Ojai is situated near Condor-Country (Sespe Sanctuary) and on the fringes of the Los Padres National Forest.  The Rose Garden Inn is upper-mudhole in quality.  The Ojai shops and restaurants exceed mudhole quality.  See below for Wheeler Hot Springs, justification for this mudhole posting.

WHEN TO GO AND HOW TO GET THERE:

• Low season seems to be November to March
• Located twelve miles north of Ventura

ALTERNATIVE LODGING:

• Matilija Sanctuary (805.646.3535); a yurt, sweat lodge, etc.  Tailored to group events
• The Emerald Iguana (805.646.5277) at the end of Blanche Street
• The Blue Iguana (805.646.5277) at Loma Drive.  Blue ones seem to be far less expensive.....
• Hummingbird Inn (805.646.4365) at 1208 East Ojai Avenue.  Hummingbirds are far more common here than iguanas.....

MAPQUEST: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=ojai&state=CA&zip=93023&country=us&level=5

MUDHOLE-RATING
	QUIRKINESS
	ACCOMMODATIONS
	GOOD AREA FOOD
	DIVERSIONS
	COST

Ah, yes.  Wheeler Hot Springs.  Still open in about 1996 when Zagat called the place, "Gracious, casual, and hip."  Rumor has it that this most-recent closure was a tax thing.  WHS had been a real survivor, though, being re-built several times after fires, bombings (by the Costello gang, during Prohibition), etc.  WHS was the real reason that Ojai popped up on the MudHoles Radar -- but, alas, gone before we could enjoy it.

Snippets of information; locals could easily fill books with what they know about WHS -- and I hope they will contribute here!

Please use the "Contact Us" page to share your stories of Wheeler Hot Springs!!!!!

Origin of name: Originally Wheeler Hot Springs, the area was named for Wheeler C. Blumberg, who discovered the hot spring in 1870 and developed the land as a resort.

• Throughout the 1920s, Chapter Halloween Parties [of the Sierra Club] were held at Wheeler Hot Springs above Ojai. Many were led by Great Leader Dr. Herbert S. Adair.
• Hiram Imboden Cromer and Anne Harris met in Galveston Texas and married in 1934. Hiram was a physical therapist who was fondly referred to as “Doc” Bodee by his patients.  Anne worked as a retail clerk and did some modeling. In 1939, Bodee and Anne packed up their belongings and their two dogs, Happy and Asta, and set off for California in response to an ad for someone to run the bath house and therapy area at Wheeler Hot Springs.  They arrived in Ojai, and the Wilcox's who owned Wheeler’s hired Bodee immediately.
• Mary Nell Sullivan, 74, formerly of Ojai, died Wednesday, June 12, 2002 at a hospital in Dalton, GA.  For 30 years, Mrs. Sullivan was owner-operator of The Wheel bar and restaurant at Wheelers Gorge where she opened her door to many people who passed through.
• He called a press conference and said that he would go to Wheeler Hot Springs, seventy-five miles north of Los Angeles, and set up a training camp in the mountains to rough it for several weeks, hiking, tree chopping and, ultimately, rounding up some sparring partners and working out. Gus Wilson, one of his loyal trainers, would accompany him, he said. "If I can come back," Dempsey said, "and I think I can, I'm ready to fight any man they want to put up, if the purse is right. I'm hardly financially independent, but I'll never fight as a ham-and-egger." 
• Evelyn married Frank Landucci. They bought Wheeler Hot Springs and moved to Ojai in 1969. Escrow closed a few weeks before the devastating flood that virtually destroyed their new resort property. By 1973, Mr. and Mrs. Landucci were able to open the hot mineral baths, followed in 1975 by their popular landmark restaurant Casa Landucci in Wheeler's historic lodge. After selling the property in 1980, they opened another Italian-themed restaurant, Landucci's, in downtown Ojai, while Evelyn also took up the study of law.
• When the property came back into the family's hands in 1985, her son, John, managed it until his untimely death in 1987.  Evelyn and Frank stepped back in with the help of son and doughter-in-law Lanny and Harmony Kaufer and once again turned the resort into a successful business.
• Since the sale of the business in 1993, the Landuccis have traveled and enjoyed their retirement in Ojai.
• "On the way, you’ll pass a couple of neat little bars, some campgrounds, and the Wheeler Hot Springs.  If you stop, I’d recommend staying away from the squirrels. Though it may be okay now, in the past, the squirrels have been found to carry a plague which can be transmitted via their fleas."  --  Bob Ayers, California Licensed Guide.

• OJAI, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2002--Jack Vierra, 52, was lucky to survive when his fox hole took a direct mortar hit during Vietnam's TET offensive in 1969. Not only did Jack have shrapnel wounds from head to toe, but his helicopter was shot down while being evacuated. After dozens of surgeries that left him with no cartilage in either knee, and requiring metal braces to walk, Jack was on permanent disability. Relying on daily pain killers for the past 30 years, Jack has worked only part-time as a handyman.
• Jack moved from the East Coast this past June to be caretaker for Wheeler Hot Springs, just six miles north of Ojai, California. Although the resort was closed and in complete disrepair, one natural spring-fed tub remained intact, and Jack used it daily. His ailments became less noticeable, and in recent weeks, Vierra has been able to discard his braces and totally stopped pain medication.
• "I never thought I would feel this good again!" Vierra commented. "It's clear there are very strong healing powers in these waters. I feel blessed to have ended up here!"
• Wheeler Hot Springs was discovered in 1888 by a hunter, Wheeler Blumberg, who built a resort on the spot, and the curative powers of the mineral springs became famous throughout the U.S. A stagecoach line ran from the railway station in Ventura to the remote resort. Many celebrities frequented Wheeler, including boxing champ Jack Dempsey, who had his own nine-ton brass tub.
• Over the years, the Blumberg family added cottages, a ballroom, a restaurant, a store and even a bowling alley. Wheeler Hot Springs was the location of America's smallest post office, certified by Ripley's Believe It or Not, serving resort guests and local families.
• A fire in 1940 destroyed most of the buildings. The property was rebuilt as a health spa, and an elegant dinner house was added in 1970. Wheeler again attracted visitors from California and beyond, reaching its hey day in the 1980s. This success lasted until the early 90s, when poor management caused it to decline and close.

Please use the "Contact Us" page to share your stories of Wheeler Hot Springs!!!!!

"Awesome !!!  .....Hi, I was the caretaker at Wheeler when John had just started managing there.  I have been dreaming (literally) about being involved with Wheeler again for years.  I went to college for Solar Engineering and have been working as a reonvation contractor for several years.  My body has finally quit and I can't tell you how much I can relate to Jack's testimony.  I have some great stories about WHS from the mid 80's.  I should be in Ojai within a week.  I can't wait to see the resort.  Thank you for the uplifting webpage !!!!!  --- mmmaurette"

The property is currently being renovated by its owner, the Dewar Foundation, which is seeking a buyer/operator that will totally restore the vintage property and keep it accessible to the general public.  SEE FOOTNOTE BELOW

• Note: Jack Vierra can be reached at 805/646-7929.  Photos are available online at http://www.silcom.com/~slade/  CONTACT:  Dewar Foundation
  Charles Webb, 212/319-1900 
• Sunset Magazine, July 1994.  Fill your tank in Ojai, too, as gas stations are scarce on the next leg of the trip. Drive north on State 33 and in 6 1/2 miles you'll come to Wheeler Hot Springs (646-8131). The indoor hot tubs ($10 per person per half-hour) have a funky, 1970s redwood-and-fern feel to them, while the restaurant is airy and elegant, and offers monthly jazz concerts.  About 25 miles north of the hot springs, State 33 switchbacks up to 5,084-foot Pine Mountain Summit (now listed as 5,160 feet), then drops into the lonesome ranch country of the Cuyama Valley to meet State 166.
• Rickie Lee Jones explores her art of interpretation, exuding both savvy and innocence. She sings, with a touch of self-revelation, "I Won't Grow Up." Her daughter can be heard giggling in the background on a version of Oscar Brown Jr.'s "Dat Dere" (a song that Lannie Kaufer of Wheeler Hot Springs introduced to her).
• .....but was WHS really ever owned by Art Linkletter?

Please use the "Contact Us" page to share your stories of Wheeler Hot Springs!!!!!

FOOTNOTES:  January 18, 2002

SETTLEMENT REACHED IN DEWAR FOUNDATION CASE

Attorney General Secures $500,000 in Restitution for Prominent CNY Charity