HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/28/2021 Item 3, Papp
Wilbanks, Megan
From:James Papp <
To:Leveille, Brian
Cc:CityClerk
Subject:Motel Inn comment for tonight's CHC
Attachments:Motel Inn from James Papp.pdf
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Hey, Brian,
Could you forward this to the committee for tonight?
Thanks,
James
James Papp, PhD
Historian & Architectural Historian
805-470-0983
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Historicities, LLC
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964 Chorro Street
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Historicities LLC
964 Chorro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
28 June 2021
Dear Cultural Heritage Committee Members:
There is no doubt that what remains of the Master List Motel Inn would qualify as a
National Historic Landmark for its significance as the nation’s first motel and as a California
Historical Landmark for its place in the oeuvre of the master architects Arthur and Alfred
Heineman of Pasadena.
There might be some debate over what is included in the historic resource, as the property
as a whole was Master Listed, but I note that the foundations of the Southern Pacific
roundhouse were Master Listed after the demolition of the structures, so it is reasonable to
conclude that surviving foundations of the original bungalows and the significance of that
arrangement are also included in the Master Listing.
Five years ago the CHC approved a rehabilitation of the Motel Inn that was respectful to
this key resource, meeting Secretary of the Interior Standards for differentiation and
compatibility (SOI standard 9 for Rehabilitation). In materials, mission revival architectural
features that echoed the original, size and massing to reproduce as closely as practicably
possible the bungalow arrangement of the original, placement of a reflecting pool to echo
the original swimming pool court, and distancing and separation of the trailers from the
remaining original building and façade, what we approved mitigated the impact on a
historic resource below the level of significance.
The current proposal does nothing of the kind. The Motel Inn structures are and were
Minimal Traditional buildings in California’s indigenous Mission Revival style,
characteristic both of the 1920s and of the way in which such novelty buildings were used
to advertise their presence and a nostalgic view of California for travelers. In contrast, the
first influential A-frame cabin was the product of Modernist Architect Rudolph Schindler
for a rustic setting: the 1934 Bennati House in Lake Arrowhead. The A-frame took off as a
rustic Modernist statement post-World War II, in every way incompatible with Minimal
Traditional highway nostalgia of the Motel Inn. In addition, the trailers are sited higgledy-
piggledy in a way that clashes with the careful arrangement and luxurious aesthetic of the
original (which had maids’ and chauffeurs’ rooms).
The proposed rehabilitation of the Motel Inn would clearly have a significant impact on a
listed historic resource by severely undermining its ability to communicate its significance
as the first motel: an elegant Minimal Traditional that signaled California nostalgia to the
highway, as much as the contemporary Hearst Castle but to a wider popular audience.
Yours sincerely,
James Papp
Historian and Architectural Historian
Secretary of the Interior Professional Qualification Standards