GUALALA, Calif. — Sheltered by redwoods along the misty Mendocino coast is a cozy Russian-inspired inn where the fire is warm, and the rooms are unique. As you walk through the door of St. Orres you are greeted by a pack of miniature Schnauzers.
Co-Owner Rosemary Campiformio says the inn is pet friendly, and not just for dogs.
“We’ve had pigs here, peacocks here, we’ve had cats,” says Campiformio.
St. Orres is located in the little coastal town of Gualala, a region rich with Russian history and not too far from Fort Ross State Historic Park, once a Russian fur trading outpost.
“The George St. Orres family homesteaded a lot of land in this area,” says Campiformio.
That Russian history influenced the architectural design of St. Orres. Rosemary says her business partner Eric Black started building it back in 1971 out of recycled wood from an old sawmill.
“All the beams inside were the structure from the old mill,” she says.
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Eric and Rosemary built their hotel on top of the old, existing Seaside Inn which had been abandoned. You can see parts of it in some of the rooms.
“We took the siding off and re-finished it and put it back up. Each room is unique but it’s all from the old hotel,” says Campiformio.
It took about five years to build the new hotel. As the business grew, they added on a series of cottages, with a similar Russian look and feel, which are tucked away in the property’s redwood forest. Each one is hand-built.
“It was really a labor of love, and we were just kids,” says Campiformio.
Construction of the St. Orres Hotel | Bartell's Backroads
If you are hungry, the St. Orres restaurant is known for its locally sourced food, handpicked by Campiformio — literally handpicked.
“I am a forager, so I pick the berries and mushrooms," she says.
From the ornate architecture to the artistic décor, a lot of sweat, equity, and love was put into building St. Orres. You don’t find that in many hotels.
ANOTHER UNIQUE HOTEL ON THE BACKROADS: Some like it hot at the Hotel Del Coronado. Marylin Monroe is not the only celebrity who stayed at the famed San Diego County hotel, which itself has become a bit of a movie star.
