In the early 1930's, Helmuth Deetjen, hiding out from authorities in his native Norway discovered the secluded and quietly brilliant beauty of Big Sur, on the California coast. In Carmel, he met his future wife, Helen Haight - a woman with a nose for business and the means to buy several acres of land in Castro Canyon (the couple's favorite camping spot in Big Sur), which was to become their future home. The pastoral canyon offered the privacy and isolation they sought.

For a time, Helmuth and Helen lived in a tent on their new property, while Helmuth constructed a redwood barn with used material obtained from canneries along Monterey's Cannery Row. Upon completion, the barn housed a few goats and Deetjens workshop. Today, it is the heart of Deetjens; filled with candlelight and guests enjoying meals, sipping wine and warming themselves by the fire.

The occasional wayward or intrepid traveler who happened upon Big Sur and the Deetjens, were welcomed with hospitality and a spare room to sleep in. Word floated down south and Deetjens became a hot spot for Old Hollywood. Producers sought the secluded spot for trysts, writers for inspiration and glamorous movie stars for its privacy. People could come for weeks to hike, write or sleep undisturbed. Big Sur was a land up for anything as long as no one was being hurt and the doer didn't mind everyone knowing his goings-ons.

With its fresh air, cinnamon-colored redwoods and stunning ocean views, Big Sur also attracted artists and writers such as Henry Miller, who came for a visit and stayed for 18 years, Jack Kerouac, who wrote his novel "Big Sur" and photographers such as Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. Kim Novak and Hollywood couple Orsen Welles and Rita Hayworth also made homes for themselves in the quiet, bohemian enclaves of the Big Sur community.

Over the years, Helmuth Deetjen added rooms built in the style of his native Norway, and gave each of them a unique personality and name to match. With the help of prison labor from the nearby highway project, "Grandpa" Deetjen (as he came to be known) supervised the building of all of the rooms, continuing to use scavenged, locally milled redwood.

Helen, "Grandma" Deetjen became a local celebrity holding court and dispensing amateur group or individual therapy sessions from a special bed placed for her in the Deetjens dining room. A penchant for See's chocolates, fancy French fashion magazines and platters of crab and avocado, contributed to "Grandma's" infamous girth and left her with limited mobility. Locals came to her dining-room bedside for juicy gossip, true as well as concocted.

"Grandpa" Deetjen, spent his time enjoying classical music, building furniture in his workshop with friend Stokes Evans, and more often than not enjoying the intellectual fruits of solitude. If "Grandma's" vice was food, "Grandpa's" were quantities of cheap red wine and a beautiful woman. Legend has it that Garbo made a few visits to "Grandpa's" workshop. 

The Inn has always enjoyed a colorful staff, adding to the Deetjens creative, mysterious and peaceful spirit. Almost 50 years later, fashion designer John Sabateur still visits Deetjens to share his tales from his time as a waiter at Deetjens in the 1950's. He tells of his sprightly spirit and nightly uniform of shimmering-red, Mandarin jacket, worn cuffed Levis and zodiac sign hung prominently around his neck. He recalls fellow staffer Sean Mallory, the dark, handsome and reputedly crooked chef of those years. Mallory may have had a prison record, but he also had a heart of gold and a personality to charm a fish out of water.

On one occasion, a staff member told "Grandma" in hushed tones, that the silver, which had been stored in an onsite shed, was missing and that he was sure Mallory was the culprit. Colorful images from Mallory's alleged past crept into "Grandma's" head and got the best of her. She fired him on the spot. A sensitive lad at heart, Mallory was deeply hurt and set out to prove his innocence. An investigation headed by the Deetjens staff set out to solve the mystery, but it was "Grandpa" who cracked the case. 

The silver had been stored in boxes and twigs and rocks had been carefully left in its place. "Grandpa" recalled that this was the habit of pack rats. Pack rats love all that glitters and gracious thieves that they are, always leave some sort of compensation behind for their victims. Further sleuthing found the silver, every last salad fork, meticulously lined up in a pack rat nest in the walls. Mallory's name was cleared, and his position was restored.

"Grandma" passed away in 1962 and "Grandpa" a decade later. The Inn exists today because Deetjen, when he died in 1972, left the Inn to be forever enjoyed by transient guests wanting to experience the peace, friendship, and beauty that can be found at Deetjens. The Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places by the US Department of the Interior, and is operated on a non-profit basis by the Deetjens Big Sur Inn Preservation Foundation.