Century-old coastal SLO County schoolhouse to be turned into bed-and-breakfast
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- San Luis Obispo County approved B&B conversion of 1913 Avila Schoolhouse.
- Remodel preserves historic exterior while adding 8 guest rooms and common areas.
- Construction begins August 2025 with estimated two-year renovation timeline.
A century-old San Luis Obispo County schoolhouse is set for a remodel that will transform the derelict building into a new bed-and-breakfast.
Avila Schoolhouse has stood on its lot just two blocks from the beach since it was built in 1913 and has worn several hats in its 112 years of service, including its original use as a schoolhouse until 1967, followed by stints as a facility for handicapped individuals and later, the Avila Beach Christian Fellowship.
By August 2003, the building was fully abandoned, with roofing problems making the structure unsafe for habitation. It has stood vacant at 190 San Antonia St. since then.
Efforts to restore the schoolhouse and give it a new purpose date back to 2005, when developer Shear Edge Development Avila, LLC, entered into a ground lease with the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, with the intent to create a new stream of revenue for the district, Shear Edge Development attorney and project manager Marshall Ochylski told The Tribune.
On Thursday, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission unanimously signed off on the renovation, opening the way for work to get underway.
Ochylski said the extensive remodel aims to maintain the schoolhouse’s look while giving it a new lease on life.
“The rationale was it was a viable alternative to do the alterations to salvage the schoolhouse,” Ochylski said. “If you look at the way it looks now, it’s obviously in serious deterioration, so there needed to be something done to the schoolhouse that could provide adequate income to justify the renovation and the restoration of the schoolhouse.”
Remodel to maintain exterior schoolhouse look
As the schoolhouse enters a new chapter of its life, its new role will require plenty of changes — but not many on the outside.
Ochylski said the schoolhouse is one of the few truly historic buildings in Avila Beach left standing in the years following the Unocal oil spill disaster that required the demolition of much of Front Street in Avila Beach in 1997 and is eligible for listing as a historic structure.
“Obviously, in order to get the schoolhouse renovated, there had to be a lot of background work, particularly from architectural historians, to note what needed to be done to the building to make sure that the historic value was retained, because over the years that had obviously fallen into deterioration,” Ochylski said.
Fresh trim, updated walkways and a roof replacement will be required on the outside, along with ADA-compliant paths of travel, according to the Planning Commission’s staff report.
The building will be lifted from its existing foundation so that the base level can be rebuilt, while landscape grading will smooth out the lot and require the removal of three trees currently growing on the property, according to the staff report.
A small 285-square-foot manager’s unit will also be constructed on the lot separate from the main building, along with a parking lot, according to the staff report.
Most notably, two features that have been absent since the schoolhouse stopped serving as a school in the 1960s — the belfry and the wraparound porch — will be rebuilt to bring the schoolhouse back in line with its original look, county project manager Mason Denning said during the project hearing.
“This project will restore several aspects of the Avila Schoolhouse to its original aesthetic based upon photographic evidence,” Denning said. “This includes removal of non-historic features or additions and reconstruction or restoration of missing historical features.”
Inside, the schoolhouse’s single story will be fully stripped down to the studs and rebuilt into two levels that will house eight rooms that can be rented out by guests, according to the staff report.
In keeping with the Coastal Act’s requirement for low-cost visitor serving accommodations, two of the units will made available for guests at a lower cost, according to the staff report.
A common area, storage room for the Avila History Project and other guest facilities will also be built into the new internal design, Denning said.
All of the changes made to the schoolhouse first had to meet the state Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the rehabilitation of a historic structure, Denning said.
When will new B&B open?
Ochylski said with the Planning Commission’s approval in hand, the project can now move forward with construction that’s expected to start in late August.
The renovation work is expected to take around two years, followed by a reopening of the property, he said.
The total cost of the renovation is unknown at this time, Ochylski said.
Multiple members of the Planning Commission praised the project as a creative way to reinvigorate a historic property that’s been out of use for too long.
“I think it’s a great project, and it should be commended — they’re saving that building and gonna keep it there,” Planning Commissioner Mike Avila said. “I’ve never seen anybody build an ugly bed-and-breakfast.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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