The former Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Ventura Lodge No. 1403 in Ventura, California is currently being converted into the Hotel San Buena (a truncated version of "San Buenaventura," the town's namesake)...
Built in 1928, the lodge building on South Ash Street was vacated by the Elks—a fraternity not unlike the Masons or the Shriners—all the way back in 2004.
The plan is to reopen it to the public as a boutique hotel in August 2023, with a bar and gathering area right in the lobby (the lodge's former "lounge").
Fortunately, a lot of vintage details remain, like a safe embedded into the lobby floor...
...a pitched, open-beam ceiling (which had been painted white as recently as 2003 but is now returned to its wood stain)...
...wrought iron railings (which had been removed in the 1950s)...
...and ornate plasterwork.
Former office spaces, a card room, and a billiard room have been converted into guest rooms, starting at the ground level/first floor...
...some with exposed I-beams and red-upholstered seats relocated from the Elks' theatre upstairs.
Each guest room appears to be different—some, like guest room 101 (the former library), with arched windows and vaulted ceilings.
In the basement, which also houses laundry and a fitness center, Rooms 01-04 have exposed concrete walls to show the original boardform foundations.
It's easy to imagine some of the spaces being used for banquet and special event facilities, like the grand staircase between the first and second floors...
...which could allow a bride to make quite an entrance (as long as she's OK with sharing the space with a couple of taxidermied elk bull heads).
The hotel will retain the lodge's original Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style...
...with the addition of some decorative touches that pay tribute to the building's long history as a fraternal clubhouse.
On the second floor, one of the guest rooms includes authentic Elks seating (maybe where one of the "Knights" once sat)...
...and what I mistook to be a fireplace/hearth but is actually a window covering for privacy and noise abatement (adorned with an Elks medallion, which might've been one of the Elks-related items not original to the building but salvaged from another lodge).
Some of the windows actually traverse two floors—which isn't a great situation for a hotel guest looking for peace and quiet.
The second-floor dining room has also been converted into guest rooms...
...and the third-floor grand lodge room/Elks Temple is now the hotel ballroom, soon to be called the "Velvet Hall."
Although the lodge has been mostly closed since the Elks left in 2004, there were a couple of cultural events hosted here in 2008 (including those hosted by Urban Encore/Rubicon Theatre Company).
There's still a stage for performances...
...and the old lighting control panel, which used to stand backstage, is preserved as an artifact in the back of the auditorium.
Glass side panels allow you to look inside at the inner workings, including what I think is a Vitrohm dimmer by Ward Leonard Electric Company.
The red theatre chairs that were once installed here (and have been relocated to some of the guest rooms) have been replaced by banquet chairs that can be more easily rearranged...
...but the stained glass windows still bear the symbols of the B.P.O.E., including the "11th Hour" clock (a reminder to toast at 11 o'clock, "The Hour of Recollection," in remembrance of those absent).
A new courtyard building was constructed in 2017 to house penthouses and a parking garage...
...but the ornamentation of the "new" building ties in with the design theme of the original, including an elk weathervane and doorknobs bearing the Elks clock.
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