Timber Cove Resort

Character and identity

Timber Cove sits high on a 25-acre bluff above the Pacific on the Sonoma Coast, about 15 miles north of Jenner off Highway 1. Originally conceived as a meditation lodge by architect Richard Clements Jr. in a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired idiom, the property was reworked in 2016 to layer modern resort comforts onto the original timber-and-stone bones. The 46 rooms lean "hippie chic," with wood-panelled ceilings, vinyl record players, fireplaces and ocean views from nearly every key. Coast Kitchen handles all meals with seasonal Sonoma cooking, and Beniamino Bufano's 93-foot Peace Statue presides over the cliffs. Service runs warm and low-key.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you are buying here is location and disconnection: a quiet bluff, big ocean views, and a single good restaurant, wrapped in a piece of genuine 1960s coastal architecture. Spring for a junior suite or one of the eight larger suites for the soaking tub and fireplace, and come prepared to be offline. Shoulder seasons bring the coast at its moodiest and best.