1405 17th Avenue
Monticello Hotel on September 5, 2005.
The Monticello Hotel, opened on July 14, 1923, two days after Longview's dedication, was the first building built in Longview. Robert A. Long knew that he would need a luxurious hotel in order to convince potential business investors to the new city. The lobby features murals by renowned landscape artist Joe Knowles of Seaview, Washington.
Postcard view of the Hotel Monticello when new.
This was not the first Monticello Hotel in the area. Before the Long-Bell Lumber Company came to Cowlitz County, Harry Darby Huntington owned a Monticello Hotel on the Cowlitz River. This original Monticello Hotel was destroyed in a flood in January 1923.
Originally owned and operated by the Long-Bell Lumber Company, in 1956 the International Paper Company took over and gave the Monticello Hotel to the city as a gift in September 1957. In 1959 it was leased to Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Clark. Ten months later, the Clarks offered to buy it from the city, and the city agreed. The Clark added the 20-room Monticello Motor Inn annex on the north side of the hotel. In 1962, the Columbus Day Storm knocked down the original “Hotel Monticello” sign on the roof. It was replaced by the current “Monticello Hotel” sign.
Eventually the Clarks divorced, the hotel was auctioned at a sheriff’s sale in 1964, and the Aid to Lutherans, holder of the mortgage, took over. The Longview Development Corporation was formed to save the hotel, and it was leased to John Bailey through 1965. In 1966, R.B. Wallace of Seattle took an option to buy the hotel. In 1971, Wallace found a Bremerton company to buy the hotel. None of these owners were successful, and in August 1972 the Longview Development Corporation took court action to break Wallace’s purchase contract and reacquire the hotel. On December 19, 1972, the Internal Revenue Service seized the bar inventory and locked the doors to the hotel, closing it for the first time. In 1972, Dick Winters purchased the hotel for $350,000. After a remodeling, the hotel reopened in December 1973.
Eventually, the hotel was acquired by McKenzie-Smith Investors of San Diego. Larry and Annabelle Juell acquired the hotel through foreclosure in 1996, and found new owners. Philip Lovingfoss and his wife Annabelle Juell-Lovingfoss (remarried after the death of Larry Juell) foreclosed on the hotel in 2001, and spent about $300,000 restoring the building.
In June 2013, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay filmed an episode of Hotel Hell at the Monticello Hotel. On January 1, 2014, the hotel’s restaurant, bar and banquet facilities were closed.
Historical Photos:
Monticello Hotel in 1924 (University of Washington Library)
Monticello Hotel (R.A. Long Historical Society)
Related Links:
Monticello Hotel at the Cowlitz County Parcel Search
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