Hotel Venezia during restoration

I purchased the old Hotel Venezia and Babbini's Restaurant to save them from the wrecking ball. For years this boarded up building was an eyesore on the fringe of a small urban historic district known as Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, a city of 100,000 people an hour north of San Francisco. The rehabilitation is a good example of a "win win" program in urban preservation. I worked with the local housing authority to secure low interest government money to convert the upper floor 7 room hotel into 3 low income apartments. The old Babbini kitchen I brought on-line as a catering service and the grand dining room I converted into an art gallery and my architectural office. Given the urban rejuvenation already taking place, housing was in demand and the apartments were rented quickly to young people working downtown. The catering kitchen was in high demand for local events and the art gallery was close enough to the action to attract an interesting crowd. Rather than being torn down to become another "wasteland" asphalt parking lot, the classic art deco Hotel Venezia still stands brightly as a slice of the early Italian history of Santa Rosa.

Bob "on the beam" during restoration

Shinto priest purifying the space during restoration