Walk 3

Historic Downtown Bakersfield Walking Tour · Stop 3

The Padre Hotel: Bakersfield’s Historic Hotel

A 1928 downtown landmark where oil-boom ambition, preservation, dining, nightlife, and local legend all meet.

The Padre Hotel at the corner of 18th Street and H Street in downtown Bakersfield
The Padre Hotel at 18th Street and H Street in downtown Bakersfield.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.

Quick Facts

Tour Stop
Stop 3 of the Historic Downtown Bakersfield Walking Tour
Landmark
The Padre Hotel
Address

1702 18th Street, Bakersfield, California 93301
Front Desk Phone
(661) 427-4900
Official Website
ThePadreHotel.com
Reservations
Book a room at The Padre Hotel
Opened
April 12, 1928
Architect
John M. Cooper of Los Angeles
Original Use
Luxury hotel with guest rooms, a banquet hall, coffee shop, and public gathering spaces
Architectural Style
Spanish Colonial Revival, also described in some sources as Spanish Renaissance Revival
Current Use
Boutique hotel, restaurants, bars, event spaces, and downtown gathering place
Primary Tour Theme
Oil-boom prosperity, historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and Bakersfield folklore

Directions from Stop 2: The Historic Fox Theater

From The Historic Fox Theater,
walk south on H Street toward 18th Street.

  1. Start at the Fox Theater entrance at 2001 H Street.
  2. Walk south on H Street for two blocks.
  3. Continue past 20th Street and 19th Street.
  4. The Padre Hotel stands at the corner of 18th Street and H Street.

Approximate walking distance: 0.2 mile.

Estimated walking time: 4 to 5 minutes.


Open walking directions from The Historic Fox Theater to The Padre Hotel
.

Overview

The Padre Hotel is one of downtown Bakersfield’s most important surviving landmarks. Opened in 1928,
the hotel rose during a period when Kern County’s oil, agriculture, rail connections, and regional commerce
were reshaping Bakersfield into a larger and more ambitious city.

For decades, the Padre was the place where visitors stayed, businesspeople met, civic celebrations unfolded,
and downtown Bakersfield presented its most polished public face. It was built as a luxury hotel and quickly
became associated with status, travel, nightlife, and the energy of a growing Central Valley city.

The building later entered one of the strangest and most colorful chapters in Bakersfield history under
Milton “Spartacus” Miller, whose long-running disputes with city officials became part of local legend.
After years of decline, the hotel was restored and reopened as a boutique hotel in 2010. Today, it is both
a historic landmark and an active downtown destination.

What You Will See When You Arrive

Standing at 18th Street and H Street, look up. The Padre Hotel dominates the corner with its tall white façade,
rooftop sign, vertical “Padre Hotel” sign, rows of windows, decorative roofline, and street-level awnings.
The building is large enough to be read as a downtown monument, but detailed enough to reward close inspection.

From the sidewalk, notice these features:

  • The rooftop “PADRE HOTEL” sign, one of the building’s most recognizable visual features.
  • The vertical hotel sign on the side of the building.
  • The decorative cornice and roofline treatment near the top of the façade.
  • The repeated upper-floor windows, which emphasize the hotel’s height and rhythm.
  • The arched and ornamented entrance features at street level.
  • The awnings along the ground floor, which connect the building to the sidewalk and restaurant activity.
  • The fire escape, a visible reminder of the building’s long history and later safety controversies.
  • The relationship between the Padre and the Fox Theater, which is visible only a short walk away.

Visitors may also step inside public areas of the hotel when open. The lobby, restaurants, and bars show how
the restored building combines historic bones with modern hospitality. The interiors are not a museum display;
they are living spaces where the hotel continues to function as a downtown gathering place.

Historic Background

The Padre Hotel opened on April 12, 1928. It was designed by Los Angeles architect John M. Cooper and built
during one of Bakersfield’s most important growth periods. The hotel stood on the former estate of Judge
Benjamin Brundage, an influential early Kern County figure whose name remains connected to Bakersfield civic history.

The hotel was originally known as the Hotel Padre. Its name honored Padre Francisco Garcés, the Franciscan
missionary and explorer whose 1776 journey is memorialized elsewhere in Bakersfield. Early accounts describe
the hotel as having murals connected to its namesake, reinforcing the Spanish Colonial imagery used throughout
the building’s identity.

When it opened, the Padre was among the largest and tallest buildings in Bakersfield. It offered nearly 200 rooms
and was promoted as a first-rate hotel for travelers, business visitors, and the city’s social life. The hotel’s
location at 18th and H placed it near downtown shops, theaters, offices, restaurants, and transportation corridors.

The Padre survived the 1952 earthquake sequence that damaged and reshaped much of downtown Bakersfield. Many older
buildings were demolished, altered, or rebuilt after the quakes. The Padre remained standing, which makes it an
especially important survivor from the pre-earthquake downtown skyline.

In 1954, Milton “Spartacus” Miller and his partners purchased the hotel. Miller’s ownership lasted for decades and
became one of the most famous episodes in Bakersfield civic history. The building eventually declined, and after
Miller’s death in 1999 it went through years of vacancy, ownership changes, renovation plans, and uncertainty.

In 2008, the San Diego-based hospitality group Eat.Drink.Sleep. purchased the hotel and began a major restoration
with Graham Downes Architecture. The restored Padre reopened in 2010 as a boutique hotel with guest rooms, restaurants,
nightlife, and event spaces. Its reopening became a major symbol of downtown Bakersfield revitalization.

Construction Date

The Padre Hotel opened on April 12, 1928.

  • Building: The Padre Hotel
  • Original name: Hotel Padre
  • Opening date: April 12, 1928
  • Architect: John M. Cooper of Los Angeles
  • Original cost: Approximately $600,000
  • Original scale: Eight stories with nearly 200 guest rooms
  • Original features: Guest rooms, banquet hall, coffee shop, and public hotel spaces
  • Major ownership change: Purchased by Milton “Spartacus” Miller and partners in 1954
  • Major restoration period: 2008–2010
  • Reopened: 2010 as a restored boutique hotel

Architectural Style

The Padre Hotel is primarily associated with the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Some sources also describe it as
Spanish Renaissance Revival. Both descriptions point to the same broad architectural language: historic Spanish and
Mediterranean-inspired forms adapted for a modern commercial hotel.

The building’s exterior uses a strong vertical hotel form combined with decorative details that soften its height.
Instead of presenting a plain office-block façade, the Padre uses ornament, roofline treatment, signage, arches,
awnings, and proportion to create a landmark identity.

Look especially at the upper portion of the building. The decorative cornice and roofline give the hotel a more
elaborate silhouette than many later downtown commercial buildings. At the street level, the arched entrance details
and awnings create a pedestrian scale, making the large building feel connected to the sidewalk.

The restored interiors continue the theme of mixing historic atmosphere with modern use. Visitors may see dramatic
lobby spaces, decorative murals, black-and-white flooring, restored stair and column details, and restaurant spaces
that interpret Bakersfield history through a contemporary hospitality lens.

Hotel, Restaurants, and Public Spaces Today

Today, The Padre Hotel operates as a boutique hotel with guest rooms,
restaurants, bars, meeting spaces, wedding venues, and nightlife. It is one of the best examples on the tour of
adaptive reuse: a historic building that remains active because it was restored for modern visitors rather than
preserved as an empty shell.

Rooms and Suites

The restored hotel offers a range of rooms and suites with names that reinforce the Padre’s Western and oil-boom
personality, including 40 Winks, Maverick, Double Deuce, Corner Pocket, Oil Baron Suite, Farmer’s Daughter Suite,
and Head Honcho Suite. Guests can check current availability through the hotel’s
official reservation page.

Dining and Nightlife

The Padre’s public dining and nightlife spaces are part of what makes this stop useful for walking-tour visitors.
Even visitors who are not staying overnight may be able to experience the building through its restaurants and bars.

  • Brimstone:
    A saloon-inspired restaurant and bar with hardwood floors, a stamped-tin-style ceiling, cocktails,
    local beers, burgers, pizzas, and shareable plates.
  • Farmacy Cafe:
    A lobby café serving coffee, pastries, breakfast, and grab-and-go options. The café is connected to the
    hotel’s daily rhythm and gives visitors a casual way to step inside the landmark.
  • Prairie Fire:
    A rooftop bar and lounge with downtown views, including views toward the Fox Theater and surrounding cityscape.

Dining hours and access may change for private events, holidays, or seasonal schedules. Visitors should check the
linked restaurant pages or call the front desk at (661) 427-4900 before planning
a meal around the walking tour.

Milton “Spartacus” Miller and the Padre Hotel

No page about the Padre Hotel is complete without Milton “Spartacus” Miller. Miller and his partners purchased
the hotel in 1954, and his ownership became one of the most colorful and controversial chapters in Bakersfield
history.

The central conflict was building safety. City officials said the hotel did not meet updated fire and building-code
requirements. Miller resisted, arguing over costs, enforcement, and the city’s authority. The dispute became serious
enough to reach the California Supreme Court in City of Bakersfield v. Miller, decided in 1966. The court
upheld the city’s authority to enforce the building-code requirements and to treat the unsafe conditions as a public
nuisance.

The legal record describes a long-running dispute that began after Miller received notice in the 1950s that the hotel
did not conform to city building codes. City officials attempted for years to secure voluntary compliance. By the early
1960s, the conflict had escalated into litigation, notices, and orders affecting the upper floors of the hotel.

Miller did not respond quietly. Local history remembers him for public protests that were theatrical, combative,
and unmistakably Bakersfield. Stories associated with him include:

  • Large protest signs hung on the hotel.
  • A rooftop “Alamo” and “Tombstone” sign criticizing city officials.
  • A mock missile aimed toward City Hall.
  • Tombstone-shaped cookies sent to city officials.
  • A flock of turkeys released in City Council chambers.
  • Decades of disputes over code enforcement and the future of the building.

Miller’s relationship with city government was not just symbolic. He turned to politics and was elected to the
Kern County Board of Supervisors. That makes his story more than a hotel-owner feud; it became part of Bakersfield’s
civic identity, political culture, and downtown folklore.

The mock missile is especially famous. It became one of the most vivid images of Miller’s protest style and is now
remembered as part of Kern County’s museum and preservation landscape rather than as an active threat. For walking-tour
visitors, the important point is not the stunt alone. The larger story is that the Padre Hotel became a battleground
over preservation, public safety, property rights, personality, and downtown decline.

Ghost Stories and Local Legends

The Padre Hotel is widely associated with ghost stories. These stories should be understood as local legends and
reported experiences, not documented historical proof. Still, the legends are now part of the public identity of
the building and are one reason the Padre remains so fascinating to visitors.

Commonly repeated stories include reports of children’s laughter on upper floors, strange shadows, unexplained
sensations of being watched, and accounts connected to the hotel’s seventh floor. The hotel’s own
historical page includes a “Supernatural Encounters”
section that mentions ghost-hunting interest and several reported experiences.

The legends often overlap with real hardship in the building’s history: the 1952 earthquakes, a reported seventh-floor
fire, decades of decline, vacant upper floors, and the long period when the Padre was more famous as a troubled landmark
than as a restored hotel. Whether visitors believe the ghost stories or not, the haunted reputation adds another layer
to the hotel’s identity.

For this walking tour, the ghost stories work best as atmosphere. The documented history is already dramatic:
a luxury oil-boom hotel, earthquake survival, the Milton Miller battles, code-enforcement litigation, decline,
restoration, and rebirth. The legends simply make the building’s story even more memorable.

Connection to Stops 1 and 2

The first three stops together introduce three different kinds of downtown landmarks.

Bakersfield Escape, inside the Historic Haberfelde Building,
represents downtown business architecture and modern adaptive reuse. The
Historic Fox Theater represents movie-palace
entertainment, theater culture, and community preservation. The Padre Hotel represents hospitality, oil-boom
prosperity, civic conflict, and downtown restoration.

All three buildings show how Bakersfield’s downtown developed between the 1920s and early 1930s. The Haberfelde
Building projected business confidence. The Fox projected glamour and public entertainment. The Padre projected
luxury, travel, and status. Together, they make the beginning of the walking tour feel like a compact lesson in
how Bakersfield wanted to be seen during its early twentieth-century growth.

Visitor Information

Walking-tour visitors can enjoy the Padre Hotel from the sidewalk, from the lobby when open, or by visiting one of
the public restaurants and bars. The building is especially photogenic from the opposite side of 18th Street or H Street,
where its height, rooftop sign, vertical sign, and corner placement are easier to see.

Visitors who are not hotel guests should respect private guest areas. The best public experience is usually the
exterior, lobby, café, restaurant, bar, and rooftop lounge when those spaces are open to the public.

Historic Photographs

Historic interior view of the Padre Hotel lobby
Historic interior view of the Padre Hotel lobby.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.
Historic street-level view of the Padre Hotel showing the coffee shop entrance
Historic street-level view showing the Padre Hotel coffee shop entrance.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.
Historic photograph of the Padre Hotel with rooftop signs reading Hotel Padre, Ghost Town, USA, Fallout Shelter, Alamo, and Tombstone
Historic view from the Milton “Spartacus” Miller era, showing rooftop and exterior protest signage.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.

These images show how dramatically the building’s identity has changed. The early lobby photograph shows the
Padre as an elegant luxury hotel. The later exterior image with signs shows the building during its more confrontational
Miller-era chapter. Together, they help explain why the Padre is remembered as both grand and eccentric.

Modern Photographs

Modern aerial-style view of the Padre Hotel at the corner of 18th Street and H Street
Modern exterior view of the restored Padre Hotel.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.
Modern interior view of the restored Padre Hotel lobby and staircase
Restored lobby and interior stair area.
Image source: The Padre Hotel historical page.
Modern Padre Hotel lobby mural with cowgirl imagery
Modern lobby mural inside the restored hotel.
Image source: The Padre Hotel.
Farmacy Cafe window at the Padre Hotel
Farmacy Cafe at the Padre Hotel.
Image source: Farmacy Cafe at The Padre Hotel.

Then and Now

The Padre Hotel is a strong “then and now” stop because the building has remained in place while its meaning has
changed several times.

In 1928, it represented luxury, travel, and Bakersfield’s oil-era confidence. During the Miller years, it became
a symbol of protest, conflict, decline, and defiance. After restoration, it became a symbol of preservation and
downtown revival.

When comparing historic and modern photographs, look for what stayed the same: the building’s massing, height,
corner location, window rhythm, and rooftop identity. Then look for what changed: signage, storefronts, interior
finishes, restaurant uses, lighting, and the building’s public reputation.

What to Notice Before You Walk On

Before leaving the Padre Hotel, pause for a minute and look for these details:

  1. The rooftop sign: It makes the building visible from a distance and reinforces the hotel’s
    place in the downtown skyline.
  2. The vertical sign: It turns the hotel wall into advertising, helping pedestrians and motorists
    identify the landmark quickly.
  3. The fire escape: It is a visual reminder of the building’s long safety-code disputes and the
    Miller-era conflict with city officials.
  4. The street-level activity: Restaurants, cafés, bars, and hotel entrances show how adaptive reuse
    keeps a historic building active.
  5. The view back toward the Fox Theater: The relationship between the Padre and the Fox helps
    visitors understand downtown as a walkable entertainment district.

Directions to Stop 4: Woolworth Building and Historic Commercial Block

From The Padre Hotel, continue to the
Woolworth’s Building at

1400 19th Street
.

  1. Stand outside The Padre Hotel at 18th Street and H Street.
  2. Walk east on 18th Street toward K Street.
  3. Turn left on K Street.
  4. Walk one block north to 19th Street.
  5. The Woolworth’s Building is at the corner of 19th Street and K Street.

Approximate walking distance: 0.3 mile.

Estimated walking time: 6 to 7 minutes.


Open walking directions from The Padre Hotel to the Woolworth’s Building
.

Photo Credits

Sources and Further Reading