The Largest One Floor Hotel in the World
Jeannine Pedersen
Curator of Collections, Catalina Island Museum

Imagine wishing to escape the heat of a mainland summer in the late nineteenth century, one might try pitching a tent on the beach to enjoy the cool ocean breeze. However, there was only one place where one could enjoy camping with all the amenities of a growing summer resort, Santa Catalina Island and her Canvas Cities.

During the latter part of the 1890s the popularity of Santa Catalina Island as a summer destination grew with every season. Renting a tent residence from A.W. Swanfeldt for $7.50 per week was the most economical accommodation on the Island.

Each tent included beds, bedding, basic furnishings and limited cooking facilities. A.W. Swanfeldt was in operation on the Island from 1895 until 1902, when the Santa Catalina Island Company assumed operation of the tent housing.

The Island Villa Annex was set up between Sumner Avenue and Catalina Street in the late 1890s. According to a survey conducted in 1898 by the Sanborn-Perris Fire Insurance Company, the Island Villa Annex included 80 tents. By the time that William Wrigley Jr. purchased the Island in 1919 the Island Villa Annex had grown to more than 400 tents.

Upon Mr. Wrigley's request the existing Island Villas were improved from the original tent structures to 10'x12' wooden bungalettes and 700 additional structures were built. By 1924 the Island Villas and Villa Park combined numbered over 1,200 units and came to be known as the "Largest One Floor Hotel In The World." In the season of 1926 an Island Villa bungalette rented for $2.50 per night or $17.50 per week.

For the next several years the Island Villas were an economical and fun way for many visitors to stay and enjoy the Island. The Villas were later occupied by the United States Maritime Service troops training on the Island during World War II.

After the war it was questioned whether the Villas should be torn down or renovated due to the state in which the Maritime Service left the Villas. However, the shortage of visitor housing required that the use of the Villas be extended for a few more years until more hotel facilities were available.

The Island Villas remained an economical source of lodging on the Island until 1957 when the Santa Catalina Island Company demolished the structures. And so ended a unique period of Catalina's history as we entered the modern resort era.