History
“I do not think it is an overstatement that it appears just as important for California to have Mendocino preserved and guarded against encroachments as it was for Virginia to have Williamsburg restored and protected.”
C. Malcolm Watkins, Chairman of the Department of Civil History for the Smithsonian Institution - December, 1968
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Mendocino began as a small mill town in 1852. It supplied lumber from the abundant surrounding redwood forests for the upstart city of San Francisco to the South. By 1890, Mendocino had grown to 3,000 settlers from all over the world, predominantly Northern New England. The settlers brought with them the personal imprint of their heritage, which has made a lasting impression upon Mendocino.
On a knoll overlooking Mendocino and the blue Pacific, the Inn reflects the New England heritage of its original owner, Joshua Grindle, who came from Maine to make his fortune in the booming redwood lumber business. While a raftsman for the Mendocino Lumber Company, Joshua met and married Alice Hills. As a wedding present from Alice's father, he was given land to build their home next door to the Hills' residence. Construction on the two-story farmhouse began in 1879. Sadly, Alice died in childbirth and did not see the house completed. Joshua remarried and eventually became the town banker and primary owner of the Bank of Commerce on Main Street in Mendocino. The bank was later sold to A.P. Giannini and became the Bank of America building, which still stands today at the corner of Kasten and Main Streets (currently housing the astronomy and science fun store: Out of This World).
Joshua lived here until his death in 1928. Not until 1967 did the house leave the hands of the Grindle descendants. In 1978 the home became the first small bed and breakfast inn in the village of Mendocino.
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