(04-04-2023, 11:21 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Well, Uncle Gus, I stopped by to say hello but they shut the gates before I could pay my respects. Anyway, the gang here says hello.

And not too far away and along the lines of our photo challenge is The Richland, Orange’s latest and hippest boutique hotel, located in the heart of Old Town. Mrs. G and I have watched its transformation over the past year into a hotel. Previously it was the Shannon Funeral Home. Hard to tell now, and it does look inviting.

We’ve been thinking about going there for a drink, but it might feel a bit weird as we have attended funerals there in the past. Our friends are dying to go there, however.

(04-04-2023, 07:12 AM)Tev62_imp Wrote: I'm currently laid up with Covid so if it gets any worse I'll get the missus to drag the bike out and get a shot with my very own headstone. You have to admit, that would be unique.

I thought I had escaped, even though my daughter is a nurse, minding a covid ward at one time, and my other half working in a hospital I had always escaped it along with my son. That included the three girls in the family all catching it in the early days and bringing it home too.

I'll try an entry for this one later in the month!

(04-04-2023, 11:06 PM)Nachodaddy_imp Wrote: Gone, that reminds me of my college days in Miami, Florida. There was an Italian restaurant near my apartment named Carmela's and it was adjacent to a funeral home. Fantastic food and the atmosphere was pure Sopranos. I doubt any of that is still around, but I think I can find a nice cemetery around here somewhere.
Someone is bound to know where the bodies are buried . . .

(04-04-2023, 11:06 PM)Nachodaddy_imp Wrote: Gone, that reminds me of my college days in Miami, Florida. There was an Italian restaurant near my apartment named Carmela's and it was adjacent to a funeral home. Fantastic food and the atmosphere was pure Sopranos. I doubt any of that is still around, but I think I can find a nice cemetery around here somewhere.
Someone is bound to know where the bodies are buried . . .

(04-05-2023, 01:54 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote:

(04-04-2023, 11:06 PM)Nachodaddy_imp Wrote: Gone, that reminds me of my college days in Miami, Florida. There was an Italian restaurant near my apartment named Carmela's and it was adjacent to a funeral home. Fantastic food and the atmosphere was pure Sopranos. I doubt any of that is still around, but I think I can find a nice cemetery around here somewhere.
Someone is bound to know where the bodies are buried . . .

GO, I'll take you up on that drink, just make your way out here!

The Shannon Funeral Home conversion to a boutique hotel is interesting. In its original configuration, there was a reception area in front, and the main room shown here to the left is where funeral services were held. A porte cochere down the left side of the main room typically held two white Cadillac hearses. The buildings to the right, one would assume, is where embalmings and cremations took place.

Chapman College is one block north of the funeral home, and has expanded in downtown Orange like a weed over the past few years. The sleepy Old Town area, once filled with antique shops, has given way to trendy restaurants to cater to the students, whose numbers continue to expand. A funeral home was probably no longer the ideal town centerpiece, and there are no nearby hotels for those visiting students.

During the conversion, the front reception room was demolished to form a courtyard, exposing a previously hidden and quite beautiful craftsman style home, which is where the Shannon family apparently resided. Its living room is now the lobby and bar. The side buildings are now the hotel rooms... not at all creepy, right? The large funeral room is now an event space available for rental, and with the hearses gone, the porte cochere is now a fenced in activity area for guests.

It looks very nice... but still...

(04-05-2023, 01:54 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote:

(04-04-2023, 11:06 PM)Nachodaddy_imp Wrote: Gone, that reminds me of my college days in Miami, Florida. There was an Italian restaurant near my apartment named Carmela's and it was adjacent to a funeral home. Fantastic food and the atmosphere was pure Sopranos. I doubt any of that is still around, but I think I can find a nice cemetery around here somewhere.
Someone is bound to know where the bodies are buried . . .

GO, I'll take you up on that drink, just make your way out here!

The Shannon Funeral Home conversion to a boutique hotel is interesting. In its original configuration, there was a reception area in front, and the main room shown here to the left is where funeral services were held. A porte cochere down the left side of the main room typically held two white Cadillac hearses. The buildings to the right, one would assume, is where embalmings and cremations took place.

Chapman College is one block north of the funeral home, and has expanded in downtown Orange like a weed over the past few years. The sleepy Old Town area, once filled with antique shops, has given way to trendy restaurants to cater to the students, whose numbers continue to expand. A funeral home was probably no longer the ideal town centerpiece, and there are no nearby hotels for those visiting students.

During the conversion, the front reception room was demolished to form a courtyard, exposing a previously hidden and quite beautiful craftsman style home, which is where the Shannon family apparently resided. Its living room is now the lobby and bar. The side buildings are now the hotel rooms... not at all creepy, right? The large funeral room is now an event space available for rental, and with the hearses gone, the porte cochere is now a fenced in activity area for guests.

It looks very nice... but still...

(04-05-2023, 04:33 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Hmm. Not sure if there's a basement. Basements aren't common around here, but the funeral home was in business since the early '30s, and some of the old homes in the area have cooling basements to keep food cool, so maybe.

And riding to L.A. to get away from odors is probably OK now, with the recent rains, but once it heats up, it won't smell too nice unless you're by the beach with an onshore breeze.

(04-05-2023, 04:33 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Hmm. Not sure if there's a basement. Basements aren't common around here, but the funeral home was in business since the early '30s, and some of the old homes in the area have cooling basements to keep food cool, so maybe.

And riding to L.A. to get away from odors is probably OK now, with the recent rains, but once it heats up, it won't smell too nice unless you're by the beach with an onshore breeze.