My husband and I just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary(!) by taking a grandiose tour of the Central California Coast.  We planned on camping in Big Sur, but so did a LOT of other people. At the site we were coveting (which had 5 empty but reserved spaces), we found a handwritten note on the “camp host” site (since they were not anywhere to be found) that said to go to a campground 12 miles inland where there was space. Well…it wasn’t exactly an easy 12 miles. It was a VERY narrow and VERY steep road that lead us to the most dry, boring, and bug laden campgrounds we had ever seen. We would have had the place to ourselves, but when it became obvious we would not be staying, my husband decided we may as well keep going because we were close to a military reservation that he has trained at in the past. So we kept on truckin’ and headed through quite beautiful untouched land. My husband assured me there would be a vacancy in the hotel and we would just stay one night, get our game plan ready and head out early in the morning. When he said I would love the place, I kind of thought, yeah, right…as I looked around at old buildings spread out in desolation. But he was right. I loved it. Nothing fancy, and far from civilization, but so neat to stay in a mission-style hacienda built by W.R. Hearst in 1930.

*warning–iPhone photos! Gasp!

This was the view of Big Sur as we climbed up the steeeeep hill of winding road in search of a campsite.

When we drive up to the lodging, to my surprise it was a beautiful Spanish Mission style building!

I absolutely loved the carved wood windows and doors. Everything had so much character.

As I start looking around, I realized this would be an amazing place to have a wedding!  Typical wedding photographer. I could always marry my husband again…

This tile right outside our room was a rare example of Talavera Tile work c1930 Puebla, Mexico

The more we walk around an explore the Hacienda, the more I love it. I can envision a wedding ceremony on this grassy hill!

Back at our room, I couldn’t get enough of the details. They have kept it as historically sound as possible.

The view from the Hacienda was pretty great as well.  I think this sunset lasted for 2 hours. Not kidding.

We will be going back to the Hacienda!  It is very close to Moro Bay and San Luis Obispo (Hearst and his farm hands used to ride horses from here to San Simeon!), and the great rates make it worth stopping on the way to your destination.

If you would like to learn more about the history of the Hacienda or have a destination wedding on their beautifully manicured landscaping overlooking the Santa Lucia mountain range, check out the pdf or the military website. It is open to civilians!

As always, feel free to contact me or view more of my portfolio here. 🙂