Big Sur is calling us.Down the long and winding road that leads from Carmel to Big Sur we go. This is the land of Kerouac and Miller, Adams and Weston and countless other writers, artists and free thinkers. Though separated geographically by only 26 miles, two places couldn’t be more different. Big Sur is raw and turbulent. It’s the wild-child, to the calm, behaved, and well-groomed Carmel.
Our first stop is the fabled Big Sur Inn, the thirties-era creation of the eccentric Helmut Deetjen and his wife Helen. This historic compound of cabins and a café/restaurant is nestled in Castro Canyon. The overall rustic style is reminiscent of Deetjen’s native Norway. Both the architecture and surrounding landscape feature imaginative and funky found elements.
Our first stop is the fabled Big Sur Inn, the thirties-era creation of the eccentric Helmut Deetjen and his wife Helen. This historic compound of cabins and a café/restaurant is nestled in Castro Canyon. The overall rustic style is reminiscent of Deetjen’s native Norway. Both the architecture and surrounding landscape feature imaginative and funky found elements.
Welcome to the heart of Big Sur Bohemia.
Bien Sûr! The charming gardener at Deetjen's is French.
This lounge chair carved from a tree trunk has a natural elegance.
“Kitty please come home!”
A psychedelic collage of jewel-like mosaic pieces on the wall of the old laundry shed.
The bleached vertebra of a whale found on a near-by beach is given new life as a garden ornament.
A literary corner in the cozy interior of the café decorated with memorabilia- vintage photographs, manuscripts and a sculpture bust, honors two contemporaries: the poet, Robinson Jeffers and Deetjen.
(To be continued...)
Sur la route,
Marjorie