Fall 2024

lives on in the creek that runs through the 160 acres he settled around the Big Sur River in 1888.The property changed hands a few years later, acquired by the famous Pfeiffer family, a pioneering clan whose name lives on in the region as Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, among many others. The first iteration of the inn was founded by Ellen Brown, a member of the Pfeiffer clan, in 1934. She welcomed visitors into her home, serving them delicious hot apple pie, thus the property’s first name,“Apple Pie Inn.” Big Sur people like to honor those who came before them, and today the moun- taintop to the east of the highway is known as “Apple Pie Ridge.” “People stopped by the Apple Pie Inn to tie up their horses and rest,” says Lacey Mazurek, Big Sur native, long-time River Inn employee and current marketing and social media manager. “Accommodations soon popped up, such as people offering rooms in their homes.” The 1937 opening of the 100-mile stretch from Carmel to San Simeon marked the end of the pioneer days and visitors from all over the world began exploring this newly famous stretch of coast. Brown’s mother Florence moved the house to the west side of the road, and it took on new life as a kitchen and dining room.Then called “Redwood Camp,” gas pumps were added to fuel the still fairly new mode of automotive transportation. The name “River Inn” was painted on the building during World War II, when it was taken over by Florence’s daughter Esther Pfeiffer Ewoldsen along with husband Hans. Esther recalled, “the place was renamed ‘The River Inn’ in hopes of keeping the river out…because in those days the river often rose up during the winter storms to the level of the dining room door.” She also took over the role of Big Sur postmaster and the post office was relocated to the part of the inn where the motel office is cur- rently situated. The couple were enthusiastic botanists; neighbors turned to them for advice on what species of trees and plants would be Visiting the idyllic River Inn with a backdrop of the babbling waters of the river and the wind rustling the redwoods is relaxing and energizing. C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 4 111 Photo: Kelli Uldall Photo: Liz Hernandez