Developer Planning Mansion Inn Revival Across From Governor's Mansion

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A shut-down, boarded-up building across the street from the California Governor's Mansion is getting a big upgrade.

The eyesore could re-open as a swanky new boutique hotel.

They may be in close proximity, but across the street from the mansion, a chain-linked fence surrounds a property that stands in stark contrast to the stately Victorian.

Now, a developer wants to return the building, to a status it once held as a Sacramento hot spot.

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Pictures show the building in better days when it was called The Mansion Inn and celebrities like The Beach Boys and Liberace were guests.

Former Gov. Pat Brown used its swimming pool each day.

"One of the kind of legendary stories about the building was that there was no swimming pool at the Governor's mansion then, so Pat Brown would put on his swimming trunks and a bathrobe, and walk across the street to go swim in the hotel pool then come back," Sacramento historian Bill Burg said.

Burg says re-investing in this storied building will serve the city well.

"It's a return of interest to central cities and bringing money and people back to central cities," Burg said.

Renderings show a vision for the new boutique hotel. The effort to restore the building comes as Sacramento examines new protections to preserve its mid-century modern architecture during the new building boom.

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There are hundreds of mid-century modern structures still standing in Sacramento today, from the old hotel building to the county courthouse, to Eichler homes.

"Very minimalist, very rectangular, clean, simple lines," Burg said.

The developer behind the plans is Sotiris Kololokonis, who lives in Sacramento. He would like to have the new hotel open by the summer of 2019.