Mendocino : For the Most Part, This New England-Style Village on the California Coast Remains Unspoiled by Visitors

They came, in the 1800s, for the whaling and the timber: the Kelleys, the Kastens, the MacCallums, the Hills, the Fords. They brought with them a powerful love of the sea and the tenacity to create new lives on the harsh and beautiful Northern California coast.

The homes they built and the village that grew up around them were mirror images of those they left behind in New England.

Mendocino was home to as many as 12,000 people in its heyday. Today there are artists and writers, fishermen, shopkeepers and restaurateurs. Most have come looking for a better way of life than cities can offer; some are third- and fourth-generation members of the same families who settled the coast.

Whaling ended long ago; what remains as the soul of economic life in Mendocino is tourism.

Because so many have adamantly resisted the Carmel-ization of their village, Mendocino seems particularly unspoiled and untainted by visitors. There are only a few times of the year, summer weekends for the most part, when the town seems too full. And even when the three or four main streets bustle with outsiders, you can still find peace and unpopulated acres out on the headlands.

Discovering it is worth the effort. After you’ve driven across the Golden Gate Bridge, over the rolling hills of Sonoma and Mendocino counties’ wine country, through miles of dark forests and, finally, wind along Pacific Coast Highway with the vistas growing more spectacular by the mile, the weathered village of Mendocino seems almost a mirage, perched on its promontory.

There are at least two dozen comfortable, charming, even elegant places to stay in and around Mendocino. One of the newest is the Hill House Inn just north of the business district off Lansing Street. Owners Barbara and Monte Reed opened the 44-room inn, built in 19th-Century fishing-village style, in 1978.

Four rooms have fireplaces; all have views of either the ocean or the lovely gardens. Continental breakfast is included in the price of the rooms, which range from $65 to $115 a night. All rooms have private baths, TVs and telephones, amenities that are unusual in this village of bed and breakfasts.

Observant fans of CBS-TV’s “Murder, She Wrote” will recognize the Hill House Inn as soon as they drive up--it has been used in several episodes of the program; a sign still propped against one of the outbuildings reads “The Hill House Inn of Cabot Cove” and brings a touch of Hollywood to the blustery surroundings.

At a window table in the Hill House restaurant you have an unobstructed 180-degree view of the headlands and the Pacific. When the gray whales are making their annual treks south from Alaska in late winter and north again in the fall, their spouts are visible.

Hill House also has a Honduras mahogany-lined bar, complete with a dance floor. Local bands play Friday and Saturday nights, and you’ll hear anything from country to jazz.

One of the village’s true historic treasures, the Mendocino Hotel on Main Street, was founded in 1878 and is restored to its original splendor. The 50 rooms range from $46 with shared baths to $200 for fully appointed suites.

Stop for a drink in the gorgeous Victorian lobby or a meal in the restaurant.

For something smaller, try the Agate Cove on Lansing Street. This is the ideal retreat when you want to do nothing but sit in front of a fireplace and read. The rooms at Agate Cove all have private baths and views of the ocean; prices average about $90 a night, with the best breakfast in town. Owner Tom Johnson bakes bread every morning and prepares giant omelets.

Built in 1882

A true bed-and-breakfast experience can be had at the MacCallum House, a Victorian built in 1882 by one of the early Mendocino families.

On Albion Street and offering ocean views from its Gray Whale Bar and from many of the 21 rooms, MacCallum House is furnished with the Persian rugs and Tiffany lamps that William Kelley bought for his newlywed daughter, Daisy MacCallum.

Prices are $50 to $165 for a suite for four guests.

South of town on Coast Highway, Stanford Inn by the Sea offers both privacy and good service. Rates range from $98 to $180 a night in rooms furnished with four-poster beds, fireplaces and color TVs. There are no bad views in Mendocino, but the Stanford Inn may have the best of the best.

A lovely golf course welcomes players at Little River Inn and several others offer tennis.

You can rent canoes at Stanford Inn’s Catch-a-Canoe for $10 an hour and paddle up Big River.

At Cleone, about a dozen miles from Mendocino, you’ll find Lari Shea’s Ricochet Ridge Ranch with one of the best stables in Northern California. Horses rent for about $15 an hour and riders take in the beach in MacKerricher State Park and wild dunes of the North Coast.

In Mendocino the best souvenirs are the locally produced arts and crafts, found at galleries such as the Ruth Carlson, the Zacha Bay Window, the Hilda Pertha, Gallery Fair, the Highlight and the Mendocino Art Center, among many others.

Shops are almost too numerous to mention; standouts include Old Gold, a jewelry store that sells both antiques and one-of-a-kind modern designs; Wind & Weather, a fascinating jumble of weather vanes, sun dials and barometers, and the Pepperwood Potters, which sells pottery handmade in nearby Anderson Valley.

Genealogy buffs should seek out the village’s ramshackle old cemeteries, tucked into overgrown blocks of the middle of town.

As for dining, Cafe Beaujolais is probably the best known place in Mendocino. On Ukiah Street in a quaint old house, Beaujolais features a good wine list with emphasis on Mendocino County vintages and superb food. The cooking may be best described as California continental; menus are planned to take advantage of whatever is fresh. Breakfasts are especially good at Cafe Beaujolais and reservations are a must for dinner.

Friendly Service

Little River Inn has fresh salmon and delicious home-baked rolls. Like most restaurants here, the wine list is comprehensive and well-priced, and the service is friendly and unstuffy, a pleasant contrast with the dressy surroundings.

As you make your way through the Coast Range on your trip to Mendocino on California 128, stop for an afternoon in Anderson Valley, which is fast becoming the premier sparkling wine region in all of California.

The Philo Pottery Inn is an ideal base for your foray into the wine country. Built in 1888 and once a stagecoach stop, the inn offers four bedrooms. Rates start at $50 a night for a couple.

Stop at Mountain House Winery and the newly built Olson Vineyards tasting room just after you leave Cloverdale on California 128; then visit the “Miracle Mile” of Anderson Valley where you can sample wines at Navarro Vineyards, Busch, Greenwood Ridge and Edmeades.

Anderson Valley seems forgotten by time, regardless of its new wineries and growing reputation.

Hill House Inn, P.O. Box 625, Mendocino 95460, phone (707) 937-0554. Mendocino Hotel, 45080 Main St., Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-0511. The Agate Cove, P.O. Box 1150, Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-0551. MacCallum House, 45020 Albion St., Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-0289. Stanford Inn by the Sea, P.O. Box 487, Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-5025. Little River Inn and Golf Course, Little River 95456, (707) 937-5942. Lari Shea’s Ricochet Ridge Ranch, 24201 N. Highway One, Fort Bragg 95437, (707) 964-PONY. Sweetwater Gardens, Hot Tub and Sauna Spa, 955 Ukiah St., Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-4140. The Seagull Restaurant and Cellar Bar, Lansing at Ukiah Street, Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-5204. Brannon’s Whale Watch Restaurant, 45040 Main St., Mendocino 95460, (707) 937-4197.