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Explaining the Inns and 'outs' of historic Saratoga

By Willys Peck

With the publication of my last column, it would appear that I am at outs with the Inns, having misidentified a couple of institutions when I really knew better. I referred to "the Inn at Saratoga condominiums" when I really meant the Saratoga Inn Place condominiums. The Inn at Saratoga, on Fourth Street, accommodates transitory guests. Saratoga Inn Place is the condo concentration, on the site of its namesake.

Mention of the Saratoga Inn releases a flood of personal memories as well as some significant history that is worth recalling here. The Inn, as it was always referred to, dated back to 1912 and lasted more than 50 years. It should be noted that Saratoga from its early days has been a visitors' destination. The bulk of visitors weren't here on business or en route to other places; they were here to savor the climate, the scenery and the overall atmosphere. A classic example was Congress Hall, the hotel constructed near Congress Springs, the mineral water source responsible for Saratoga getting its name. Congress Hall was destroyed by fire in 1903.

One of the Saratoga Inn brochures I have dates back to around 1920, and the prose is somewhat on the florid side. Example: "The climate of these foothills, from Saratoga to Los Gatos, is said to be one of the three perfect climates of the world. ... In March, our annual Blossom Festival occurs, when thousands of people come to view the miles of blooming orchards and enjoy the hospitality of the town."

Then there is the description of the Inn itself: "Electric lights, steam heat and open fireplaces. Hot and cold water in all bedrooms. Large closets, private baths and sleeping porches. Ample grounds with native oak, redwood and other forest trees. Olive, orange and lemon trees with ripening fruit." So what did all this cost the patrons? A brochure of slightly later vintage lists daily rates from $4 to $5.50, breakfast and luncheon 75 cents, dinner $1 and Sunday dinner $1.50.

Archery and croquet were available, and I can remember some spirited croquet games with a boy my age who lived at the Inn with his mother and sister. The genteel clacking of croquet balls was about as noisy as the Inn premises got, with a possible exception. Among the Inn's facilities were several cottages at the rear of the main buildings and right on the edge of the hill that dropped down to Dorothea Johnston's Theatre of the Glade. Dorothea's mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Johnston, was manager of the Inn in the 1930s. I can recall the time during a Shakespeare play rehearsal when the stage noise was late and loud, prompting heated cries of "shut up" from a cottage occupant. The play went on.

Among my chief recollections of the Inn in its final years had to do with when my wife and I would go there occasionally for Sunday dinner (not the $1.50 fare of the 1920s), a repast that was well-known for its delicious bread pudding.

Sunday dinner reminds me of another Saratoga hostelry where my wife and I frequently dined. This was Lundblad's Lodge, a historic house on Oak Street near Saratoga Grammar School that was presided over by Mrs. Hazel Bargas, daughter of the Ludwig Lundblads, who opened the lodge in 1918. Among early lodge residents was Mrs. Lilian DeHavilland, with her daughters, Olivia and Joan. They later moved to a couple of cottages across the street, and later to La Paloma Avenue, after Mrs. DeHavilland married G.M. Fontaine. Mrs. Bargas was still serving Sunday dinners well into the 1960s, when she must have been pushing 90.

I haven't heard the term "bed and breakfast" for quite a while now, and I don't know if there are any such left. In Saratoga I'm sure there would be some sort of zoning restriction. My own involvement with one had to do with an operation at the Neil Carmichael house, a historic dwelling on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road just south of Reid Lane. Mr. and Mrs. Charles N. Cunningham ran the Orchard Guest House there for several years, starting in 1939. I knew the place well because I used to clean it every Saturday, for 25 cents an hour. I think the rate is a little higher today.

When it comes to column topics, one, or maybe even both, of my readers might question whether I deliberately made a factual error just so I'd have a topic for the next one. The answer: No, but it's an idea. Check this space for coming retractions.