The Stevenswood Story
 
Co-owners Michael Webster & Seth Kelman acquired Stevenswood in December of 2004 and since it has been a true labor-of-love transforming the rustic lodge into a world-class destination resort with full-service luxury spa, award winning restaurant and stylish boutique hotel.

The lodge was designed by famous architect/artist/designer Michael Leventhal, of Leventhal, Schlosser, Architects; and built in the year 1987.

Stevenswood history stems back to the late 1800's when the area was being explored by developers as a vacation escape for the San Francisco aristocrats, before the 1906 earthquake and resulting fires reshaped the entire region.

Michael & Seth, partners in business and in life, had been searching for a hospitality venture for nearly a decade with visits to hundreds and hundreds of properties around the world.

For years they dreamed of owning their own hotel to impliment some of the principles they had developed over nearly 25 combined years of consulting to the hospitality, automobile and technology industries through their various enterprises, Webster & Kelman Enterprises, Webster & Kelman Consultancy; Public Relations, Corporate Marketing, Graphic Communications, Design and Commercial Interiors.

Employing up to 68 staff at the peak of their business ventures provided the two with the background needed to inspire, motivate and retain a diverse and talented crew at Stevenswood Spa Resort.

With their black lab, Zachary in tow, they headed North from Laguna Beach and jumped in with both feet into the new project.

Over the next 2 years, they would take on Michael's personal battle with Stage IV cancer and face other challenges head-on.

Today, they are grateful for every moment on the Mendocino Coast and personally greet, serve and host each guest of the now famous resort.

They began Stevenswood's new era by gutting the entire lodge and stripping the interiors from wall to wall. Stevenswood then saw new floors, walls, furnishings, linens, draperies, paint, bathrooms, wallcoverings, trim and much more.

Soon after, the popular Indigo Eco|Spa opened it's doors to media attention, and great demand by the public. Now, Indigo's luxurious splendor has been recognized as a FIVE STAR full-service spa, FIVE DIAMOND award winner; and "Spa Tracker" has ranked Indigo as one of the World's TOP 10 New Spas!


   

Headed by European trained Spa Manager, Vladimir Joksimovic, the spa has earned unprecedented success for the area.

The Restaurant at Stevenswood is the region's most award winning restaurant and a favorite amoung locals and visitors alike.

Consistently ranking high in any restaurant survey, The Restaurant at Stevenswood ranks high with the most important survey, the guest.

In fact, the guest driven ratings compiled annually by Zagat consistently honor Stevenswood as one of the TOP 40 Restaurants in all of Northern California, inclusive of such culinary capitals as San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma!

Today, the FIVE STAR restaurant enjoys a deserved reputation in the press as the top restaurant for the entire Mendocino Coast.

The Executive Chef, Ira Mittleman brings a personal style to every dish as he layers the flavors to create an unforgetable dining experience!

The entire dedicated team at Stevenswood has been hand-picked by Michael & Seth to insure that every guest experiences their signature style of refined luxury, service that anticipates your every need and a feeling overall of understated elegrance at every turn.

For an idyllic retreat on Northern California's Mendocino Coast, Stevenswood Spa Resort rates accolades. Contemporary and secluded, this tranquil inn offers a gracious respite from the daily whirl. Nestled in a forest by the sea, the intimate lodge echoes the natural beauty of its rural setting in the tony town of Little River, just 2 minutes South of the Village of Mendocino, {link to 5th paragraph below}, on Cape Mendocino, California. At the resort, guests are pampered with comfort, privacy, and peace, and indulged in gracious service and superlative cuisine, which stands out anywhere but especially in such a natural and rural environment as Little River.

Protected lands surround Stevenswood, with Van Damme State Park at our back door. Miles and miles of nature trails originate at Stevenswood Resort. Van Damme State Park was named for Charles Van Damme who was born at Little River in 1881, son of John and Louise Van Damme, early settlers of the region. John Van Damme and his wife were a Flemish couple. The patriarch of the family was born in Ostend, Belgium on May 22, 1832. "Following the sea" for some years, Van Damme, upon his arrival in Mendocino County, later worked in the lumber mill at Little River. In this settlement all of his children were born, including Charles, whose love for the area prompted his acquiring, after some years as a successful operator of the Richmond-San Rafael ferry line, a plot of ground along the redwood coast. Upon his demise this area became a part of the State Park System in 1934.

In those early days lumbering was a major economic factor in the development of the northern coastline. Little River was built as a mill town in 1864 by Ruel Stickney, Silas Coombs and Tapping Reeves after the property, formally called Kents Cove, was purchased from W. H. Kent in 1862. 

Before long it had attained fame, not only as a lumber port, but as a shipyard; but a stand of timber, if logged, does not last forever and by the end of the century, even though logging was periodically moved back into the headwaters of Little River, the mill was forced to close (1893). What there was left of Little River soon deteriorated; the shipyard, the wharf, the town, several chutes for loading lumber and the lumber mill itself. Activity at the port, which once hummed with bustle, declined. Little River's school, once attended by close to 100 students, closed; its weekly steamship service ended, and a shipyard where, in 1874, Captain Thomas Peterson turned out full-size lumber schooners for the coast wide trade, phased out. Only the schooner Little River returned, to be wrecked on the very beach from which it originally departed.

Plagued by a lack of sufficient timber reserves, fires, loss of substantial business, deterioration of wharf’s and chutes, the end of coast wide shipping and the attendant decline in population, Little River reverted to a natural state. Its acquisition by the State Park System in 1934, and the subsequent addition of peripheral lands has preserved some of California's most interesting natural resources.

Stevenswood is situated only 1 Ѕ miles from the quaint Victorian Village of Mendocino.

Mendocino is a small town with a worldwide reputation.  Like other areas on the North Coast, Mendocino was inhabited by the Pomo People before the Europeans came and it was known to them as Booldam.  It was the most important Pomo village in the immediate area.  
As was the case with other towns in the area, the very first white settler in Mendocino is believed to have been a castaway from a ship wreck in 1850.  His name was William Kasten and he filed papers claiming the land as "Port of Good Hope" in June of 1851. 

In 1852 Henry Meiggs heard about a big river and gigantic redwood forests that were located close to the shoreline far to the north of his mill in Bodega.  He built the very first sawmill there that same year and for a brief time the place was known as Meiggsville.  Meiggs got into financial difficulties in 1854 and moved to Chile.  His company was taken over by his partners and their creditors and eventually became profitable.  The town, known popularly as Big River at the time, grew steadily and by the end of the civil war had a permanent population of about 700.  

In 1870 The Bank of Mendocino was established and the town became an important center of coastal economic activity.  During much of the second half of the nineteenth century Big River was the largest and most important community in the county.  During the life of the mill over seven billion board feet of lumber was produced and sold. 
Many of the buildings of note in Mendocino Town were built in the late nineteenth century.  A few were started as early as 1855.  The Presbyterian Church of Mendocino was built in 1868 of native redwood milled in the Mendocino Mill.  It has been designated a California Historical Landmark. 

Today the town is a haven for artists, writers, woodworkers, potters, actors and a host of other very creative people.  Galleries and gift stores abound and carry some of the most beautiful and unique items imaginable.  Browsing these establishments is a worthwhile esthetic experience for anyone whether they are looking for an unusual gift for a friend, a treasure for themselves or are just plain looking.  After a day on the bluff looking at nature or a tour of the shops it is time to savor a wonderful meal in one of the numerous fine dining establishments that are tucked away in the back streets.  At dinner don't forget to try one of the wines from either Mendocino County or one of the other nearby  wine-growing counties.  It is some of the very best in the world.