The Aldrich family has lovingly transformed one of Oceanside's three surviving historic brick buildings from the 1800s, the Schuyler Building, and the entire block on which it sits.
Photos courtesy of The Brick Hotel
Since 1888, the site of The Brick Hotel has been a place of historical significance in Oceanside. Today, it is home to 10 guest rooms and two restaurants and bars, along with an adjoining cocktail lounge and beer garden, and has become a central location and meeting place for many in the Oceanside community. The owners, the Aldrich family, have meticulously breathed new life into the Schuyler Building, one of Oceanside’s three surviving historic brick buildings from the 1880s, since purchasing it in 2017.
To complete the five-year revitalization process, The Brick Hotel needed to be reinforced by an internal modern steel structure. An earthquake retrofitting, along with safety guidelines, has made the hotel one of the safest buildings in Oceanside while maintaining its historical exterior.
The Brick has had many lives: as the town’s first hardware store, a grocery store, a boarding house, a fraternal lodge, Oceanside’s early library and apartments. But most significant to the Aldrich family story is the fact that it was once a hotel. Years ago, the Aldrich family owned a boarding house on Mission Avenue, and this felt like the right opportunity to re-enter the hotel industry. It is a great story of time and commitment. Lauren and Thomas, the brother-and-sister team that manages the day-to-day operations, decided to create a vacation rental space at The Brick and opened in June 2022.
Like many vacation rentals, the hotel offers a self-check-in process to its 10 boutique rooms, which offer ocean views and breezes from the heart of Downtown Oceanside overlooking MainStreet Oceanside’s Farmers and Sunset Markets. In addition to someone on call to assist guests with their needs, an interactive video panel in the room also serves as a concierge. Instead of a traditional lobby, the ground floor is occupied by a New Orleans-inspired eatery, Q&A Restaurant and Oyster Bar. On the rooftop is Cococabana, a Caribbean-style cocktail bar with its own menu of small bites. The hotel also offers a back patio space that connects two additional neighboring locations: Frankie’s and Stone Tap Room. These can be accessed through a path to a succulent garden in Q&A. These four restaurants and bars have made The Brick Hotel a popular destination for day trips, nights out, and staycations in Downtown Oceanside.
The history, food and drink of the brick
Originally constructed in 1888 as the town's first hardware store, the historic brick building now known as The Brick Hotel has seen many lives over the past 135 years.
Back in its original state, the Schuyler building stood proud with its brick exterior and large oversized ceilings. Over most of its life, the building continued to retain its prowess. Slight changes did occur, like being converted to a three-story building by reducing the ceilings. Various businesses, such as a cash grocery store that occupied the building in the 1930s, also added their own touch. It wasn’t until later that the building took on a drastically different appearance when its beautiful old brick exterior was covered in stucco making this gem all but disappear from the public’s eye.
Over 60 years had passed with this historical building hidden away and unnoticed until the building was purchased by the Aldrich family with the plan to restore the original character and give it a second life as a boutique hotel, one of its many prior uses over the years.
In 2017, a five-year adaptive reuse restoration project and earthquake retrofit began to update the old masonry building with all modern amenities and finishes, while maintaining the original brick facade and historical integrity of the building.
In 2022, the building opened its doors to guests once again as The Brick Hotel. Historic touches can be found in each room, from the 1880s-era bricks lining the walls to the wood luggage rack in the closet made from the original lumber that dates back over a century.
Find out more about The Brick Hotel, at 408 Pier View Way, at thebrickhotel.com.