The home to California's most famous legume soup has hit the market for $4.7 million.
The Lompoc Record first reported Pea Soup Andersen's three-acre parcel off Highway 101 in Buellton, Calif., is listed for sale.
"The current approx. 35,000 SF building has hosted Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant, shops and various banquet rooms for many years and is prime for redevelopment," the listing reads. The sale is being handled by Radius Commercial Real Estate of Santa Barbara. A second location in Santa Nella does not appear to be for sale.
The famed California road stop was founded in 1924 by Anton and Juliette Andersen, immigrants from Denmark and France, respectively. They settled in the Solvang area, today still renowned for its Danish influence, and opened Andersen's Electrical Cafe for travelers between San Francisco and Los Angeles. According to restaurant lore, it was Juliette who developed the recipe for the pea soup.
Because the cafe was located on the route to Hearst Castle, the Andersens' restaurant was a stop for the writers and editors heading to the newspaper magnate's estate. It got favorable write-ups in Hearst papers, launching it to nationwide fame.
It was also the subject of local fascination, the Andersens becoming celebrities in their own right. In 1932, they made news when nearby restaurateur Max Ferslew sued Anton Andersen over an alleged spite fence. Andersen filed a cross complaint demanding $2,500 in damages because he said Ferslew had erected a sign claiming his restaurant was the real home of split pea soup. "We Serve the Famous Split Pea Soup Made Fresh Daily," Ferslew's sign read. Andersen won his injunction, and he got the final word six years later; in 1938, he bought Ferslew's cafe to remodel and add to his pea soup complex, which by then also included a hotel.
The restaurant passed to the Andersens' son Robert and then to Vince Evans, an actor and friend of Ronald Reagan's. In 1980, Evans died in a plane crash and the restaurant switched hands a few times before being purchased by restaurateur Milt Guggia in 1999. His son, Milt Guggia Jr., runs the property today.
The adjacent Pea Soup Andersen's Inn is not included in the sale, although its proprietor is excited about the potential sale of the restaurant lot.
"Hopefully the new owners can bring the restaurant back to its glory and we can continue with that tradition," inn owner Linda Johansen told the Lompoc Record. "And if they restore the building we could use the public rooms again for groups as they do have some great space there as well."
