Rising from the ashes of the great fire of 1856, the Cary House still graces Placerville’s Main Street.

William Cary, a prominent businessman in Placerville who also served a term as mayor, built the Cary House in 1857 after fire destroyed his first inn, the Placer Hotel. According to the April 18, 1857, edition of the Mountain Democrat, the Cary House was “a large three-story brick hotel—perfectly fireproof—in the old El Dorado lot on Main Street. The location is the best in town, and the building will be the largest and finest furnished in our county.” The hotel was one of the first to offer hot and cold baths. 

The Cary House hosted many notable figures of the time. Mark Twain is reported to have lectured at the hotel, Lola Montez and the outlaw Black Bart are rumored to have stayed there, and in 1859 Horace Greeley gave a speech from the second floor balcony. 

 The Cary House also served as headquarters for the Wells Fargo & Company express office and the Pioneer Stage Line, which provided service between Placerville and Virginia City. It is estimated that over $90,000,000 in bullion from the Comstock Lode passed over the porch of the Cary House on its way to San Francisco.

The grand hotel changed ownership 18 times before being purchased in 1908 by John Raffetto. In 1915, Raffetto sold all the furnishings and razed the building to make way for a new structure—the building that still stands today. 

While excavating the basement, workers found over $600 in gold (gold was valued at $20 an ounce at the time)—enough to pay for the construction of the basement. The new three-story brick structure resembled the previous Cary House; however, the beautiful filigree wrought iron railing on the second floor balcony was replaced with a thick wooden balcony. 

The new hotel operated as Hotel Placerville until 1926 when it was taken over by Raffetto’s son, Lloyd, who renamed it the Raffles Hotel after an establishment in Singapore. Lloyd completely remodeled the building and added an elevator, which still operates today and is the second oldest elevator west of the Mississippi. He also added a fourth floor to the building in 1929, which included living quarters for his family and an additional 17 rooms with private baths, a luxury at that time. Semi-private baths were added to the rooms on the second and third floors later on.

In 1978, the hotel was designated as a historical site and purchased by Doug and Peggy Milton. The Milton’s restored the Cary House name and began a $1 million renovation and restoration—a project that brought the building’s heating and electrical systems up to code and renovated the bath facilities. The lobby was restored to its original grandeur with a mahogany staircase and reception desk and Victorian furnishings; large stained glass windows depicting the four seasons in the foothills were installed in the lobby.

In 1998, the Cary Group LLC purchased the building from the Miltons. The new owners updated and redecorated the rooms but retained the historic look of the hotel. Currently, the Cary House boasts over 40 rooms with private baths, and 60 percent of the rooms include a kitchenette. Each room is named after a local mine, type of grape or historical figure. It is also reported that at least four ghosts haunt the premises, the most infamous being Stan Levine who was stabbed on the staircase by a jealous husband.

Sources:

Mountain Democrat: April 18, 1857; November 7, 1997; November 14, 1997; December 30, 1998; December 24, 2010