant. In 1900 it would have cost $2.00 to spend the night, and free busses would take guests to and from the train station.

In 1906, Mateo and M.N. Lettunich purchased the property. They decided to move the hotel north 110 feet and build an office building in its place. In 1914 the old hotel was jacked up and lowered onto a series of 100 feet long log rollers. As it inched along and one log would roll out from the back of the building, it would be picked up and placed under the front.

In 1978, the Mansion House was doomed for the wrecking ball but was saved when the owners donated it to the Pájaro Valley Historical Association. It has been sold various times since. The Mansion House is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the heart of downtown Watsonville.

Buildings that Moved

It's not just that the people of the American West are restless, the buildings themselves sometimes pack up and move when - for one reason or another - the neighborhood no longer suits them or the neighbors no longer want them or opportunity waits down the road.

And when buildings remain in place, they are often searching for their identities.

Acting Superintendent's Office, Yosemite
Alford-Nielson House, Ferndale
Alpine Hotel, Markleeville
Ashland Depot Hotel, Ashland, Oregon
Auburn Fire House No. 1, Auburn

Bagby Stationhouse, El Portal
Bayview Hotel, Aptos
Bridgeport Elementary School, Mono County
Calvary Presbyterian Church, Bolinas
Carter House, Ashland, Oregon
Christian Church, Gilroy
Choller Mansion, Virginia City, NV

Chuck's Railroad Room, Westwood
Colfax Freight Depot (Moved Twice), Colfax
Commodore Watkins House, Atherton
Coyle-Foster Barn, Shasta State Historic Park
Croll Building, Alameda

Dallam-Merritt House, San Francisco
Davis Creek Community Church, Davis Creek
Duatre's Store, Monterey
Errea House, Tehachapi
Fairwind, Eureka
First Baptist Church, Sonoma

Fort Bragg Storehouse and Commissary, Fort Bragg
Galarneaux House, Sacramento
Glass House, San Ramon
Glendale School (Moved Twice), Sparks, Nevada
Goleta Depot, Goleta

Gray's Station, Truckee
Hostess House, Palo Alto
Hodgdon Homestead Cabin, Yosemite
House at 2214 Clay Street, San Francisco
Hutton House, Saratoga

Independence Hall, Woodside
J & T Basque Restaurant, Gardnerville, NV
Jamestown Branch Jail (Moved Twice)
Jax Truckee Diner (Moved Twice), Truckee
Jorgensen Studio, Yosemite

King City Depot, King City
La Gloria Schoolhouse, King City
Lagunita Schoolhouse, Salinas
Lake Mansion (Moved Twice), Reno
Lathrop House, Redwood City

LeConte Memorial Lodge, Yosemite
Little Church on the Hill, Oakhurst
Mansion House Hotel, Watsonville
Marcus Books and Jimbo's Bop City, San Francisco
McCredie House, Central Point, Oregon

Meherin House, Pismo Beach
Mendocino Masonic Hall, Mendocino
Methodist Episcopal Church, Placerville
Migliavacca Mansion, Napa
Milton Masonic Hall, Milton

Moab Cabin, Moab, Utah
Mt. Buckingham School, Darrah Nevada-California-Oregon Railway Depot, Alturas
Old Log Jail (Moved Twice), Markleeville
Old Mammoth Saloon (Moved Twice), Mammoth Lakes

Old North San Juan School, North San Juan
Old St. Mary's Church, Rocklin
Old St. Patrick's Church (Moved Twice), San Francisco
Perry's Dry Goods, Gardnerville, NV
Phelps House (Moved Twice), San Francisco

Rengstorff House, Mountain View
Reno Arch (Moved Five Times), Reno
Roper House, Ashland, Oregon
San Rafael Improvement Club, San Rafael
St. James Catholic Church, Georgetown

Sylvester House , San Francisco
Tribune-Republic Building, San Luis Obispo
Tubbs Cordage Company, San Francisco
Tucker House, Martinez
Twenty Mile House, Cromberg

United Methodist Church, Nevada City
Webber House, Yountville
Wood House, Modesto
Yosemite Transportation Company
Yosemite Valley Chapel

Of the buildings and structures we have visited, the original Reno Arch holds the record for number of moves. It has been moved five times since it was built in 1926.

Jax Truckee Diner holds the distance title. The building moved from New Jersry to Pennsylvanis in 1948, then from Pennsylvania to Califonia in 1992.

Probably the most ambitious relocation occurred on July 4th 1904, when the Southern Pacific Railroad loaded most of the town of Wadsworth, Nevada, onto rail cars and transported the town thirty miles west to create a new town which became known as Sparks.

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