Holbrooke Hotel
The Holbrooke Hotel is located in Grass Valley, California, USA. It is notable as the oldest hotel that has been in continuous operation in California's Mother Lode. The hotel was built in 1862 in mid-19th century Mother Lode masonry architectural style, and incorporated the Golden Gate Saloon which has been in continuous operation since 1852. History. The original building, constructed in 1852 by Stephen and Clara Smith, was a saloon, the Golden Gate Saloon. The following year, a single-story annex, the Exchange Hotel, was added at the back of the saloon. The fire of 1855 burned  down the saloon, but it was rebuilt with fieldstone and a brick facade. The Exchange Hotel was caught in a fire in 1862, after which it was renovated into a two-story structure. In 1879, it was named the Holbrooke Hotel after the owner, D. P. Holbrooke. The hotel continues to be privately owned. Several notable people stayed at the hotel including “Gentleman Jim” Corbett, Lotta Crabtree, Bob Fitzsimmons, Bret Harte, Jack London, Lola Montez, Emma Nevada, Mark Twain, and five US Presidents: Grover Cleveland, James Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, and Herbert Hoover. Description. The hotel has 28  rooms and is in size. The hotel includes a restaurant whose chef gets mushrooms and wild lettuce from local State Park Rangers. The interior includes copper clad walls, mahogany wood, Italian alabaster, and marble. It is furnished with globe chandeliers, green library lamps, and clawfoot bathtubs. The bar in the saloon was shipped around Cape Horn. The hotel was featured on a September 2013 episode of "Hotel Impossible" and an April 2016 episode of "The Dead Files". Historical landmark. The Nevada County hotel became a California Historical Landmark, #914, on March 18, 1978. Another historical marker was placed on the  building on September 25, 1965 by E Clampus Vitus.