Howard Creek Ranch, Westport CA

Category & Type :

Lodging

Location :

40501 North Highway 1 , Westport CA

Phone :

707-964-6725

Website :

http://www.howardcreekranch.com/

Information about Howard Creek Ranch...

The Ranch offers farm animals, award winning gardens, fireplaces/wood stoves, a 75 foot swinging foot bridge over Howard Creek, hot tubs, on-site hiking, sauna, and access to a German masseuse. 1000 year old redwoods, and horseback riding on the beach or in the mountains.

Accommodations include cabins, suites and rooms furnished with antiques, large comfortable beds, and handmade quilts with views of the ocean, mountains, creek or gardens. Wireless Internet connection is usually available for your computer.

A full ranch breakfast is included in your stay. Breakfast is a hearty farm meal with fresh juice, omelets, bacon, sausage, hot cakes, fried potatoes, grits, and baked apples with granola and whipped cream. Coffee is strong and early. Tea is available anytime. Menus change daily. Vegetarians are gladly accommodated.

There is plenty to do in the area and at the ranch. Visit the gigantic redwoods, take the famous Skunk Train, shop in the village of Mendocino, go horseback riding on the beach, in the mountains, in the redwoods or just relax in scenic splendor.

Howard Creek Ranch is alive with the rural splendor of sweeping ocean and mountain views, sixty acres of peace and beauty on the beach near the Lost Coast, a sixty mile long wilderness. The Ranch was settled in 1867 as a land grant of thousands of acres and included a sheep and cattle ranch, and a blacksmith shop. Horses, sheep, Llama, and a pygmy goat graze the pastures. The buildings are constructed from virgin redwood from the ranch forest.

In the middle of a wide, green lawn sits a large 1871 farmhouse filled with antiques. A 75 foot swinging bridge spans Howard Creek as it flows past barns and cabins to the beach 300 yards away.

Howard Creek ranch was recently featured by the California Heartland, a Public Television Program special.

Are you looking for a Northern California Bed & Breakfast?  Howard Creek Ranch is a Romantic Bed & Breakfast In Northern California, oriented toward adults.  For more information on a Northern California Bed & Breakfast, contact us at Howard Creek Ranch; (707) 964-6725.

The History of Howard Creek Ranch

Howard Creek Ranch is named after Alfred Howard who came to California when he was 12 years old. Alfred and his father rode to the ranch land on horseback in 1867. He later bought out his father and acquired many hundreds of acres through land grants after the Civil War. Alfred originally named the creek Stoney Creek but everyone else called it Howard Creek. and the name stuck of course.

The farmhouse was built of virgin redwood and consisted of two houses back to back with a third identical structure on the East side (probably holding wagons, tack and other horse related gear). This mimicked a style frequently seen in Maine. Many of the earliest settlers of the Mendocino Coast were from the Maine coast. The farmhouse was finished in 1871 and many other additional large buildings were rapidly built with massive redwood beams. Hundreds of men hurried to the Mendocino Coast from the gold fields to help with the logging of the newly discovered redwood forests.
The land was rich in gigantic redwoods. One tree would furnish enough wood for one or more houses. The earth was also rich for growing crops and livestock thrived. The terrain was lovely with hills and valleys. Creeks were jumping with king salmon and trout. The forests were alive with game.
The biggest problem was isolation. A trip to town took days and was quite an ordeal. It was extremely difficult to move anything in or out of the area. The first settlers rode horseback along the beaches at low tide. To go anywhere required a sure-footed horse and an intrepid horseman or woman. After the first dirt roads were developed, the stagecoach was right behind. While not an official stagecoach layover, many a traveler stayed the night at Howard Creek Ranch.
The Howard's were some of the earliest settlers to the Westport area. The Howard Creek Ranch Farmhouse is probably the earliest structure still standing. Many men flocked to the coast after it was discovered that redwood could be chopped down (with a great deal of muscle), 16-foot long handsaws, and a "steam donkey". The redwoods were milled on site and moved with the help of a steam fueled train on a narrow gauged train track, and shipped to San Francisco from a little "dog-hole" port (not really a port), but landings, where ships would drop anchor and pick up lumber via cables and chutes.
Howard Creek Ranch moved it's redwood to Union Landing a mile or so north of the ranch and a little spit of land that stuck out into the ocean further west than the surrounding area. This landing would fill up with lumber including railroad ties as they were in great demand to help build the transcontinental railway. All this was hopefully accomplished before a storm would smash the ship into the many large rocks in the area. Life was rugged and risky. One good storm could wipe it all out.