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Elegant 19th-Century Inn near Pacific Coast

With its gabled, buttercream-colored exterior, MacCallum House Inn looks like a frosted gingerbread cottage that was airlifted from a fairy tale and set down on two flowering acres near California's coast. In reality, the Victorian-inspired inn was constructed in 1882 as a wedding present from an early Mendocino resident for his daughter, Daisy MacCallum, a socialite and world traveler. Since being converted into an inn, it has earned mentions in Wine Spectator, Coastal Living, and the New York Times, which wrote “there is no better place to spend an entire evening than MacCallum House.”

The inn’s luxurious MacCallum suites overlook the town of Mendocino from a hilltop about four blocks from the main house. Uniquely decorated suites 25–33 feature sloping ceilings and rich wood furnishings. Each suite has a fireplace and a jetted tub, and all suites have large windows looking out to the grounds or to the ocean.

At the nationally recognized MacCallum House Restaurant in the main house, chef Alan Kantor decorates plates with organic fare that draws from the area's seasonal produce, including wild chanterelle and porcini mushrooms from the surrounding forests. In the morning, the restaurant serves breakfast supplemented by coffee or tea. Afterward, guests can stroll around the magnificently tended gardens.

Mendocino, California: Ocean-Side Town with Artist Community and Nearby Wineries

Located about 150 miles north of San Francisco, the quiet coastal town of Mendocino became popular in 1850s with loggers who harvested the area’s towering redwoods and enlivened its saloons, pools, and fast houses. Today, the redwoods continue to thrive, though the village has since eschewed its rowdy reputation and become a popular spot for artists drawn to its beautiful bluffs. The Mendocino Art Center displays some of these artists’ works, ranging from ceramics and sculptures to paintings and wood furnishings.

Several day trips lie within an hour's drive of the town. Nearby vineyards offer tours and tastings of their wines, from Esterlina Vineyards' cabernet sauvignon to Husch Vineyards' pinot noir. Head 30 miles east of town to see the earth’s tallest trees—the coastal redwoods—at Montgomery Woods State Park, or take a scenic drive down Shoreline Highway to arrive at Point Arena Lighthouse, one of the West Coast's tallest climbable lighthouses.