Home > California > Big Sur vicinity > Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, East Side of State Highway 1, Big Sur, Monterey County, CA
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Item Title
Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, East Side of State Highway 1, Big Sur, Monterey County, CA
LocationEast Side of State Highway 1,
Big Sur vicinity, CA
Find maps of Big Sur, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS CA-2611
Building/structure dates:
1941 initial construction
Significance: Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, at Castro Creek Canyon and State Highway 1 along California's spectacular Big Sur coastline, was one of the first visitor accommodation facilities to offer overnight lodging and meals to travelers as a response to the opening of the Carmel-San Simeon Highway in 1937 (destined to become California's first officially-designated scenic highway in 1966). The Inn's builder, Helmuth Deetjen, employed the vernacular wooden building traditions of his native Norway in its design, carefully integrating the rustic architecture of the inn into the coastal chaparral and stands of redwood trees that characterized its scenic setting in Castro Creek Canyon. The five buildings that form the historic core of the inn, built between 1936 and 1941, possess a high level of integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association as an historic district. The rustic hand-crafted character of the Inn and its Old World ambiance set a standard for quality in the context of recreational development associated with the opening of the Big Sur to the tourist trade. Its architecture embodies the distinctive characteristics of its vernacular Norwegian sources in type, while its hand-crafted design conveys high artistic value. The strong architectural and historical significance of Deetjen's Big Sur Inn qualified the historic complex for listing in the National Register of Historic Places on September 13, 1990, at the local level of significance.
Related Names
Deetjen, Helmuth
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. View north from across State Highway 1 toward Inn. 'Big Sur Inn' Building (HABS-CA-2611-A) visible at left, 'Hayloft' Building (HABS-CA-2611-B at right center, and 'Antique' Building (HABS-CA-2611-C) and 'Champagne' Building (HABS-CA-2611-D) out of sight behind trees at right.
2. View northeast from driveway entrance. 'Hayloft' Building (HABS-CA-2611-B) at left, 'Antique' Building (HABS-CA-2611-C) at right.
3. View to southeast from hillside behind Inn. Roof of 'Big Sur Inn' Building (HABS-CA-2611-A) at lower center, State Highway 1 bridge across Castro Creek Canyon at upper center.
4. View to northwest from within Castro Creek Canyon, looking up at 'Antique' Building (HABS-CA-2611-C) at left and center, 'Champagne' Building (HABS-CA-2611-D) at right behind redwood trees. View gives indication of steepness of canyon, siting of these two buildings at canyon's edge.
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