The new owner of the Heritage House remains as much of a mystery as the future of the iconic Little River blufftop inn. Heritage House was a jewel of the coast for 40 years, run by the beloved Dennen family, then by other owners who were also locally well-known, if sometimes controversial.
In the mid-2000s, Heritage House fell to some of the worst excesses of the financial crisis. A German bank pumped $30 million into a commercial property that local experts say could never generate the income to justify such a sum.
That resulted in the Heritage House being in foreclosure. It has been closed since December 2008.
Parties unknown paid $8 million for six parcels of Heritage House property on March 27, 2012, county records say, then another $470,000 to add a new parcel next door.
The buyer has been very careful to remain anonymous, swearing workers to secrecy and creating a daunting paper trail that conceals ownership. Whoever they are, the new buyer appears to have gotten more than they bargained for along with some of the best and most private ocean views anywhere.
Reopening delayed
The buyer is now approaching one year past their originally planned reopening date of May 2012. In January, the county health department found a very long list of work that needed to be done to pass inspection for food service when they came for a pre-inspection at the owner’s request. Problems found range from broken formica to inside roofs needing replacement or repair.
Seen from the highway, renovation has moved fast at times, then the property has periodically gone silent. A big pile of lumber has filled a parking lot for some time now, with a key building being used for storage. New windows were installed recently, with paper still on the glass. Workers were on the job last week but work was moving much slower than in the past.
Who’s the owner?
At the time of the purchase last year, Bill Heaney, an expert in hotel management, was the public face of the Heritage House. He refused to say anything about the ownership.
At some point, Heaney separated from the Heritage House but he still won’t say who hired him or give a new contact person. He has only said that the new owners were not in any way connected to the immediately previous controversial owners.
From the beginning, the rumor was that a Florida billionaire had purchased the property. Several locals were told this story. Two heard that the person was running for high office in Florida and had developed distinctive “towers” in Los Angeles.
This newspaper didn’t print these rumors. However, an interesting Florida connection was found in the property’s paperwork last week.
County assessor, recorder, health department and tax collector files show only Heritage House Limited Partnership as the owner. John Carr of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said nobody has yet applied for a liquor license for Heritage House. Those licenses take at least 60 days to get.
An initial search of the California Secretary of State’s office files shows only one name on the limited partnership’s paperwork Woodland Hills attorney John Burgee. Burgee is not an owner but simply the agent for service of process.
A more detailed search of websites listing corporate officers finally turned up that the sole corporate officer of Heritage House LP is not a person (at least in the traditional sense) but a California corporation named Octagon Holdings Inc. The principal address of this California corporation is given as 250 Royal Palm Way, Palm Beach Florida, second floor.
Connections
The mystery deepens beyond why a California company would have a Florida address. The second floor of this building turns out have been long vacant.
A Palm Beach Post newspaper article by Jeffrey Ostrowski showed that the real estate company that just bought the Palm Beach building is currently trying to find a tenant for the very empty second floor at 250 Royal Palm Way. Ostrowski said just last week the second floor was stripped down to the posts.
The only other address for Octagon Holdings Inc. is the same as Heritage House LP. Their only listed agent is that same Woodland Hills attorney John Burgee. Burgee did not immediately return a phone call and email.
Palm Beach County online files which apparently have not been updated yet with the brand new ownership information from the news article show the Palm Beach building owned by a law firm that represents professional athletes as well as developers.
A sports star as owner of Heritage House?
The paper trail
With the paper trail going in a well-designed circle, the next step was to talk to as many people as possible in Florida and Mendocino.
Knowing there was a mysterious Palm Beach connection to the Heritage House in state files, this reporter began searching for Florida billionaires in that area who could afford the Little River property and had some connection locally or had a connection to this area or were mentioned in the persistent rumors. In talking to people in Florida and on the Mendocino Coast, three names were suggested. Those rumors were checked and questions asked of the three but so far not answered. No direct ties to any of the three names suggested were found.
A Palm Beach billionaire who buys many upscale hotels is Jeff Greene. Greene was a high profile candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida, who lost in the Democratic primary. Before coming back to Florida, he developed property in Los Angeles. Greene’s office was contacted last week with their promise to forward this reporter’s email to him. A second email seeking a simple, yes, no or no comment also brought no response.
One problem with Greene as prospective owner is news stories that show he doesn’t normally hide his ownership in upscale hotels or even hide the ownership of his own Florida mansion.
Others suggested possible owners of Heritage House include Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who also did not respond to questions, or even one of the Koch brothers, two of whom live in Palm Beach. Although Koch Industries owns Georgia Pacific corporation and thus has a local connection, the family has no public history of owning hotels.
Some rumors have been that Heritage House could become a secretive meeting spot like Bohemian Grove or even a clothing optional resort like Harbin Hot Springs. Another rumor is that one of the previous owners may be creating the Florida rumors to hide their own involvement.
So far, there is no proof of who the owners are, other than the corporate persons Heritage House LP and Octagon Holdings Inc.
From a big horseshoe curve on Highway 1, a traveler catches a brief glimpse of the magnificent 1877 farmhouse where visitors checked in for 59 years. The late Lauren and Hazel Dennen created an eclectic village on the 37 ocean-front acres starting in the late 1940s.
Over the years Lauren Dennen bought up single-family houses on both sides of Highway 1, combined some parcels and turned single family homes into highly individual hotel rooms, and also built other cabins. The private Smugglers Cove features rare private oceanfront access. Mobster Baby Face Nelson reportedly hid away on the property before Dennen’s post-World-War-II purchase.