The land where The Clubhouse At This Old House now sits, was originally part of the Old Bishop Dairy at the base of Bishop's Peak.  The middle section that we call the "old house" was built as a residence in 1917 by the grandfather of a current neighbor, Gene Johe. He built it as a wedding present for his son Attilio, who died of a high fever shortly after moving into the house with his new wife.

Attilio is thought to be the house's original ghost. Relatives of Alex Madonna of Madonna Inn fame say Alex was born in this house in 1918. This was at a time when the house was being used for just that purpose.

At some point the property housed indigent people with special needs. During a recent Halloween night séance, a local mystic using Tarot cards reported the spiritual presence of a mentally disabled child believed to have spent a portion of her short life in the house during this historic period. The mystic felt many other spirits that night and said the place was a portal for spirits who weren't yet ready to move on.

During the depression, the house was rented to the notoriously social Callaway family, who often hosted prominent visitors of Irish decent, such as oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. One particular afternoon when Mr. Getty was enjoying cocktails with Dan Callaway's grandfather, Dan's father Harold, who was just a boy at the time, tells a story about Mr. Getty passing out face down drunk on the old front porch that now faces Foothill Blvd.

Near the end of World War II, the old house became a brothel catering to returning soldiers. Needless to say, this was a rowdy time in the house's history, with activity at all hours of the day and night.

In 1950, Pat and Whitey Arnson bought the house and turned it into a restaurant of sorts, with only beer and fried chicken on the menu. At this point in history, the old house became a popular gathering place for local cowboys, especially when whiskey was added to the bar. The atmosphere was rowdy, with loud music, dancing, shooting contests and even horses in the bar.

With business booming in the 50's, the front bar room was added and in 1957 the "Sputnik" (the large red and white flashing light ball) was added to the roof and became a historic part of the SLO County skyline.  This SLO County monument was named after the Russian satellite of the same name that was launched that year. Pat and Whitey added the "Sputnik" believe it or not in an effort to gentrify the establishment and make it more respectable. The cowboys not wanting the place to change began using the "Sputnik" for target practice. It was also the Arnsons who named the restaurant "This Old House" after the then popular song. With business continuing to boom, the Arnsons then added a third area we now call the booth room. Many of the old pictures on the walls of The Clubhouse are members of the Arnson family.

In the summer of 1969, Pat and Leonard Zukas from Chicago bought the restaurant. They ran an all-family business at first with Pat cooking, Leonard tending bar, their daughter Dawn washing dishes, and Pat's mom Toni waiting tables. They eventually ended up hiring additional staff, one of whom was a waitress that John King a subsequent owner eventually married.

John King acquired the property in the 80's. He added the parking lot, decks, back bathrooms, the "rock room" and the upstairs room in 1989. John allegedly liberated many of the authentically old signs and fence boards that adorn the walls in the Rock Room and VIP Room upstairs from local ranches without owner consent.

In the 90's, John and his son, JG closed down This Old House and reopened it as an AJ Spur's. At this time they enclosed a portion of the back deck and used it as additional seating for the restaurant. It was AJ's for about a year, but closed down when they decided to focus on the AJ Spur's location in Pismo Beach.

In the early 2000's, Pinky Carmine's At This Old House opened without any improvements to the rented building and lasted only 6 months. With the old house literally rotting into the ground and rats running around, it's mind-boggling that anyone tried to open anything in the house without major improvements first.

Andrew Adams completed the recent complete resurrection of the old house after 18 challenging months of construction. Reopened as The Clubhouse At This Old House on April 16, 2007, Adams says that it has been a long time dream come true to restore this historic old gem to it's former glory. The Clubhouse at This Old House is truly striving to be a positive force in this community.

To find out more about the present happenings and future plans at The Clubhouse At This Old House, take your time and really explore the web site.

Andrew Adams has compiled this history, from old menus and stories told to him by people in the community. If you have stories of your own that you'd like to share, email them to clubhouseandrew@gmail.com.