George Vernon Russell, the architect of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and other iconic mid-century structures, created the design for the Cuyama Buckhorn, which opened in 1952.
The Buckhorn’s motor court is now an oasis with olive trees, lounge chairs, and fire pits where visitors can burn marshmallows and drink mezcal in the evening.
Buckhorn’s Restaurant served lunch to Ryan Bradley and his family because they arrived before check-in time.
An old cowboy hat and a used trail guidebook were just a few of the local touches in their accommodation. They sat down on the terrace outside their room to watch the play of light over the plain.
But it quickly became clear that the people who live in Cuyama represent the greatest value of the community. That was discovered six years ago, shortly after Jeff Vance and Ferial Sadeghian, the architects and designers and business partners who own the Buckhorn, purchased the motel
Vance, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, developed a deep love for the area as a child and visited frequently. Then he met Sadeghian, an Iranian woman who dreamed of starting a hotel similar to what she had previously seen in Provence. One day, as they were traveling by car, they noticed that the boarded-up Buckhorn was for sale.
A few weeks after purchasing the property, an event for farmers and ranchers was held at the Blue Sky Center, a nearby nonprofit organization dedicated to rural development. There, Vance and Sadeghian met the winemakers whose wine they would soon sell, the farmers whose food would be on their menu, and the ranchers from whom they would purchase their meat.
“We’re all up here together,” Vance told Bradley one night at the Buckhorn bar. “If somebody has a problem, it’s everyone’s problem.” Sadeghian jumped in. “I was driving up here one day and realized, if something goes wrong, I would rather get stuck here than anywhere. There are just so many people around I could call on to help.”
The Blue Sky Center, housed in several large buildings constructed in the early 1950s by Richfield Oil Corporation, is largely responsible for this sense of community. Blue Sky aims to attract both visitors and innovative business people to the area while strengthening the local economy.