No.17 - Herman Hotel Carriage House

50 F Street

This house was once the carriage house for the Herman Hotel that stood on the southwest corner of Hilltop Drive and F Street. The hotel was originally built as a home for George W .Roberts. After his death in August 1888, his sister, Mrs. Minnie Herman, added 13 rooms to the house in 1894. Minnie bought and sold real estate and also promoted oil exploration in Chula Vista.

The Herman Hotel burned down in 1913, but the carriage house remained. The hotel property was split up in 1920 and 1921.

On December 18, 1923, William S. and Maggie Boyd acquired the carriage house, where they lived and raised chickens. Willis and Eloise Nance bought the property in 1944.

Although considerably altered, the carriage house is significant as one of the last remnants of the Herman Hotel. Local tradition says that the building was also a stagecoach stop, but this story has not been verified.