Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Ivanhoe Motel

Ivanhoe Motel, Anaheim, CA.

Demolished.










The Ivanhoe Motel was owned by the same folks who own the next-door Zaby's Motor Inn, and a couple other prime locations along Katella Ave. and Harbor Blvd., near the Disneyland Resort. The attendant at the counter at Zaby's stated that the owners are trying to sell several prime lots in the general vicinity as a package together. The previous location of the Ivanhoe Motel would fall into the sale.

The loss of Zaby's Motor Inn is not a major blow (or even a minor blow), and photographs of Ivanhoe Motel before its demolition are unavailable. But based on the flagcrete that was left over when the pictures here were taken-- midway through the location's demolition in mid-May 2006-- there are hints of a colorful Googie past.


The lot now sits empty behind a chain link fence, awaiting future development.

The demolition was mentioned in the Orange County Register on June 4, 2006. [link]

Ivanhoe Motel (Demolished)
434 W. Katella Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92802

18 comments:

Matterhorn1959 said...

Hey Googiemel- I probably have a postcard of that motel somewhere in my collection. If I find it, I will post it for you to see.

melissac. said...

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it! :)

I'm not much of a historian myself. I don't even know where to begin looking for thinkings like vintage postcards or where in newspaper and library archives to find the kind of source materials I'm looking for.

Chris Merritt said...

Hey! Great blog! I'd love to see some vintage images of any of the motels surrounding the park... You may enjoys this little thread I started about Sambo's and the death of googie architecture in the surrounding area:

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=12211&forum=6&15

And here's one on the various Tropics motels:

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=15698&forum=1

melissac. said...

I miss the old Katella and Harbor so much-- minus the protitution and drugs and homeless population, that is. The old, colorful Harbor was so amazing to me when I was little. A lot of the links on my blogs have pictures of how things used to be. I need to start spelunking at antique stores for goodies, although I don't know where to begin.

And of course, tangaroa, thank you so much for picking up my blog, soon as I get a chance, I'll read up on those articles. Always wanted to eat at Sambo's!

What About Dave? said...

Our high school jazz band stayed here in the Spring of 1982. It brings back some memories. Thanks for posting these pictures.

Junebug said...

I worked at the Ivanhoe as amaid during my Jr and Sr years at Loara High. I made $1.40 an hour and worked my tail off.It was my first job and I did have fun working there. It had the old switchboard phone system. I would help in the office and got to connect the lines to room numbers the callers needed.I had returned about 5 or 6 years ago and saw it was all boarded up. Now it's gone and that's sad to me.

Junebug said...

oops....I forgot to mention I worked there in 1970-1972.

HereToHelp said...

Hello Googiemel! It was especially sad for me to see these pics of the Ivanhoe :(

The reason being is that I used to be a desk clerk there in the mid-90's. I worked for the Zaby's for some time, having also clerked at the Rip Van Winkle Inn which was just about a half-block across the street from the Ivanhoe.

It was really something to work there, and though I have no pics, I do remember a bit about working and living at the old place. If you would like more info, just let me know. I will bookmark this blog, and check back soon!

HarryHolmes said...

If you can give me an email address I can send you a scan of the Ivanhoe postcard and the Business card that went with it. I stayed there in 1978 on the first ever trip I took to the USA.I've just got round to scanning all my pics on to the PC and looked up to see if the motel was still in business. Stayed there for 12 days and it was everything a motel was supposed to be according to films of the 60's & 70's.
Ray, London UK

Thin Places said...

I stayed there back in 1988 for a night. Weird experience.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Nice post!
For knowing more about Orange county demolition services in which demolition experts use hydraulic breaker, Bobcat loader and mini excavator for the residential and commercial building demolition.

MEDIUM AL said...

I stayed there as a kid in 1972 (pretty sure) on a trip with my family to Disneyland. I am from Australia and had never seen anything like Disneyland or the Ivanhoe (then we got to Europe). As I remember it there was a full-size, shiny metallic brown suit of armour like a knight's standing in the lobby.

Brandis said...

We stayed at the Ivanhoe in Summer 1989. I was 15 years old and my parents allowed me to stay late at Disneyland. I remember there was some kind of Party at Videopolis. My friend and I walked back to the Motel at around 1 PM.

From what I read later, the area wasn't particularily safe, but we didn't feel threatened or scared at all.

Looking at Google Maps today, it seems to have been quite a distance from Disneyland to the Ivanhoe Motel on foot, but back then, it didn't really feel that long.

Also, I can still remember passing by the food marked and I think there was also a liquor store back then at the corner of Harbor and Catella. :-)

Brandis said...

Sorry, "Unknown" poster from just before. Just wanted to add my name, Brandis.

Nainita said...

I was Owner of this property call Ivanhoe Motel from 4/1977 to 8/1979.. Very good memory, also worked very hard on a daily basis as we used to provide Packages with Universal Studio, Disneyland tickets... The price was for disneyland ticket was $6.99...
Nainita Patel

Shutupb4uruinit said...

You owned the Ivanhoe when my sister &I stayed there then in 1978- we weren't there much as we were off to the 3 theme parks but I was 11 and it was my first real trip out of state (from Oregon) and I recall it being a nice, clean, comfortable place to test up between theme park adventures. Thank you for helping make that trip wonderful

Shutupb4uruinit said...

Rest up