The Mansion House

At the corner of Main Street and East Beach Streets, where the Lettunich Building now stands, the Pacific Exchange Hotel was built in 1856 by T.D. Alexander. By 1871, its owners decided a larger and more modern hotel was needed, and Thomas Beck was hired to draw up plans for what was named the Mansion House. Registers from the old hotel include signatures such as General Tom Thumb and Ulysses S. Grant. In 1900, a night's stay cost $2.00, and free busses took guests to and from the train station. In 1906, Mateo and M.N. Lettunich purchased the property and decided to move the hotel north 110 feet and build an office building in its place. In 1914, the old hotel was jacked up and lowered onto a series of 100-foot-long log rollers, and as it inched along, each log that rolled out from the back was picked up and placed under the front. In 1978, the Mansion House was saved from demolition when its owners donated it to the Pájaro Valley Historical Association. It has since been sold various times, and it remains one of the oldest wooden buildings in the heart of downtown Watsonville.

Watsonville, California · United States