Norwegian immigrant Helmuth Deetjen settled in Big Sur with his wife Helen (Haight) Deetjen to build a place of rustic warmth, a home for themselves that ultimately became a refuge for weary route one travelers. Their work began in the Great Depression when the couple planned what sometime later became Big Sur Inn. Building during the depression era entailed amassing used materials. “I bought every window in the place for five dollars,” Deetjen admitted, half boasting. Mules carried the windows and other used materials through the mountains from King City. “I had to straighten every nail,” Deetjen recalled, shaking his hand as if remembering hammered fingers. The floor of the current restaurant started as brick, but before Deetjen poured the mortar, a cold snap changed his plans. He rearranged the bricks, building instead, the fireplace that has warmed family, friends, and strangers since 1940. Once complete, the Deetjens decorated their new place with red fall foliage and invited the community to a house warming. The bewildered couple watched as their neighbors came, then left no sooner than they entered. The Inn walls were beautifully festooned with...poison oak!

For more information, please read Monterey County Magazine, Winter 2004-5, “A Deetjen Recollection” (pages 19 & 23).
The magazine may be reached at P. O. Box 222697, Carmel, CA 93922.