Book Review
Discovering the Deetjen legacy
"Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy"
By Anita Alan
Gibbs Smith, 160 pp,
ISBN 10: 1-4236-0012-6
Compiled by
Christy Olsen Field
Copy Editor
The same untamed majesty that drew poet Robinson Jeffers to the Big Sur Coast also inspired Norwegian immigrant Helmuth Deetjen to create Big Sur Inn. In her book Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy, Anita Alan travels back in time to reveal the history, legends, and storied past of a California institution.
Nestled on the magical stretch of Highway One is Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. Its distinctive vernacular architecture, which visitors and locals alike recognize as the most authentically preserved along the coast, serves a waiting list of guests year round. In 1990, the Department of the Interior recognized Big Sur Inn by adding it to the National Register of Historic Places.
Alan traces the Inn’s history from the poetic inspiration that compelled Helmuth Deetjen to journey from his native Norway, to the fulfillment of a lifelong dream—to make his home in the California redwoods. With his wife, Helen Haight Deetjen, he created an intimate refuge, not just for two, but also for travelers, artists, and celebrities worldwide. Whether a casual guest, or a celebrity visitor such as Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Peter Sellers, John Denver, or Joan Baez—all will find Big Sur Inn a haven from the brisk pace of city living.
Anita Alan, a frequent contributor to Norwegian American Weekly, studied at The New School in New York City, graduated from the University of Southern California, and received her Master of Arts degree from Monterey Institute of International Studies. She worked as a writer, editor, and photographer for The Big Sur Gazette in Big Sur, California, where she lived with her family for 25 years. Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy is her first full length book.
Over 200 color and vintage photographs from the Inn’s beginning to the present guide you through its natural surroundings, cozy rustic rooms, and enchanting restaurant. The book is a compilation of several contributors who have experienced the beauty and simplicity of Big Sur Inn, including memories and stories from a multitude of guests, employees, and locals who comprise the character of the Inn.
The book provides a history of the Deetjens with information and family photos never before published, and hints to the note of their strong-willed couple who shared the dream of building the Inn, and dared to make it a reality. Alan recreates a glimpse of Castro Canyon and the building of the Inn for the reader, in description and photographs, sharing the history of the Inn. From the beginning stages of the Inn to its view of the future, Alan provides a beautifully written story of the beloved Big Sur Inn. The poetry of Robinson Jeffers frames each chapter in this book—a volume designed to bring the warmth of Deetjen’s hearth into your home.
