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Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Julio Lacayo removes a roof cap from the Toll House roof. The hotel is adding a third floor as part of its renovation and expansion.
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Renovations of Toll House under way
By Nathan R. Huff
More than a year after the Toll House hotel received town council approval to begin its expansion and remodel, signs of construction are beginning to appear.
While internal work on the hotel's existing rooms has occurred for almost two months, visible reconstruction is just beginning. In the end, the Toll House will have 25 new rooms in addition to its existing 97 and the end of S. Santa Cruz Avenue will sport a host of aesthetic improvements. The majority of the new rooms will be on the new third floor.
"Most of what's been done up to this point is internal support," Toll House manager Marie Tallman said. "Eventually we'll be extending the corner rooms to expand the suites. The back will come later."
The Toll House's expansion comes at the same time as construction begins on Diane Ogilvie's upscale hotel on E. Main Street, which will draw a similar mix of higher-end business and leisure travelers.
The Toll House had almost as much trouble getting the expansion and remodel approved as Ogilvie, who went through ten years of redesigns before the new hotel was approved. Back in 1997, a proposal was made to create twin hotels on both sides of S. Santa Cruz Avenue with a footbridge in between. The town balked at the idea and refused to sell the hotel the municipal land needed for the project.
Toll House owner Wayne Levenfeld returned to the planning commission in early 1998 with a new concept that eliminated the twin hotel and instead placed the majority of the expansion to the rear of the property. Neighbors whose homes backed up to the hotel organized in opposition, saying the proposal would generate noise. Again, the planning commission sent Levenfeld back to the drawing board.
Finally, in late 1998, a plan with half as many new rooms in the back of the hotel and $100,000 worth of streetscape improvements was submitted without neighborhood opposition. The council approved the $3 million project in January 1999.
Levenfeld had hoped start construction last fall, but he said various delays caused the hotel to put off the project until this spring. The work will occur in two phases to minimize the effect on the hotel's business. In the end, the hotel will gain 25 rooms and have an even, three-story facade facing S. Santa Cruz Avenue.
Much to the delight of the town, substantial improvements to the streetscape will also be made during construction. Whether it will be done with Levenfeld's work crew or through the town with the hotel owner's money remains to be seen. Either way, the end result will be planter boxes, trees and diagonal parking spaces that will narrow the road, making its appearance more consistent with N. Santa Cruz Avenue.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
