The Hawthorne Inn

The Hawthorne Inn
(1900)

 2121 First Avenue
Architectural Style : Dutch Colonial
Architects & Contractors : Henry Neale and R. A Graham

If walls could talk, this picturesque Victorian era edifice would spin amazing tales of history, celebrities, crime, and also, its original inhabitants , the men and women who had ventured west at the turn of the century. It stands as one of a very few large, wood frame inns of the period. It is also one of the few remaining buildings of the period which has not been extensively remodeled or revised.

The Hawthorne was built for Dr. Edward Butler and his wife, Jennie M. Butler. The Butlers owned several other real estate parcels in the area, as well as 18 mines in San Diego’s back country. Dr. Butler, a physician and surgeon, was appointed to the San Diego Board of Health in 1903. The architects and contractors, Neale and Graham,  were both from Coronado, and were well known as very capable in various aspects of construction including street paving.

 The foundation of this attractive building was partly concrete and partly redwood mudsills. Mudsills are basically extensions and designed to distribute the building load over a larger and more uniform area. The exterior walls were wood studs with horizontal wood siding, and the doors were wood panels. Double sash windows, sometimes in clusters as in the attic dormers, completed the exterior design. The roof was a combination gambrel, hip and dormer, all originally covered with wood shingles. The shingles were later replaced with composition shingles. Plain brick chimneys rose from the basement boiler location and from the kitchen location.

The interior walls and ceilings were plaster and wood lathe, and the floors were tongue and groove Douglas fir. The original hardware was was cast iron with relief patterns. The central hall at all three levels was lit by a lightwell. The stair railings and banisters were redwood. There was minimal electrical wiring.

The first advertisement for the Hawthorne appeared on November 2, 1900, and described the Hawthorne as being a highest grade family hotel with new furnishings in a new building with steam heating throughout. It boasted that it provided the finest views of the ocean, the harbor and the city, with the street electric cars passing right by the front door.

The Butlers leased the hotel to a series of women throughout their ownership, with the first one being Mrs. Aaron Wood and the last, in 1922,  being Mrs. Sarah Thompson. Mrs. Thompson was a friend of Katherine Tingley, founder of the Theosophical Institute in Point Loma. During many afternoons and evenings, the patio of the Hawthorne was the forum for Madam Tingley’s gatherings and speeches. In 1937, the Butlers sold the Hawthorne to Mrs. Thompson.

Another early resident, and also a friend of Madam Tingley’s , was none other than Captain Karl Offer. Capt. Offer had been unceremoniously evicted from his wife’s home, which was across the street and a few houses down. His wife, socialite Eunice James, was fed up with Capt. Offer’s spending habits, which included buying several properties both in San Diego and Tijuana, luxurious clothing and art purchases and lavish entertaining in local restaurants – all with Eunice’s money. Unbeknownst to all was that Capt. Offer was actually a German spy, who was tracked to San Diego by US government officials. He was arrested as he was leaving his lookout in the attic of the Davis-Horton House! That’s another story for another time!

As it always provided desirable lodging, during WWII more than 100 “Rosie the Riveter” Convair workers lived there, sometimes 2 and 3 to a room. The staff served 300 meals per day during this time, making the addition of a stairway from the back patio to the kitchen necessary.  This enabled groceries to be delivered to the kitchen without having to come through the front door.

Other visitors or tenants included Mohammed Ali and Sammy Davis, Jr. in the 1950s. This was notable as people of color were not welcome in most places at the time.

In 1993, Richard Gere shot parts of his movie, “Mr. Jones” at the Hawthorne. Production photos and publicity stills show him balanced precariously on the Hawthorne’s roof!

More sinister than Gere’s film was the real life drama which occurred in 1983, and was resurrected in 2019. Police discovered the body of 16-year-old Josefina Hernandez in the Hawthorne’s basement. Her body was encased in cement. She had been missing for two years. The gruesome discovery led to a high-profile murder trial and conviction of the inn’s manager, Eugene “Ricco” Cruz (also known as Victor John Marez) . In 2019, Cruz was interviewed by the sister of one of Cruz’s suspected other victims, who claims that he told her that additional bodies were buried in the basement of the house next door, which is now being used as part of the Hawthorne. Back in the 1980s, the basement of that neighboring house was never searched by police. The case may soon be reopened by San Diego Police Department cold case division.

From celebrities to crime to a place on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hawthorne has endured. It is also a California Historic Landmark. This lovely and inviting inn now houses a 29 unit apartment community, with all modern amenities. This iconic landmark is definitely a place to call home.

Sandee Wilhoit is the historian/lead tour guide for the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation.
She can be reached at [email protected].