The Stonepine Estate is a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

located in Carmel Valley,

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Stonepine provides luxury accommodations, dining, weddings, corporate retreats, and equestrian activities. The property consists of two main areas: Chateau Noel and the Double H Ranch. It is listed on the

National Registry of the Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pl ...

. It was once the oldest thoroughbred breeding facility west of the Mississippi.

History

The estate was built in 1920 for Helen Crocker Russell (daughter of banker

William Henry Crocker William Henry Crocker I (January 13, 1861 – September 25, 1937) was an American banker, the president of Crocker National Bank and a prominent member of the Republican Party. Early life Crocker was born on January 19, 1861 in Sacramento, Califor ...

) and her husband, Henry Porter Russell, and was known as Double H Ranch, in the style of a Mediterranean estate. They had purchased it when the

Rancho Los Laureles Rancho Los Laureles was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José M. Boronda and Vicente Blas Martínez. Los Laureles refers to the California Bay Laurel tree. The grant e ...

was subdivided. The ranch was purchased from descendants in 1983 by Gordon and Noel Hentschel and converted into a country resort, named Stonepine Estate. It is located in

Carmel Valley, California Carmel Valley is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. The term "Carmel Valley" generally refers to the Carmel River watershed east of California State Route 1, and not specifically to the smaller Carmel V ...

, an unincorporated area of Monterery County. According to the

Monterey Herald ''The Monterey County Herald'', sometimes referred to as the ''Monterey Herald'', is a daily newspaper published in Monterey, California that serves Monterey County. In December, 2013, the Herald's parent company Media News Group merged to become ...

It's here where the Crocker family — California royalty with an empire built on railroad ties and bank notes — lived a
Gatsby Gatsby may refer to: * ''The Great Gatsby'', a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald ** The Great Gatsby (disambiguation), an index of film adaptations of the novel ** Jay Gatsby, the novel's central character Other uses * Gatsby cap, a hat with a st ...
-esque existence, replete with the Fitzgerald novel's themes of love, money, social classes and the American dream.

The Stonepine Estate Equestrian Center serves guests with private riding on the grounds of the estate, and also boards horses and serves as a training facility for the local community. The resort was used to shoot the wedding of

Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama ''Santa Barbara (TV series), Santa Barbara''. Eden was portrayed by American actress Marcy Walker from September 28, 1984 to August 9, 1991, ...

for the ''Santa Barbara'' TV series in 1988.Roos, Henrietta. ''Soap Opera Super Couples: The Great Romances of Daytime Drama''. Jefferson: McFarland, 2017. Amazon Kindle. 18 Dec. 2016. It became listed on the

in 2019. In 2021, the estate with was listed for sale at asking price $70 million.

References

Hotels in California 1920 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Monterey County, California Buildings and structures completed in 1920 Carmel Valley, California {{California-stub