Post #74919 by vintagegirl on Fri, Feb 6, 2004 8:10 PM

OK, this is gonna be a bit long as well as going on to a non-Tiki subject. But here goes:

I don't know about this Oasis of Eden place, but I used to know the owner of the Union Hotel/Victorian Mansion. He was a guy from Simi Valley, CA that wanted to start a themed B&B. He found the Union Hotel in Los Alimos and wanted to restore it to it's 1880's look as one of the old Wells Fargo stops. The rooms there are pretty authentic. No TV's ,radios, etc. and only a couple of rooms have their own private bathrooms.

Then Dick (the owner) bought an abandoned Victorian house in Northern CA and brought it next to the Union Hotel. They gutted it, but preserved the exterior and had a team of amazing craftsmen and artisans do the interior into 6 rooms. I personally love the Victorian Mansion because so much artistic work and thought went into the whole thing. Each room has painted murals including some trompe l'oiel effects. All the bathrooms are hidden (they make you hunt for the secret openings.) And each room has corresponding themed music and movies on video. The beds are made from things like a Roman chariot, a real Gypsy wagon, and a vintage Cadillac.

Dick always wanted to continue building new rooms and features on the property which also includes a 1930's gas station. He was like the Walt Disney of B&B's. He was planning a Desert Island room (you can still see the old yacht he was gonna use there), a Treetop Room and a Dungeon Room in the basement. But he died suddenly of a heart attack and the place is now under different ownership. No new projects are planned although Dick did get to plant his hedge-maze in the back which now stands 12 feet tall. (I got to see it when it was only one foot high.)

I would still recommend this place to anyone for a special occasion. I just hope the service is still as top notch as it was when Dick owned it. It was his labor of love and wanted others to experience a place they would never forget.