Tolovana Inn 40 th Anniversary The Tolovana story begins in 1906 - PDF document

Tolovana Inn 40 th Anniversary The Tolovana story begins in 1906 when brothers Mark and William Warren platted the area along the beach south of Cannon Beach. The name came from Mark's travels through the remote regions of central Alaska where he visited a trading post named Tolovana. He liked the melodious sound of the name and named their town site Tolovana. His English definition of the name was "beautiful word" which, after all, is a fitting name for one of the beautiful places in the West. Incidentally, the word Tolovana in the Alaskan Indian language is said to mean "a pile of logs or driftwood." The subdivision consisted of 72 lots and was adjacent to the north of what is now Warren Way. In 1911, the brothers built the Warren Hotel on the site of the Inn . It consisted of a large rustic lodge with dining room and several cottages and served transients and conferences for about 3 0 years. Summer patrons included the elite of Portland and the business flourished. In 1913, Gov. Oswald West, a progressive Democrat, sent a bill to the legislature which passed designating the ocean beach from Astoria to the California border a public highway. Oregon is the only state to preserve it beaches for the public. In those years, because the adjacent property was so heavily forested, the beach was the main highway and the Warren Hotel became a stagecoach stop. The coaches traveled at low tide, the only time they could get around Hug Point which is south of our property. At the beginning of WWII, the hotel was taken over by the US Coast Guard and used as headquarters for its personnel, horses, and dogs assigned to patrol the beaches. During the critical war years of 1942 arid 1943, the military believed the coasts were subject to sabotage and enemy attack and the beach patrol was one of the most important phases of national defense. It had three basic functions: 1. To detect and observe enemy vessels operating in coastal waters and transmit information to the appropriate Navy and Army Commands. 2. To report attempts of landings by the enemy and assist in preventing such activity. 3. To prevent communication between persons on shore and the enemy at sea. Raids by Japanese submarines were anticipated. By June 15, 1943 Carmon Beach had a night dog patrol of a dozen dogs and three handlers. A patrolman and a dog worked as a team. There were 18 different dog breeds but German Shepherds, Doberman Pinchers, and Airedales were preferred because of their size, strength, adaptability and intelligence. The station was assigned a horse patrol in May 1944. Mounted patrolmen carried portable radio receiver-transmitter sets, a compass, whistle, and often pistol and rifle. The Cannon Beach area was not attacked but a Japanese submarine shelled the area off Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River in June 1942

After the end of the war the property lay abandoned for several years until it was bought by two Astoria professional men who refurbished the buildings and operated a beach motel for about l 0 years. In 1961, two couples, Francis and Myrtle Nevan and Nick and Helen Nelson purchased the property for $36,000 and operated it for 10 years as a Christian Conference Center under the name of Grace Haven Lodge. Their brochure desc1ibed the Lodge as having a huge fireplace, dining facilities, and 11 cottages. The originator of Tolovana Inn was William F. Brenner, owner of Brenner Construction Co. of Beaverton. He had been a long-time builder of motels in Washington, Oregon, and California. The Nelsons and the Nevans rejected his offer to buy on several occasions until the winter of 1970 when they determined that increasing operating costs, property taxes and an $8,000 sewer assessment would make their operation unprofitable. ·Sensing the potential growth of the area, they countered Brenner's final purchase offer with a 60-year lease with option to purchase. The Assessor valued the property at $100,950. The lease, based on a val11e of$!50,000, began June l, 1971 and ends May 31,2031. Terms of exercising the option require payment in full by December 1, 2030, 6 months prior to expiration date. Brenner offered the Robert Randall Co. of Portland a partnership for its financial stability and a marketing program to sell the 96 units. I was vice president of the company and in charge of the sales program. There were both city and local citizen objections to the original plans. The city required Brenner to re-built Siuslaw street and replace its sewer with cast iron lines and to install a 12-inch water line from its reservoir to the Inn. Brenner agreed to pay for an 8-inch line if the city would pay the difference between 8 and 12 inches. When the city refused, Brenner developed the Inn's water source on land he leased across the street, now the Haystack Resort motel. Water was found at 31 feet and a redwood storage tank was built. Low water pressure in the Tolovana Park area caused the city to reopen negotiations and it agreed to pay the difference over 10 years plus 9 percent interest. The well was capped and the tank removed. After months of efforts spent to resolve many other complications, a building permit was issued September 7, 1971. After the Cannon Beach Volunteer Fire Department burned the lodge and cabins in a practice fire drill, construction began. Ray Snyder, owner of Unit 311was job superintendent. Excavation revealed portions of the site had been a land fill, casing still more unexpected costs to remove the debris and refill with rock. Bob Randall and I inspected the site weekly until it was completed in October 1972. Thus, like the Phoenix bird of legend, Tolovana Inn rose from the ashes of the past.

The complex, sited on 3.523 acres with approximately 280 feet of ocean frontage, included four buildings of 24 units each, a recreational building, an office building with manager living accommodations, and a commercial laundry. A restaurant was included to enhance the sale of units. A separate tax lot was created for the restaurant which was leased to the Randall Co. for the same period as the land lease. The consideration was $1 which was paid upon execution of the lease. There have been several operators over the years and Daggatt's Restaurant sold its leasehold interest to Newport Pacific Corporation of Newport, Oregon August 15 1990. Mo's is responsible for taxes but the Association receives no lease income and Mo's must exercise its option to purchase at the then current market value by December 1, 2030. The sales program began in June 1972. Prices ranged from $32,900 for a 2-bedroom 2-bath end unit to $16,400 for a Studio. The combined asking price for the 96 units was $1,230,000. Today the County values the Inn property at $3 3,266,507, an increase of approximately three- thousand- six-hundred percent. It was presumed most owners would not live on site so buyers were offered an opportunity to rent their units on a daily basis by entering a rental pool. It was the first time this concept had been used in Oregon and it changed the condominium's character from real estate to a security. Consequently , the units had to be sold by Prospectus just like a stock offering. Sales were limited to residents of Oregon who purchased for investment. Once all units were sold, re-sales were available nationwide and in Canada. An aggressive radio advertising campaign brought lots of prospects to the site but sales were slow. Most Oregonians were unwilling to buy because the units were on land they didn't own. The monthly condo fee added a new and unfamiliar fee. The Prospectus identified the Inn as "a high risk investment" and cautioned would-be buyers that condominium units were not as speedily resalable as securities. My family lived on site that summer and I sold 24 units in June, July, and August. Various Saving and Loan Association provided most of the financing. Down payment was 25 percent, loans were amortized over 25 years with interest rates in the 8% range. The first closings were November 3, 1972. The last unit was sold and closed November 11, 1975. Today eight original families retain ownership and I have cet1ificates acknowledging those in attendance tonight. The others will be mailed their certificates. The Inn's ownership has been stable. In addition to the eight, 37 other families have owned for 25 to 39 years. The first owner's meeting was held in the Randall Company office in Portland February 15, 1973. Its purpose was to organize a Home Owners Association. The first annual meeting of the Association was in Portland at the Lloyd Center Auditorium November 3, 1973. Joln 1 Pazlar was on the first Board. Gene Bauer was elected Chairman November 28. The original agent, Pacific Inns Ltd, hired in I 972 to run the property for the Association was owned by the Brenner Co. After a year it was replaced by Vacation Villages of America a company founded and managed by Don Jenkins. READ DON'S LETTER