Administration Building
In 1913, Edward Gardner Lewis set out to develop the master-planned Atascadero Colony. Lewis enlisted experts and built the civic infrastructure before the first residence was built. The imposing, four-story Administration Building was designed by San Francisco architect Walter D. Bliss. The building, completed in 1918, was the headquarters for the Atascadero Colony Holding Company. After Lewis was forced into bankruptcy, the new trustees sold the Administration and other civic buildings for use as a school in 1927. The Administration building was sold to the County of San Luis Obispo in 1951 and was rededicated as a Veterans Memorial. In the early 1980s the county gave the Administration building back to the newly incorporated City of Atascadero and now serves as City Hall. The Administration Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Atascadero, San Luis Obispo County
Photographer: John Bare