The original Valley Ho opened in December 1956 and was designed by the office of Edward Varney.

Varney's office was also responsible for the former Washburn Piano store. He was in business to make money, not to mess around. In the words of Albert Porter, "We're not running a May Show here."

The actual designer on his team was a fellow named Dean Randall, a "non-registrant," according to Doug Sydnor, with a gift for form. I've had a couple of different people tell me that those repeated Wrightian panels were devised by architect D.K. Taylor, active here in the valley for a little while. (If you know anything about Taylor's life or career, please email me.)