Old Hotel Antiques

Over Fifty Years on Main Street

Rosemarie and John La Belle opened Old Hotel Antiques on August 1, 1973, but the story starts a full decade earlier. In the early 1960s the couple began making annual trips from southern California up to Lake Tahoe, stopping to browse antique shops along the way and falling deeper in love with Amador County each time. They forged friendships with local business owners, including the Sherrill family, and by 1968 they had purchased the building at 68 Main Street. A three-year lease to an existing tenant gave the La Belles time to prepare — and the Sherrills helped by offering them inexpensive space at the Imperial Hotel (run by Audrey Sherrill’s mother) to start selling merchandise and building inventory before their grand opening day finally arrived.

The Collection

For decades the La Belles traveled to Wisconsin and across the Midwest to attend farm auctions and large flea markets, as well as venues along the East Coast, forging relationships with fellow collectors that turned into lifelong friendships and reliable sourcing channels. The specialties reflect those years of focused hunting: Depression Glass, estate jewelry, pocket watches, political memorabilia, watch fobs, advertising items, and vintage toys and trains. Rosemarie has noted that internet commerce fundamentally transformed the antique trade — creating real operational challenges for brick-and-mortar shops — but the experience of browsing a personally curated collection where every item was hand-selected over half a century is something no algorithm can replicate.

The Lodging Rooms

Old Hotel Antiques is not just a shop. Three lodging rooms upstairs are furnished in period style — two with turn-of-the-century oak pieces and one done up in 1950s decor. All three feature private bathrooms and television access, and the kitchenette-equipped units come with refrigerators, microwaves, and coffee makers. A quiet outdoor garden area designed for dining and relaxation rounds out what is easily one of Sutter Creek’s most distinctive places to spend the night — at rates the La Belles are proud to keep reasonable.

And keep an eye out for Smokey, the resident shop cat, who has become a local celebrity in his own right. The shop is open Friday through Sunday, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM.