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This building was constructed in 1909 by an Italian immigrant by the name of Massimo Galeazzi, a
block maker and stone mason. Massimo chose this area because it reminded him of his home town
in Italy. The front arch expansion was constructed in 1912. The arch was for the carts and
cars to go through to pick up stone for the building of homes and business' in the area.
After completing his home he sent for his family. All were born and raised in the Stone
House. Massimo was associated with most of the basalt block buildings in Santa Rosa just
after the turn of the century. The Stone House was the headquarters and room and board hotel
for the block makers who worked the Annadel rock quarries. It's first life was the Rincon Hotel still owned by Massimo Galeazzi. He used the Stone House to house the immigrant stone workers who quarried and cut Rincon Valley and Sonoma Valley rock used near the turn of the century to pave the streets of San Francisco. In 1940, a Santa Rosa couple by the name of Buffi bought the Stone House and had a restaurant during the war years and later opened one more in Santa Rosa. Mary C. Buffi died July 8th, 1988. She was 79. In the 1960's it was a topless bar called the Tropics. A man by the name of Clayt Williams was a legend of the towns barkeep, he used it as his outpost. In 1964 a $60,000 remodeling project started to change the night club into a restaurant, serving first class food, specializing in extra thick-cut steaks and prime rib (see a copy of the menu and matches on the wall of the front desk). The dining room had a seating capacity of 60 people and also had a small dancing area. Clayt Williams spent $20,000 on the roomy kitchen that would prepare Italian food. In the 1970's it became the Stone House Tavern owned and operated by The McDonald Family. On December 7th, 1970 someone had broken into the tavern and $1400 was stolen from the safe. The police investigation said someone apparently knew the combination and had a key. December 28th, 1970 the bouncer to the bar was bounced out himself by two men that were taking liberties of a topless waitress. For the next 8 years the lonely land mark sat empty. New life came in October 1982 when restoration took place to earthquake proof the structure. In November of 1984 the Stone House was used to hold tours at $50.00 a person to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In May of 1985 Elizabeth Sullivan won a merit award for environment enrichment and restoration of the old Stone House and turning it into a historic building. Centennial Savings and Loan bought the building in 1980 and spent three years and a reported $1 million renovating the building for it's main offices. It was said by Sid Shah that the building was bought for about $160,000. Three years later the building was seized by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and sold for the amount of $988,000. After all was complete Centennial Savings and Loan lost $112.5 million. Sid Shah was the vice president and is in prison after being convicted in 1990 laundering profits of $300 million international drug-ring. A new life for the Stone House came into plan August of 1993 for a medical-surgical complex. The dream of James Grill never came about and once again the Stone House was put on the market to be sold. In the new millennium 2001, the building was bought and turned into a 14 room, European style "Stonehouse Inn", with a dream of expanding the building by building 54 more rooms next door. |