Monday, March 25, 2019

One Of My Crazy Ideas

I always wanted to take an old house and fix it up.  We're talking REALLY old house.  I came very close to buying an old church near Sandpoint Idaho.  I laughingly said I'd make it a quilt shop and live in the back.

So while I was in the Benson Arizona Museum, you shouldn't be surprised to find out I asked around for information on the Arnold Hotel.  Unfortunately, this is one of those beautiful places gone bad.

It was built by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold McGinnis (a retired engineer and his wife) in 1890.  They filled it to the brim with gas lamps, a Steinway piano and fresh linens for the railroad workers and cowboys happening through town.
Mr. McGinnis died before it was finished, so his wife Nora's brother (pictured here) came to help her run the daily operations.  There were twelve rooms in the hotel, as well as a brick house with four units and several small cottages around the entire block.  Water was provided by a windmill driven well out front, which still exists today.

The hotel wasn't really used until the railroad came to town in 1906.  The tracks run right out front, so it was a short walk to overnight accommodations.

In 1910, a city water line erupted, flooding the street in front of the hotel.  City workers dug up the street, but not willing to leave the holes open at night, set up sawhorses with red lanterns to warn people before they fell in.  

Nora was furious because she said it made her hotel look like a bordelo!!

This is the hotel last year when I looked into the purchase.  I was told a local hot shot already had a grant in place for restoration and that the City was selling it to her for practically nothing.  It was to be restored and used partly as a gift shop, library sort of arrangement.  I was a day late ... literally!!
Here's the back side of the main building.
In 1933 after Nora's death, her brother sold it to a mining entrepreneur, who tried to keep it up until after World War II when a steady decline resulted in it being boarded up.  There it sat for many years.

Eventually, the last owner came back to open it up and sell every single artifact still inside the building.  What a waste.  Can you imagine how fabulous that hotel would be with the original fixtures?

On my way back from Tombstone, I stopped in to check on the progress.  Wasn't I flabbergasted when I found the hotel in even worse shape than before, now with all the boards on the porches torn off and stacked in the dirt.  Absolutely NOTHING has been done to this property.  Not even fallen trees or trash has been cleaned up.  It's a crying shame!  

I was surprised when I drove up to find a very old gentleman with long white hair and a cowboy hat, sitting on the steps.  I struck up a conversation about why it still sits here abandoned.  Apparently the hotshot who still owns it has no intention of fixing up anything.  What happened to the grant money?  Why isn't the city making her finish the project?  
Apparently she is now renting this and a couple of the other buildings on the property for storage purposes.  Are you kidding me?  Why isn't this building being restored.  It put a blue haze over my head the rest of the day.  

The next time I'm in town, I'm going back to the museum and ask those questions.  I suppose it's a crazy idea to want to fix it up, but that's what everyone says about historic buildings ... until they are restored to their original beauty.  At the very least, maybe I can shake the bushes.




16 comments:

  1. Oh my what a shame it sure would have been an interesting project. Over the years I have fixed up and renovated 4 of the old houses I owned. and is so satisfying to see the progress. The oldest was 90 years old that would be the last one we sold to go fulltime. Originally a pole barn made into a house moved to this lot in Plattsville. And we worked on for 14 years to get it all done. Now still a very pretty house with the wrap around porch I put on.

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    1. That sounds wonderful! It does take some time to bring them back.

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  2. Shake the bushes for sure. When crap like this happens, it needs attention so people who give/recieve grants know they have to be accountable. Probably some local politics involved.

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    1. I'm sure you are right Peter. It's too easy to get grants and pocket the money.

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  3. Too many Scammers use those Grants as easy money and are never held accountable. Another piece of History down the drain. If it is being used for storage the Inside walls might have been removed.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. Actually most the walls, moldings and floors are still intact, at least according to the gentleman I was speaking with. Hopefully something will be done.

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  4. What a shame. Sounds like she took the money and ran. I hope your shaking of the bushes accomplishes something. I always thought if you received grant money to fix up a historical building you were, in fact, held accountable for what you did with it.

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    1. I thought so too, but apparently no one is keeping an eye on this one. All I see is more destruction.

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  5. I remember when traveling with Nancy, we would drive through towns Geocaching and she'd always spot an old house to fix up and buy for a quilt or knitting shop. Tom Always reminded her of termites. 😉

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    1. Hahaha ... yes I did, and Tom was always the voice of reason!! Remember that spectacular red one .... was it in Kansas??

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  6. What is the answer
    A horse was tied to a rope 5 meters long and the horses food was 15 meters away from the horse. How did the horse reach the food?

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    1. Uhhhh broke the rope? It's too early in the morning for my brain to work well, Ed.

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  7. Aargh! You did it again! I just spent another hour online tracking down yet another old place on google streets & researching the building. I had no idea putting you on my RSS feed would entail so much daggum work! ;-)

    The auction of the contents here makes me utterly heartsick:

    For more than a century the building has housed a massive collection of now vintage collectibles that once served the prestigious hotel, to include furniture from the late 1800s to early 1900s, elegant Bavarian and French Limoges dinnerware, period clothing, a Steinway Piano and a vast array of miscellaneous items from years past.

    “When I walked in the hotel for the first time and saw what was there, I was completely overwhelmed by the amazing collection sitting there, completely untouched for years,” said Mark Helling, one of three buyers who purchased the hotel’s contents from the property’s current owner Dr. William Deutsch. “After we negotiated the purchase with Dr. Deutsch and started taking things out of the building, we couldn’t believe the magnitude of what was in there,” Helling added. “It’s one of the most incredible collections I’ve ever seen. We found a gold-leaved painted safe in mint condition, a Steinway Piano from 1890, Wurlitzer piano from the mid-to-late 1800s, western relics, railroad memorabilia and period clothing. We have books, old documents, mailboxes made of glass from the hotel lobby, old fixtures, tools, linens and antique toys. The list of items is so massive, there’s no way to put it into words.”

    Two huge truckloads of antiques were removed from the property.


    [From: https://www.bensonnews-sun.com/news/article_4d4964a6-8b67-11e2-9568-0019bb2963f4.html]

    And now it's all gone. IDIOTS!

    I sure hope you can jump-start the rescue of this place, even if you can't do it personally.

    The property even comes with what looks like a little jail! [SEE 2nd page of pics at: http://www.ghosttownaz.info/the-hotel-arnold.php].

    Maybe you can arrange for the person who made off with the grant money without restoring the hotel to serve her prison term for fraud there! I'd buy a ticket to see her making restitution by cleaning toilets!;-)

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    1. Aha ... another history convert!! Isn't it fascinating these old buildings? I'll have another couple for you in a day or two, Leilani! It's sad to see the Arnold lose all of it's magnificence. They didn't buy the antiques for the historical value, they bought them strictly for the money. So sad.

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  8. Bill restored one many years ago that was built in 1839. Next time you stop by remind me and I'll show you the pictures.

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    1. I definitely will remind you Jan. I'd LOVE to see those pictures.

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