Previous Posts
ABOUT THE MONTE CARLO...................
ABOUT THE MONTE CARLO...................
Ever ventured out to this Kern County Landmark? NO? Then you are missing out! The MONTE CARLO is located on HWY 119 & Old River Road and is currently going through extensive renovation but is still rockin' and open for business! SUNDAY SNAKE OIL is proud to be involved with the revival of a local piece of history.
So read up on the adventurous past and join the party!!!
FROM SPEAK EASY TO HONKY TONK THE MONTE CARLO HAS A NEW OWNER.......
By COURTENAY EDELHART, Californian staff writer
The Old River Monte Carlo, a bar dating to the 1880s, is under new ownership and is undergoing renovation.The upstairs rooms, originally part of a brothel, will be opened up for much tamer purposes — billiards. Randy Winkle, owner of Randy’s Towing, recently bought the bar from the estate of Jeanie Mae Caetano, who owned the bar from 1984 to 2003.....
Winkle said he bought the bar because he’d long been a patron. He started going there on the recommendation of an uncle whose car broke down near it in 1952.The historic bar at 9750 Taft Highway, at corner of Old River Road in the town of Old River, eventually will host live music and karaoke.....
Winkle had to tear down about 3,000 square feet on two floors in the back of the building because it was unstable and unsafe, but he plans to rebuild the space to accommodate billiards, a dance floor and small stage.The replacement space will be true to the heritage of the rest of the building, Winkle added. The building was constructed in 1889, Winkle said.....
“We’re going to try to give it that traditional Bakersfield honky-tonk feel,” he said. “It will look just like a saloon, right down to the hitching post and water trough so you can ride a horse up there. “If you’ve ever seen that TV show ‘Deadwood,’ that’s what we’re going for.”....
Walls that used to divide the honeycomb of little rooms on what remains of the second floor have all been knocked out to open up the space.Winkle plans to keep as many historic features as he can. He proudly showed off an imposing Eubanks & Co. safe that looks more than a century old, as well as a cast iron, claw foot tub upstairs.....
“Look, it still works,” he bragged as he turned on the water.Winkle declined to disclose the purchase price or how much he’s spending on renovations. Once the Monte Carlo is complete, the total building should be about 4,000 square feet, he said.....
Trice Harvey, 72, said he was relieved when he found out the bar would remain in business. Harvey worried about the Monte Carlo’s future after the last of the Caetano family members who previously owned it died. “I’m old enough to where I’ve seen buildings torn down that I remember seeing built,” Harvey said. “The Monte Carlo is a piece of the community. It’s history.”....
Sipping some wine at the ornate, mirrored antique bar, longtime patron Albert Etchecopar, 60, said his family moved to the Bakersfield area in the early 1900s, and his great uncle lived upstairs during a period when the building was used as a ranch house.“My daughter has a vanity that came from here,” he said. “It was used by the daughter of the family that owned it back then.” In the 1920s, Etchecopar said, the bar was a speak-easy.“They sold ice cream out the front and beer out the back,” he said.....
The building was owned by several families over the years. The Caetano family acquired it in 1936. Jack Caetano ran it before his daughter, Jeanie, took over. She left it to a family friend who sold it to Winkle.....
The Monte Carlo is open during construction, and will soon offer a free shuttle service to patrons to discourage drinking and driving. “I handle a lot of the tow jobs for the fatal vehicle accidents in the city so I’ve seen the consequences of that,” Winkle said. “I want to make sure people can come out and have a good time and get home safely.” ....
Topics: History and Entertainment