The Carlton Hotel

Located in Atascadero in the Central Coast of California, The Carlton Hotel is a luxury hotel with attached restaurants, grill, bakery and shops.

The historical Carlton Hotel began as the Atascadero Development Syndicate in 1928. Designed as a single-story block-long building, Fred Bartholomew (the owner/manager of the Atascadero Inn- a unique hotel where the current junior high sits) made an agreement to open a 52-room hotel on the second floor. This California luxury hotel used to be called "The Annex" and was a top-of-the-line companion to the Atascadero Inn. It was one of the most luxurious places to stay in California. Retailers such as JcPenney, Sprouse-Reitz and Safeway opened their doors on the main floor of the building in October 1929. The formal opening of The Annex was in November of that same year. A few years later. Kenneth Filmore took over the ownership of The Annex and renamed it the "Hotel Halfway and Coffee Shop." It changed hands again in 1931, when Nola Tunks and her brother George Clark bought the building. For the third time, with new owners came a new name for the hotel. Tunks announced she planned to call it, "... the Carlton, a more distinctive name well known in the east and associated always with hotels of high standing. Tunks added a neon sign to the rooftop (it's still there today) and soon the radio and TV personalities including Jack Benney, Bette Davis, Fred McMurray, Dick Powell and Ralph Bellamy often stayed at the Cartlon. New owners over the next 20 years would bring more changeto the Carlton. In August of 1936, it was sold to Lewis Sutton and F. Porter Brown. The two businessman cut an entrance into the corner of the building and created a champagne glass made of tiles to welcome visitors at the door. Phillip Zarabozo became the next owner and made the most significant change to the Carlton. In 1952, he added the clock tower, which still stands today as a local city landmark.Over the years, several more families owned the Carlton. In its final years, the grande, luxurious California hotel became a senior housing complex. It sat vacant, and in limbo, for many years.

Construction on The Carlton began in 1928, with the hotel officially opening its doors in 1929. After several decades of local popularity and notoriety, by the early 1980s the hotel had fallen into deep disrepair. During this time, the dilapidation had degenerated into such extent that several local bands would play in the dark and abandoned lobby, and the gold-plated hands of the tower clock were stolen - sometime in the late 1970s. [http://www.the-carlton.com/images/about_the_carlton/img_about_overview1.jpg]

In 1999, a joint-venture was formed between David Weyrich, David Crabtree and Steve Landaker purchased The Carlton with the intention of repairing and re-opening the structure. The Carlton was reopened in 2004.

External links

* [http://www.the-carlton.com/ The Carlton Hotel Official Website]