By Pat Sherman
SDUN Assistant Editor

Nini Minovi’s enthusiasm is contagious as she describes the day she began her “love affair with a building” – the newly refurbished Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town State Historic Park.

Minovi, the lead archaeologist on the project, was grinding off a chunk of plaster from the second floor exterior of what then housed Casa de Bandini Mexican restaurant.

During that initial exploration more than three years ago, Minovi discovered pristine redwood siding preserved just below the plaster. It was installed in 1869 as part of the wood-framed second story, which Albert Seeley added while converting the original adobe structure to an L-shaped, Greek Revival-style hotel.

“It still had the original paint on it,” said Minovi, who sent a sample of the paint for chemical analysis, receiving an exact color match.

It was the first of many architectural elements Minovi would uncover that offered her and a team of archaeologists, historians and architects clues that helped them restore the building to the frontier-era glory of the late 1800s.

Items uncovered during the excavation included: pieces of original ceiling medallions, a hidden stairway and fireplace, floor hearths, giant boulders used to elevate the structure and a well filled with jars from a former olive pickling operation. Infrared photos taken near a doorway revealed signatures perhaps belong to the original construction crew.

“Not only did we find the jars, we actually found foil labels underneath the floor of room 103,” Minovi said, her voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper.

The building will reopen next month as the Cosmopolitan, a 10-room boutique hotel and indoor-outdoor restaurant. The moderately priced menu will feature a modern take on historic dishes served during the hotel’s heyday, such as bouillabaisse, prepared by Executive Chef Jeff Thurston, formerly of the Prado Restaurant in Balboa Park.

The more than $6.5 million renovation was funded by California State Parks, Delaware North Companies, Old Town Family Hospitality Corp. and a California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

Though a precise opening date has yet to be determined, the rooms, which will range from about $150 to $385 a night, are already booked for that initial night. A soft opening may be used as a fundraiser for a local charity, said Joseph Melluso, who will manage hotel and restaurant operations.

During a recent tour of the Victorian American-style building, an amalgam of antique room furnishings, including beds, settees, mirrors and end tables purchased in San Diego and 10 other cities were being authenticated.

“Everything’s been taken apart and redone,” said Melluso, standing in the middle of the interior dining room, which through the years has served as the olive pickling factory, a schoolhouse and a sala, or hall, where San Diego’s first waltz was held. Heavy red velvet drapes with gold cording were added as adornment to divide the room.

“All the wainscoting was brought back and faux-finished like it would have been in the 1800s,” Melluso said. “The light fixtures are reproductions of old oil lamps.”

At the registration desk, visitors will be able to buy tickets for a stagecoach that will stop outside the front door, offering tours around the park. The original Cosmopolitan Hotel, which operated from 1869 to 1888, was among the stops on a major stagecoach route through San Diego.

At a restored antique walnut and pine bar last used in Tombstone, Ariz., mixologists in period attire will offer old-time whiskey, bourbon and rye libations, as well as absinthe served with its classic, flaming presentation.

The property was first developed between 1927 and 1929 as the seven-room adobe hacienda of pioneer Juan Bandini. Three- and four-foot-thick adobe walls from Bandini’s home were later incorporated into the existing structure. The adobe, covered in places with wallpaper, soot, tile or protective lime plaster, has remained surprisingly intact throughout most of the building, Minovi said.

The project is more a “rehabilitation” than a true renovation, she explained. For example, the hotel’s posh new bathrooms, featuring pull-chain toilets and copper, wood and porcelain claw-foot tubs, only represent what facilities might have existed in the late 1800s, although the Cosmopolitan’s actual patrons relied on chamber pots or an outhouse.

“These are kind of make-believe bathrooms in a sense because there was no plumbing here at the time,” Minovi said.

Outside each room, a wraparound balcony offers views of the San Diego Bay and the state park’s central plaza, where guests once watched circus performances, mule team races, concerts and holiday celebrations. The rear balcony opens to the inner courtyard with a view of the restaurant below.

“You’ll be able to feel the vibe of the restaurant operating,” Melluso said.

In the process of stripping and reinventing the historic landmark, the original Casa de Bandini’s quasi-Spanish Colonial design, inspired by San Diego architect Richard Requa, did not fare well. Its decorative wrought iron, ceramic and stone tile, and a popular outdoor fountain are now gone (though the popular restaurant has since reopened in The Forum shopping center in Carlsbad).

“Everyone’s going to cry about the fountain,” Minovi said. “It’s like opening Pandora’s Box and peeling back the layers. Unfortunately, it’s the sacrifice you make during a restoration.”

Still, remnants of all eras, such as the Steamboat Revival style that characterized the 1930s, when Juan Bandini’s grandson, Cave Couts Jr., operated the building as apartments, remain tucked away for future historians to discover.

“There are parts of every era that, as much as I could, I’ve hidden away and walled over,” Minovi said. “It’s nice because it’s the things that were hidden in this building that allowed me to (arrive at) some of the conclusions that I did.”

For more information, visit fiestadereyes.com.