INN WITH A PAST SNAGS HOLLYWOOD'S IMAGINATION.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - A weathered plywood for-sale sign creaks in the breeze outside an unusual collection of buildings with a past as colorful as the newly painted stucco.

``Film location. Bar-Motel,'' the stenciled sign reads, enticing a passer-by off this quiet stretch of Sierra Highway to figure out how Hollywood and rooms for rent at monthly rates mix.

``When we stuccoed, we went through layers of names - it was called Oscar's, the Office, the Hillside, the Moonlighters ...,'' said owner Jeanne Barberg, who hopes to sell the property and settle with her fiance in the dream house they're building in Nevada.

Most recently, the Canyon Country bar and motel - and popular movie location - was known as the Buffalo Chip Saloon. But tales from old Canyon Country residents and records uncovered as Barberg and Dan Bradford clean up for the move reveal the old establishment's bawdier days.

``They used to come here and drink, and there were those little motel rooms ...,'' Barberg said of her little piece of history. ``It was a biker bar, it was a tough bar, it was a bar that the upper echelon wouldn't have anything to do with.''

That was back in the 1940s, four decades before Barberg, a critical care nurse, picked up the six-building complex for $400,000. It was prime commercial property, one real estate broker said. A sucker is born every minute, another later told her.

``Here I am a nurse buying this damn thing,'' she said. ``What a surprise it was.''

In the end, Barberg made money, though.

She couldn't rebuild on the land because federal law prohibits construction - or reconstruction - in flood zones without channeling the nearby wash. But month-to-month rents on the 10 motel rooms helped, as did several tenants who ran the bar operation.

The real money came from Hollywood, though. The off-the-beaten-track roadside inn has been seen in scores of movies, TV shows and commercials.

Patrick Swayze did ``Roadhouse'' there. Dolly Parton taped part of her Christmas special on the property, and Pee Wee Herman danced on the bar in ``Pee Wee's Circus,'' Barberg and Bradford said.

``There's more profit to us in movie shoots,'' Bradford said. ``It's a great movie set.''

Bradford credits Barberg for the success. She says she couldn't have done it without him cleaning things up, making repairs and dealing with the renters they both call family.

``When she first came here this place was pretty bad off,'' Bradford said. ``We worked hard to fix up, painted it last summer. Someone can make a real living here.''

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Photo:

(color) Jeanne Barberg's Sierra Highway motel and bar is used for movies.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer