ABOUT
Our Family-Owned Historic Hotel in McCloud, California
We are the Mathis family. We left the City for the so-called “simple life” and bought the biggest fixer-upper – what were we thinking? Our life could be a sitcom. There’s never a dull moment. Yes – life is at a slower pace, but everything is much more exaggerated – like a Norman Rockwell picture.
We have high-speed Internet, but we still run on kerosene. Maybe one of these days, we’ll get natural gas.
Nevertheless, we have come a long way from the time we bought the place.
Our Story
Back in late 1999, Kevin and I went looking for ranch property and came across the old Mercantile. Being romantics for old buildings, we soon forgot what we were in the market for and started negotiating on the old building. Pretty soon, we were very involved, the building escrow closed on April Fools’ Day 2000, and the work began.
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For the first few years, we focused on the life and safety issues and preventative maintenance: electrical upgrades, sprinklers, broken windows, plumbing, staircases, etc. We scraped paint, removed dry rot, and many other repairs that didn’t make much of a showing. Then we started on the fun stuff. We found a picture in the Museum of how the Mercantile looked around the turn of the century, and we started bringing that picture back to life. We found old display cases and the original Lamson Cash Carrier in the basement. This allowed us to repair and restore old items and reconstruct the missing parts of the store. To us, it was essential to keep the vintage feel of the store but to sell items that were still in demand and were functional.
Our next big project was the rehabilitation of the second floor into hotel rooms and assembly space. In the meanwhile, the Soda Shop also became vacant, so we had to tackle that project at the same time.
Getting permits for the rooms was our biggest challenge over the years. Each room was designed and constructed with a different theme and configuration to preserve the existing exterior and interior finishes. The restaurant was the next project, and it was rehabilitated to allow our visitors to experience a step back in time to the 1930’s era soda shop. We could not duplicate the original 1937 soda shop because too much was missing, including the counters, etc. However, we did uncover the original wood walls, ceilings, and transom windows. We still have a lot of work to do, so expect to see improvements each time you visit the restored Mercantile Building.
A Note from the Owners
Update 2023:
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My! How 22 years have flown by!
Out son Tanner, was raised here, and worked at the mercantile. He is now completing college at Southern Oregon University in Ashland and is buying his first home.
Unfortunately, we lost Kevin's mom and one of our partners, Joan, this past July. We miss her dearly.
On a new note: We are at last are working on a ranch property. This is what we originally envisioned over twenty years ago! The property in located on the North side of Mount Shasta and is located in the "Little Shasta Valley". It's another historic property nominated for the National Register. It's officially called the Soule' Ranch.
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Keep in touch with us on Facebook, Instagram, or here on our website.
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Sincerely,
Darlene & the Mathis Family
Meet The Team
We are the Mathis family, proud owners of the McCloud River Mercantile Company. Our family is comprised of Kevin and Darlene (part owners and resident innkeepers), Tanner (our son), Whisper (Tanner’s dog), Lonnie (Tanner’s grandfather and part owner), and Joan (Tanner’s grandmother or Best mama as they call her in Norway).
Kevin Mathis
Owner
Kevin was an Electrical Engineer with Hewlett Packard for 16 years until the big merger with Compaq. We took this as a blessing because now we could focus on other endeavors. He loves the outdoors, camping, fishing, and crabbing at the Oregon coast with Tanner. He’s managed most of the construction and isn’t too bad of a waiter/ host at the restaurant. But then we noticed less of the single guys stopped coming by because he wasn’t as cute or cheery-eyed as our waitresses in the mornings
Lonnie
Owner
Lonnie is retired and “it’s hard work,” as he claims. He’s retired from the State’s Financial Office in Sacramento. Lonnie is Kevin’s dad and Tanner’s grandfather. He’s an avid abalone diver, loves the outdoors, attempted climbing Mt. Shasta for his 70th birthday, and is a Wine Connoisseur. When he’s around the Mercantile, he’s usually here to give us a break, and he’s always entertaining. He’s a great grandfather to Tanner and almost too generous. But what grandparent isn’t…
Tanner Mathis
Next Generation
Tanner has now grown up and is attending Southern Oregon University, majoring in Marketing with a minor in Digital Cinema. How time flies by.
Darlene Mathis
Owner
Darlene was a Project Manager at the City of Sacramento’s Architecture Division for 18 years, managing commercial Capital Improvement Projects. I managed many of the City’s Capital Improvement Projects over the last 18 years. But was ready for a change and wanted time to raise our son, Tanner. This project has taken a lot of time, but at least I’m always available at home for Tanner. I did the majority of the drawings for the construction permits, including the interiors. Hopefully, now that the design and construction are complete, it’ll slow down. Right….
Joan
Owner
Joan is Kevin’s mom and Tanner’s “best mama” was a retired school teacher. She has three sons, Kevin, Keir, and Kyle. She was a cancer survivor and a unique and creative person. She passed in July of 2023, and we miss her dearly.
Sarah
Customer Support Lead
Sarah has been working with us for many years. She has 3 children and loves .........