William Adams Delano and Chester Aldrich, fresh from sojourns in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, formed what would become a highly influential New York architectural firm in 1903. Mary Miles Herter, the widow of the renowned interior designer, Christian Augustus Ludwig Herter, provided the two an important early commission, when she requiested that they design her a "bungalow" in Santa Barbara, CA, in 1904. For her, Delano and Aldrich produced an eclectic Mediterranean Style dwelling configured in a U-shaped plan, like a Spanish or Mexican hacienda.

In his essay, "Delano and Aldrich," Steven McLeod Bedford indicated that the house had been built in 1909 (p. 539).

After Mary Miles Herter's death in 1913, her son, Albert Herter, and his wife, Adele McGinnis Herter, transformed the large U-shaped villa into a small hotel catering to publicity-shy wealthy travelers.

PCAD id: 8410