Sutter Creek: Sutter Creek Inn; hotel review

Highway 49--Gold Rush Country 

Sutter Creek Inn  

75 Main St., (209) 267-5606.  17 rooms; $-$$.  Unsuitable for children.  Some TVs & wood-burning fireplaces.  Afternoon snack; full breakfast.  No pets. 

Opened as an inn in 1966, this 1859 Greek Revival structure was one of the first B&Bs west of the Mississippi and has staked its claim as the first in California.  Rooms are available at the Sutter Creek Inn in the house as well as in six vintage out buildings.  As guests arrive each day, homemade lemonade and cookies are served in the garden, and a full sit-down breakfast is served family-style at long tables in the dining room and kitchen.  Each room has its own charm--one has a closet filled with books, another a clawfoot tub.  For those who have been longing to spend the night swinging in a bed suspended from the ceiling by chains, this inn fulfills that and other yearnings.  Some visitors have even seen a friendly ghost, although it has been more than 25 years since the last sighting.  Croquet and hammocks beckon from the garden. 

exterior of Sutter Creek Inn in Sutter Creek, California

 
More things to do in Sutter Creek.

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top image ©2015 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

bottom image courtesy of inn

Ione: Preston Castle; things to do

Highway 49--Gold Rush Country

Preston Castle  

900 Palm Dr., in Ione, (209) 256-3623.  Tour Sat 10-1, Apr-Sept.  $10, 6-12 $5. 

Built atop a hill in 1894 in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture, and using hand-carved Ione sandstone and bricks from Folsom, this massive building known as Preston Castle was a boy’s reform school until 1960.  Owls and bats live here now.  One of the oldest reform schools in the country, it saved delinquents as young as 8 from being sent to prisons such as Alcatraz and Folsom.  Celebrity inmates include Beatnik Neal Cassidy, country-music singer Merle Haggard, and actor Eddie Anderson (he played Rochester on Jack Bennie’s show).  But infamous killer Caryl Chessman was also confined here. 

The tour includes seeing a massive dormitory room and a vertical circular “waterslide” on the second floor, and hearing the story of the female staff member who was killed in the kitchen pantry in 1950 (the killer was never found).  Not surprisingly, many people think the place is haunted.  Though the inside has been ravaged, the plan is to restore it and perhaps even eventually turn it into a restaurant and lodging.  “Ghost Hunters”, and “The Great Escape” TV shows have filmed here.  Special events include ghost-hunting nights--when participants bring their own sleeping bags--and an annual Halloween haunt.

exterior of Preston Castle in Ione, California

interior of Preston Castle in Ione, California

 
More things to do in nearby Sutter Creek.

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More ideas for exploring Northern California. 

images ©2015 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Grass Valley: The Holbrooke; hotel review

Highway 49--Gold Rush Country 

The Holbrooke  

212 W. Main St., in historic downtown, (800) 933-7077, (530) 273-1353.  28 rooms; $$-$$$.  Some gas fireplaces.  Continental breakfast; restaurant.

exterior ofThe Holbrooke hotel in Grass Valley, California

Established in 1851 and located conveniently in the center of town, this meticulously restored Victorian grand hotel has hosted four presidents (Grant, Garfield, Cleveland, and Harrison), stagecoach robber Black Bart, and author Mark Twain.

Ulysses S. Grant Room at The Holbrooke hotel in Grass Valley, California

At The Holbrooke guests can step back in time in rooms named for the presidents, and room #18, the Ulysses S. Grant Room--which features a red-brick wall plus some wallpapered walls, high ceilings, a brass bed, a big bathroom with the room’s original clawfoot tub, and a balcony that is perfect for watching a parade--is reputedly haunted.  Most rooms are for two people, but a few larger ones can also accommodate a child on a rollaway bed.  A century-old wrought-iron elevator cage lifts guests from floor to floor.  Located behind the hotel, the 1874 Purcell House offers additional rooms.

The Golden Gate Saloon features an ornate bar that was shipped around the Horn.  The oldest continually operating saloon west of the Mississippi, it has a patio and serves food.  The elegant Restaurant has full family amenities.  Both operate on the main floor.  The original subterranean stonewalled saloon, which once was the end point of several mine tunnels, is also said to be haunted.  It is now used only for special events.  A popular destination for miners because the hotel also had a Gold Exchange, the hotel drew miners from the Empire Mine, which is 2½ miles away.

mine tunnel doors in women's restroom at The Holbrooke hotel
in Grass Valley, California

They would walk here through the tunnels and then hitch their mules in the tunnel while they came in for a drink, entering through iron doors that are now part of the women’s restroom. 


More things to do in Grass Valley.

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More loos with views.

More ideas for exploring Northern California.

images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers