LANDMARKS / COUNTY HISTORICAL SITES : Stagecoach Inn Now a Stop for Area Tourists

* HISTORY: The Stagecoach Inn was built in 1876 by James Hammell, a Santa Barbara businessman. The site he chose was later on the route of the Ventura Freeway, and the building was scheduled for demolition in 1964. It was preserved and moved through the efforts of the Conejo Valley Historical Society. The building was opened as a museum in 1966.

* LOCATION: 52 S. Ventu Park Road, Newbury Park

* HOURS: Tours are given Sunday, and Wednesday through Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. for $2 admission. Free tours are offered on the first Wednesday of the month.

The Grand Union Hotel was opened July 4, 1876, in anticipation of the coming of the Butterfield Stage through the Conejo Valley. A newspaper account announced that the builder was prepared to offer, “for a merely nominal consideration, a lot for each as will put up cottages.” Choice land prices were about $25 an acre. The total cost of building the hotel was $7,200.

The Butterfield route was eventually redirected along the Santa Clara River Valley, but the inn became a stop for local stages between Encino and Ventura. It offered travelers 8-foot-by-10-foot rooms with no closet and no heating. But “shooting, fishing and bathing” were offered as amenities. A single room with a fireplace was kept for prestigious guests.

Hammell’s speculative venture apparently turned out badly. After a severe drought struck the valley in 1878, the inn was offered to bidders at a sheriff’s sale.

It remained in operation, and in 1885 was purchased by Cecil Haigh, an Englishman. Haigh and his wife, Cecily, managed the hotel and made their family home in the upstairs quarters. Their four children were born there. The inn remained in the family until the

Haighs’ grandson, Allen Hays, deeded it to the historical society in 1964.

Around the turn of the century, it was a popular gathering place for parties and was distinguished by having the longest bar in the county, according to museum records.

“It had various lives,” said acting museum manager Mary Knotts, citing the building’s use as a military school, tearoom, steakhouse and exclusive novelty store.

In 1970, the building was totally destroyed by fire, its century-old redwood consumed in minutes.

It has been reconstructed to its exact dimensions, and furnished in late 19th-Century style. The bar was not restored, but was replaced by a museum gift shop.

The inn last served travelers in 1903, but Knotts said she still gets inquiries.

“Would you believe we still get calls wanting to make reservations for dinner or rooms?” she asked.

The four-acre site includes a second county landmark, a massive 200-year-old sycamore tree. The site also has replicas of several early Conejo Valley buildings, including the home of Egbert Starr Newbury, the area’s first postmaster.