PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Heiress sculptor Mary Tilden Morton (of Morton Salt) was the creator of this cozy, Spanish-style hacienda. Two floors open onto wisteria-covered balconies, and guest rooms surround a garden courtyard with a huge outdoor fireplace. Morton fancied each room a work of art, so she employed the most skilled craftspeople she could find, designed adobe fireplaces in 22 of 26 rooms, and added artifacts she gathered in Mexico and South America. The mix-and-match decor in the decent-size guest rooms is on the funky side, with braided rugs and overly varnished, imported carved-wood furnishings. It's hard to balk, though, when the rooms include wet bars, sitting areas with sofa beds, small private patios, and new beds and wall paint added in 2005. Most suites have fireplaces, one has a kitchenette, and five have whirlpools. Breakfast, served in the dining room, includes fresh fruit, granola, orange juice, and pastries.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's California 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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