San Bernardino Mountains Help Couple Rise Above Ordinary Problems : B&Bs; in San Bernardino Mountains Offer Escape from Summer Heat

Blue skies, evergreen forests, azure lakes and a host of bed and breakfast inns promise relief from the megalopolis in midsummer.

“It’s a lot nicer up here than it is down there,” said Janice Hague, who was having a leisurely breakfast with her husband Chris on the back porch of the Eagle’s Nest B&B; in this quiet alpine community.

Lounging in their bathrobes, a mile high in the San Bernardino Mountains, the couple was escaping the heat and smog that recently covered their San Fernando Valley home and much of the Los Angeles basin.

Although Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead have long been fresh-air retreats for Southlanders, an increasing number of B&Bs; now offer a greater variety of lodgings and locations. They range from one room in a private house, where a continental breakfast is served, to a more traditional inn featuring 10 guest rooms and a full breakfast with home recipes.

These days, more than a dozen B&Bs; are scattered in the mountains at Lake Arrowhead, Skyforest, Blue Jay, Running Springs, Fawnskin, Big Bear City and Big Bear Lake. All rates quoted in the following B&Bs; are per room or suite.

The Hagues were staying just off the main highway in Big Bear Lake at the cozy five-room, five-bath Eagle’s Nest, owned and operated by Jim Joyce and Jack Draper.

Since opening their log cabin lodge three summers ago, the dedicated innkeepers have added three private cottage suites in a separate building.

“The suites are for guests who want a more secluded getaway,” Joyce said. “They are very popular with honeymooners.”

Each suite has a wood-burning fireplace, a TV set, mini-refrigerator, microwave oven and coffee-maker. Two of the suites feature Jacuzzis, the other a sleeper to accommodate children. Nightly rates are $80 weekdays, $130 (with Jacuzzi tub) and $110 (with sleeper) on weekends.

Guests in the suites cook their own breakfast or go out to eat. “We recommend The Landings Cafe in the terminal of the Big Bear City Airport,” Draper said.

B&B; guests in the main house are served a bountiful breakfast by the innkeepers. Weeknight rates are $70, weekends $85/$95. Call (714) 866-6465 for reservations at Eagle’s Nest.

The best-known B&B; at Big Bear Lake is the historic Knickerbocker Mansion, named for the man who began building the four-story home of vertical logs in the 1920s.

After 44 years, Bill Knickerbocker was still working on the imposing structure when he died at the age of 89. It became a B&B; five years ago.

Almost the entire top of the house was recently turned into a honeymoon suite, complete with a double-size Jacuzzi and a wood stove. A VCR accompanies a huge projection TV screen, and guests in the suite also enjoy an audio system with CD and cassette players. The spacious accommodation is $150 per night.

The other five guest rooms in the rather rustic mansion share two baths and rent for $85 per night. Four more rooms, all with private bath, were created in the hayloft of the adjacent carriage house. Rooms are $95 per night in the carriage house, which was the meeting site of Big Bear’s first Masonic lodge.

Ask owner Phyliss Knight, who moved from Fullerton to take over the B&B; in 1987, more about the old home’s history.

Her assistant, Valerie Prehm, can explain about the bullet lodged in a door jamb in the dining room. Another of the innkeepers, JoAnna Derrington, will relate her experiences with the resident ghost.

People like the informality of the Knickerbocker Mansion. “We want guests to feel like they’re visiting grandma’s house,” Derrington said. In the kitchen, a cookie jar is filled with help-yourself treats, and coffee and tea are always available. An expanded continental breakfast is offered in the morning.

A hammock beckons lazing visitors to the second-floor porch, where rocking chairs also give views through enormous pine trees to the lake. Croquet, Ping-Pong, darts and a Jacuzzi on the sun deck are other diversions.

The 2 1/2-acre property adjoins a national forest with hiking trails. In the opposite direction, it’s a three-block walk to the center of town. For reservations at the Knickerbocker Mansion, call (714) 866-8221.

On the opposite side of the lake in Big Bear City is Gold Mountain Manor, another vintage log house that was restored as a B&B; five years ago. Since being erected in a pine forest in 1926 as a private club’s mansion, the three-story structure also has been a bordello and a boarding house.

A Victorville grade school principal, Conny Ridgway, and her husband, John, bought the seven-room inn last year and have put it into tiptop shape.

The rooms have fireplaces and individual decors, including the downstairs suite with a pioneer-Indian motif that’s named for a Big Bear outdoorsman, Ted Ducey. It features a private Jacuzzi, a half bath and a nightly tab of $150. The presidential suite, which has a full private bath, costs the same.

The Honeymoon Room with half bath is $130. The other four rooms in the manor share two baths and cost $110/$115, except the small Wildcat Room, which has no fireplace and goes for $75.

Rates include a home-cooked breakfast. Guests like the quiet location and woodsy grounds of this historic inn, which has been the background for a number of clothing ads and catalogues. Call (714) 585-6997 for a room at Gold Mountain Manor.

The much newer Inn at Fawnskin also is on the north side of Big Bear Lake, but near its western end. G.B. and Susie Sneed left Orange County and the savings and loan industry to open their four-room B&B; in a contemporary log home two years ago.

“We came up here and fell in love with the place,” G.B. said. It shows. The comfortable, well-kept inn has country decor befitting its knotty pine interior, along with special features ranging from a grand piano to a basketball court.

A pool table, wide-screen TV with a selection of 200 videotapes and a wet bar (bring your own liquor) are found in a separate game room. Novels line floor-to-ceiling shelves.

“Families and small groups of friends sometimes rent the entire inn,” G.B. said. “We’re happy to socialize as innkeepers or just retreat to our own cabin and leave them alone.”

The four upstairs rooms are from $75 for the smallest to $155 for the master suite, which has a private bath, rock fireplace, TV and VCR.

For breakfast, stuffed French toast and Susie’s cinnamon rolls are favorites of the guests. For reservations at the Inn at Fawnskin, call (714) 866-3200.

Not far from Lake Arrowhead, along Rim of the World Drive at Skyforest, is the Storybook Inn. This rambling, glass-fronted home was built in the 1940s for the man who designed the original Lake Arrowhead Village.

In 1986, Kathleen and John Wooley of Glendale purchased the three-story inn, which has nine large guest rooms and suites, all with private bath. Rates are $95/$155, less on weekdays.

A special attraction is a rustic 1930s log cabin that resembles a hunting lodge with mounted fish and game trophies, stone fireplace and knotty-pine paneling. It sleeps six in two bedrooms and a loft, and there are two baths plus a full kitchen. The rent is $175 for two, plus $30 for each extra person.

Guests get a hot tub and sun deck with views of the valley on non-smoggy days. In the morning, a hot breakfast is brought to each room with the daily newspaper, or guests can eat in the dining room or solarium. For reservations at Storybook Inn, call (714) 336-1483.

Closer to Lake Arrowhead is the 6,500-square-foot home of Jody and Oscar Wilson that they transformed into the impressive six-room Chateau Du Lac Bed & Breakfast Inn in 1988.

The Lakeview Suite has the best view of Lake Arrowhead and comes with an outdoor balcony, Jacuzzi and fireplace. The tab is $250, including a gourmet breakfast and lavish afternoon tea. Jody, who was a caterer in Palos Verdes, also can prepare special dinners by request.

All rooms feature queen-size beds, TVs and telephones. Only two rooms share a bath, and they are the least expensive at $95 per night. Guests relax in the upper-level library or the dining room, where there is a game table. A canary serenading visitors in the dining room adds to the charm of this handsome inn. For reservations at Chateau Du Lac, call (714) 337-6488.

Also near the water is the first B&B; at Lake Arrowhead, the homey Bluebelle House that Lila and Rick Peiffer opened in 1983.

Three of Bluebelle’s five rooms are decorated in motifs recalling the innkeepers’ travels to Paris, Bavaria and Austria. The others have romance and country themes, including silk flower displays that reflect Lila’s background as a floral and interior designer.

Nightly rates are $75/$110, including a home-cooked breakfast. Call (714) 336-3292 for reservations.

Another B&B; at Lake Arrowhead is Eagle’s Landing, where four rooms in Dorothy and Jack Stone’s modern home rent for $85/$155. Call (714) 336-2642.

For other bed and breakfast inns in the area, call the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce at (714) 866-4607. Also contact the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce: (714) 337-3715.

Be warned that many B&Bs; have prohibitions regarding smoking, children and pets. A two-night minimum stay often is required on weekends, with three nights over holiday weekends. Ask about midweek and senior citizen discounts.

To reach Big Bear Lake via Lake Arrowhead, drive east from Los Angeles on Interstate 10 to join Interstate 215 north. Follow the freeway direction for Highland Avenue/Mountain Resorts, California 30, then take the Cresttline/Lake Arrowhead exit, Waterman Avenue, which is California 18 and winds up the mountain.

An alternative route is to continue east on California 30 about five miles beyond the California 18 exit and join California 330 up the mountain to Big Bear Lake via Running Springs.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Big Bear Lake is 210 miles.