This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on March 23, 2025. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter in your inbox each Sunday, sign up at independent.com/newsletter
We spent last weekend camping at Carrizo Plain National Monument. It’s a beautiful, wild, stretch of land that I wrote about last April after a day-trip full of hills covered in flowers. This year, we wanted a longer stay, so we packed up the camping gear, timed our visit between showers, and set off ready for adventure.
Camping is the only way to stay overnight in Carrizo. Or so we thought. On the way into the monument, a sign enticing passersby to “Own the Town” was enough to make us slow down and investigate. The sign announced the “town” as Soda Lake City, but don’t try to find it on the map.
A motel sits on one side of the desolate road, with a shuttered gas station and restaurant across the street.
According to the sign, the property for sale — a k a the town — consists of 8.7 acres of commercial land and 31 acres of agricultural property, upon which sit the three buildings straddling the highway, plus two prefab drive-through restaurants. The whole kit and caboodle is listed at $1,950,000.
We pulled into the motor court of the motel. After ringing the bell, we were welcomed by Russell Orr, the lodge’s friendly manager. Although the tall neon “Lodge” sign is now defunct, the California Valley Lodge is indeed open for business. Orr offered a full tour with plenty of colorful history. He showed us inside several of the guest rooms, and all around the property.
We even got to see the prefab drive-through restaurants that sit out back of the lodge. Apparently, they were an optimistic purchase that was stymied by the permitting process, so they never saw the light of day.
There are eighteen rooms at the lodge, some of which are currently being renovated. The pool is empty and padlocked, and the restaurant and gas station across the street have long been closed. So it’s a fairly lonely place, with a long drive to the grocery store. But if you’re adverse to camping, and you come prepared, the lodge is right on the doorstep of the magical hills and plains of Carrizo.
We had a great weekend, with more flowers than we expected, plus bunnies, a coyote, and all sorts of songbirds. There’s nothing like waking up to the sound of meadowlarks and enjoying coffee and breakfast cooked on the camp stove. We had fun touring the lodge, but next time we’re back at Carrizo, we’ll stick to camping.
Speaking of camping: make sure to read through this week’s Summer Camp issue. Kids of every age will enjoy dreaming of summer fun. And the real estate section is huge! Open houses, awards, great new listings including this Goleta home, and much more for your Sunday reading. Whether you’re off adventuring or hanging at home, enjoy!
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