The Potter, Santa Barbara, California. by [SANTA BARBARA] - [1902]

[Santa Barbara]: N.p., [1902]. First edition. Oblong octavo (5 1/4 x 8 inches). 19 leaves printed on rectos only plus 1 blank leaf. Illustrated from photographs. Publisher's wrappers with a photograph of the Potter on front and with a green frame and lettering. Minor soiling to front but a very good copy.Rare promotional booklet for The Potter hotel in Santa Barbara, produced while the expansive resort hotel was being built on Burton's Mound in Santa Barbara, atop an ancient aboriginal battleground, the brainchild of hotelier Milo Milton Potter. The finished product was six-and-a-half stories high with 390 guest rooms, costing over $1,100,000, a princely amount at the time. The grounds were elaborately landscaped and included tennis courts, a zoo, a palm and fernery building, cactus gardens and enchanting pathways. Potter sold the hotel in 1919 and it was renamed the Belvedere. The following year it changed hands and names again when it became part of the Ambassador Hotel chain and rechristened the Ambassador. On April 13, 1921 the hotel caught fire, and while the 110 guests were safely evacuated, the hotel burned to the ground. OCLC/WorldCat lists no copies of this brochure.