New Port Richey’s historic Hacienda Resort will greet guests once once again soon after a loving renovation

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — The halls of the historic Hacienda Hotel were being as soon as stuffed with the loud, unmistakable laughter of Disney’s Mad Hatter.

Norma Desmond, the character from Hollywood common “Sunset Boulevard,” could be found waving to supporters from her area.

The Hatter was voiced by comedian Ed Wynn.

Gloria Swanson was Oscar-nominated for her 1950 switch as the fame-craving Desmond.

Both of those famous people have been starpower guests at the Hacienda, an eye-popping pink palace designed in 1927.

Constructed in a Mediterranean Revival style, the New Port Richey hotel was a glowing getaway for the wealthy and popular.

“This place was created as a lodge,” says Jim Gunderson, the guy accountable for returning the Hacienda again to its former glory. “It was made as a hotel. It wants to be a hotel.”

Afterwards this year, maybe as early as summertime, the Hacienda will open up as a magnificent 40-space boutique resort entire with eating home, bar and romantic courtyard ideal for weddings.

Gunderson is absolutely the man for the task. The hotelier revived Mount Dora’s Lakeside Inn, the oldest continually operated lodge in the point out of Florida (1883).

The Hacienda has other friends in the proper destinations. Like the Close friends of the Hacienda & Historic New Port Richey, a nonprofit group led by Bob Langford and Gary Gann.

“This could possibly be the most vital constructing in New Port Richey,” claims Langford, who fought tricky to preserve the Hacienda alive and applicable even when it fell into dereliction. “We just like it below.”

Golfing legend Gene Sarazen was a supporter of the Hacienda. If legend retains, so was finally songwriter Irving Berlin.

When the legends roamed the Hacienda, it was a single of the loveliest sites in all of Florida.

“Our target is to carry all that back again,” says Gunderson.