Deetjen's Big Sur Inn was one of the first Big Sur facilities to offer overnight lodging and meals to travelers after the the completion of the Carmel-San Simeon section of Highway One in 1937.

This historic district includes the five original buildings and associated landscape features designed by Helmuth Deetjen, a native of Norway, and built between 1936 and 1941.

Deetjen employed the vernacular wooden building tradition of his homeland, carefully integrating the rustic architecture into its canyon setting beside Castro Creek.

Located among the chaparral and redwoods that characterize Big Sur, the buildings are constructed of redwood and native stone. The Big Sur Inn building is the earliest structure. The other four historic buildings are named Hayloft, Chateau Fiasco, Antique and Champagne. Between 1940 and 1961, Deetjen constructed several other buildings on the property.

Today, the old county road winds through the complex from a wooden gate beside Highway One, crosses a modern wooden bridge and rejoins Highway One to the south.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1990.