Following the realignment of Coast Highway, the Red Apple Inn was built in 1927 as one of three lodging establishments fronting the new State Highway. Its popularity waned during the Depression, and the building was sold. In 1936, the original restaurant and lodgings were leased and later purchased by the Davis Military Academy of Pacific Beach, which changed its name at that time to the Army and Navy Academy. As the military school outgrew the original structures, a campus construction program began, and following World War II, classrooms, dormitories, and a large gymnasium/auditorium were added.