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west and the mountains and canyons to the east. The approach
worked seamlessly and sales were brisk; many deals were ce-
mented inside those simple walls that were constructed using
adobe bricks, manufactured on site, to recreate an authentic
rustic look. Glenn A. Moore, resident landscape architect de-
veloped the lush gardens and Lilian J Rice resident architect
S Fairgrounds and the San Diego County Administration
designed the building and supervised the construction.
am Hamill, who later designed and built the Del Mar

Building, helped Rice with the drafting of the architec-
tural drawings. In his recollections with historian Harriet Roch-
lin, Hamill noted that the exterior of the guest house originally
reflected a Southwestern style favored by Sinnard who had a
fine collection of rare southwestern potteries and for that rea-
son some of the initial buildings were “quite the type of New
Mexico,” said Hamill. The earth-toned adobe was repainted an
off-white color years later to harmonize with the majority of
the buildings in the village.

The name of La Morada also changed over the years. In the late
1930s it was known briefly as the Hacienda Hotel, when it was
in the ownership of George Roslington and Paul Avery, then it
was renamed The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe by the Richardson
family who purchased it in 1940. Alterations were also made
over the decades. In 1939, a swimming pool was built, as was a
cocktail lounge, and tile porches were added to the front of the
building, “for the purpose of dignifying the structure,” accord-
ing to archives at the Rancho Santa Fe Association offices. From
the 1960s through to today improvements have been made, but
The Inn’s original character remains intact.
Perhaps a lesser known factoid about The Inn was when world-
renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright secretly arranged to be
married to his beloved Olgivanna Lazovich in the hotel grounds
at midnight, August 25, 1928, exactly a year to the minute
following his divorce from Miriam Noel Wright. Rev. Charles
Leonard Knight presided over the ceremony by the light of the
moon. Unable to find childcare for his only daughter, Evelyn,
she was taken along with Mrs. Knight for the occasion. They
were the only witnesses to the ceremony along with Iovanna,
the Wright’s three-year-old daughter and the hotel’s hostess,
she said.
In 1958, The Inn changed hands again. Stephen Wheeler Royce,
who formerly owned the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, be-
came its innkeeper. The Royce family owned The Inn at Rancho
Santa for more than 50 years then sold it in 2012 to JMI Realty,
the current owner. After a multi-million dollar make-over The
Inn at Rancho Santa Fe stands as gracious and as proud as it did
over 90 years ago, attracting guests from around the world, and
still commanding a noble presence as the fitting portal into the
historic village of Rancho Santa Fe.

64 Wine Dine & Travel Spring 2014