UPPER LAKE, Calif. — After two decades of being at the heart of renewal and redevelopment in downtown Upper Lake, the Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon restaurant have been sold.

Bernie and Lynne Butcher, who renovated the historic hotel and built the restaurant next door, said they have sold the two businesses to Amar and Rajvi Alapati. The sale closed Thursday.

“We’re proud of what we’ve been able to build here in Upper Lake over the past twenty years with the help of a first-rate, professional staff,” said Lynne Butcher. “In looking for new owners, it was important to us to find people with both the experience and the dedication to take the business to the next level.”

The Alapatis own eight other boutique hotels, most under the umbrella of Serenite Hotels. Their other properties include the Amador Hotel in Pioneer, located in the Gold Country; the Groveland Hotel and Narrow Gauge Inn, both located close to Yosemite National Park; and the Shaver Lake Village Hotel.

“Rajvi and I are delighted to add the Tallman and Blue Wing to our portfolio,” said Amar Alapati. “We were impressed from day one with the quality of the physical facilities here as well as the reputation that has been developed as the premier hotel and one of the top dining facilities in Lake County.”

He said they have rehired all of the existing staff, “and we’re committed to enhancing profitability while preserving the current high level of personal service.”

Rajvi Alapati noted the attention to detail the Butchers put into all aspects of the property and the five-star ratings she’s seen online for both the hotel and restaurant.

“We hope to leverage the economies of scale we can achieve with our other hotels and to find ways to bring even more people to experience the attractions of Lake County,” she said.

History and redevelopment

Rufus and Mary Tallman originally built a stage stop hotel and saloon on the site in the early 1870s. The Tallman House Hotel burned down in October 1895. It was rebuilt and called the Riffe’s Hotel when the Tallmans’ daughter, Winnyford, and her husband, Hank Riffe, took over the business in 1906.

A history of the site said the Tallmans also operated the original Blue Wing Saloon next door to the hotel. However, during Prohibition in the 1920s, the Riffes tore down the saloon.

After her husband’s death in 1937, Winnyford Riffe ran the hotel as a boarding house, and it was a retirement home in the 1940s and into the 1950s.

The hotel remained in place but was largely abandoned by 1962. For 40 years, the building was left in a declining state, looking like a backdrop from a western movie set.

In 2003, the Butchers purchased the building — then in the county’s Northshore redevelopment area — and set about a complete rebuild and expansion of the hotel that included green technology such as a geo-exchange cooling system while paying attention to the property’s history.

As part of the project, they built the new restaurant. The redeveloped property also includes the Riffe’s Meeting House, named for the hotel’s second owners.

The Butchers opened the Blue Wing in 2005 and the 17-room Tallman Hotel in 2006.

The Tallman Hotel was added as a point of historical interest in the California Register of Historical Resources in 2008.

Since then, the hotel and restaurant have won accolades for service and for their environmentally friendly operations, drawn visitors from around the region and beyond, been a hub of activity in downtown Upper Lake, and a popular spot for live music, events and meetings. The Butchers also developed the annual Blue Wing Blues Festival.

“We’re impressed with the special events hosted by the Tallman and the local music program in the Blue Wing. We’re looking forward to hosting the 18th annual Blue Wing Blues Festival over Labor Day weekend,” Amar Alapati said.

The Alapatis will be able to call on the Butchers as they get settled into the ownership of the Tallman and Blue Wing.

“We’ll be here to help them in the transition,” Bernie Butcher said. “I expect they’ll do whatever they can to preserve the essence of what we’ve built here while putting their own stamp on the business over time.”

The Butchers thanked the Lake County community for all the support they have received over the years.

They said they plan to remain active in many areas of local interest.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.