Rainbow House | Big Sur | California

After a couple of days in San Fran we ventured down highway 1 towards Big Sur. We had it on good authority the coastal views were "breathtaking" by a man dressed head to toe in orange, complete with matching fluorescent ORANGE bag, so naturally we trusted his judgment. I mean who wouldn't?! 

We collected our car, you're probably imagining something pretty cool that screams American road trip like a convertible or camper, but sadly we ended up with a Kia Soul. If you don't know what this looks like then google it. It's similar to the pope mobile. We had an altercation with Avis picking it up and they definitely had the last laugh. 

We headed south and true enough the scenery was stunning, Redwood Trees, lakes and then onto a windy coastal road revealing endless sea views. This wasn't longlasting though, about 30 mins outside of Frisco a thick layer of coastal fog just swept in completely obscuring the "breathtaking" views we were promised. We've discovered California Coast is plagued by this fog in early summer months bringing the temperature down, apparently in height of summer the sun burns through the think layer making temperatures obscenely hot. The fog was with us for the duration! I'm secretly quite grateful as I'm not sure how resheeda would have fared in the Californian heat. At a guess I would say quite badly!

We were heading to Big Sur to stay at Don Loui's place - I had found it online and described it loosely to Tristan as a hippy house haven. If I'm honest I wasn't entirely sure what to expect and I could sense that Tristan had THE FEAR. 

Reaching the place felt like our own mini mission to Mordor. We received the most incredible set of directions from Don Himself; "you will be crossing the creek on a footbridge, from there you begin your ascent up the mountain through large Redwood Trees. You must pass through the tunnel at dragon house to access secret gardens and rainbow house." Just amazing! There was an element of mystery and magic before we'd even arrived.

There are two properties on site, Dragon and Rainbow House, both hand built by Don into the hillside of the redwoods with the most incredible view to the coast above the forest. We stayed in Rainbow which is the bigger of the two running over three storeys. The entire place is crammed with weird and wondeful trinkets gathered by the owner giving the place a very distinctive personality. We we're in awe of it's natural beauty and the work that had gone into making it what it is. 

There are trails dug into the hillside for guests to explore with spots to relax, it's the perfect writers retreat with a sense of stillness. We listened to music, watched a beautiful sunset, drank wine and played cards. 

Don has created a rustic unconventional hidden paradise in the most humbling of settings. It's hard to truly capture the whimsical beauty but I've given it a go.

Here are some pics from our first glampy stay in California. More Cali updates soon.