Quote from rosiebear1 on Mar 9^th, 2008, 2:58pm:

 
Are you talking about the Magnolia House??? Glad I snapped this picture last summer. Goodby to another old favorite of ours....

I love a good puzzle...  
 
Kathi, you're right that the Magnolia Motel on E. Magnolia was razed a few years ago. If you are familiar with the Arlington Hotel (tall green building that still dominates that area of Wildwood), the Magnolia was directly across the street. In its final years, it was known as the Deco Motel.
 
The rooms above the old Magnolia Restaurant (on Pacific) from Dave's photos operated at one time as the Sparatan Apts. This name is taken from an old postcard, so I assume that the name is right. Although, as you point out, it may have been misspelled, and was supposed to be 'Spartan.' If it was correct, I guess Sparatan was the name of the family that owned it...?
 
It is also very possible that those units operated under the name 'Magnolia Apts.' at one point.  
 
Additionally, there is an L-shaped, three (maybe four?) story structure directly behind the Magnolia House complex that looks like it might have functioned as a motel/apt. house in a previous life. I'm not positive that it did, but if so, I wonder if it was connected to the restaurant/apts. directly in front of it.  
 
Furthermore, I'm not sure whether this building has survived the restaurant building or not. Assuming that the units have more recently been used as condos, I would guess that it has.
 
... Have I just made this more confusing?  

Actually, I was referring to the structure on the south side of the lot, with the brown roof...
 
Great find with the older view of the building. Yeah, Virtual Earth is very odd, in that a little 'tweak' here or there could lead to a random view from four or five years ago. In this image, the building in question looks more like an old rooming house, perhaps. But, I'm sure it could have served the same function (apt. room rentals).
 
I had prevously thought that it might have been a two/three story motel room that had an additional floor added upon being 'converted' in recent years. Either way, judging by the extremely close proximity of this building to the Magnolia House complex (in some views the two structures almost look as if they are attached), I would bet that they were 'connected' in some way...

Quote from Al Alven on Mar 9^th, 2008, 6:47pm:

Actually, I was referring to the structure on the south side of the lot, with the brown roof...

Great find with the older view of the building. Yeah, Virtual Earth is very odd, in that a little 'tweak' here or there could lead to a random view from four or five years ago. In this image, the building in question looks more like an old rooming house, perhaps. But, I'm sure it could have served the same function (apt. room rentals).[

I had prevously thought that it might have been a two/three story motel room that had an additional floor added upon being 'converted' in recent years. Either way, judging by the extremely close proximity of this building to the Magnolia House complex (in some views the two structures almost look as if they are attached), I would bet that they were 'connected' in some way...

Yeah, I see what you mean, those two buildings are awfully close together.  
 
When I first saw the view that differed from the others I jumped to the conclusion that I was looking at an older building that had been completely demolished and replaced, it looked so ratty. But on closer inspection it appears that we're just seeing the same structure before and after a major renovation.  
 
In questioning whether the all-brown building could be the Sparatan/Spartan, I completely forgot you'd said that was the name of the operating entity for the rental rooms on the second floor above the restaurant. I was stuck on the idea that the Sparatan/Spartan was a separate structure because that was my interpretation of the info on Wildwood Doo Wop, which reads: "The Sparatan consisted of efficiency units that were connected to the Magnolia Restaurant. The structure sat vacant in recent years, and was finally demolished after the 2007 season." (That copy was last updated in December.)
 
So I'm back to being confused... what was it that sat vacant and was demolished last year? (And of course my confusion is compounded because we still don't know for sure what went down—pun intended—last week.)
 
As you can tell, I'm not too intimate with that part of Wildwood, and Pacific Ave as a whole is still a bunch of disjointed parts in my head. I'm definitely going to take a walk around the vicinity of that restaurant (or its vacant lot as the case may be ) next time I'm down there.

Quote from wildre on Mar 9^th, 2008, 8:29pm:

Here's the link to the article rosie mentioned http://www.thewildwoodleader.com/ front page at the bottom

Oh, silly me, I should have looked there but the word "Gazette" threw me off. So, that settles that, RIP Magnolia Motel/Restaurant/House/whatever. Sad, but I guess good in a way, I hate seeing places just dormant for years like that—especially if they look sort of haunted as you describe. Better they should be remembered as they were enjoyed. Thanks for all the info and reminders of other threads—we've been talking about so many places lately, and my brain is a little leaky until further notice, LOL. I should always use the search function first instead of relying on my memory as to whether something has been discussed before.
 
Quote:

Kathi, I wouldn't walk around that area alone, bike it, or drive. I never felt real safe around there, just my own feelings around that area. Wink

Noted, thanks, I'll be careful.

Thanks, Dave! Well, we at least know that it was 'Spartan.'  

Check out the shot of the dining tables. You can see a Moo Cow Creamer on the closest table. I recently got a "ask you waitress" version on ebay. I remember drinking chocolate milk from a straw through the back of the cow's head. Now I need to find the matching salt & pepper shaker...
I don't remember buying anything from the gift shop, but I know the creamers and such were sold at the restaurant cash register counter.