History

Over a period of 3,000 years, the northern California Coast was frequented by the Pomo, native Americans, and then explored and settled by European Americans in the 1800s.William H. Kent, the first permanent American settler in the area, joined the California “gold rush” in 1850. In 1853 he worked at the Little River sawmill and later bought land in the area now partially encompassed by Van Damme State Park.

Tales about California’s huge redwood trees had reached William Kent while he was working in the lumber industry in Maine. He packed up his sawmill on a ship and sailed around South America to log the giant redwoods. However, he soon realized there was more money in feeding the folks involved in the expanding lumber industry than in logging the trees himself so he started a dairy and cattle ranch on 1,000 acres a mile south of the town of Mendocino.

In 1941 Harry and Ilona Ueberroth, a pair of movie stars from Hollywood, purchased the ranch. It changed hands again before it was sold to the Spring family, who gave the land its current name. They revived the agricultural legacy of the land, growing sugar beets while also raising sheep, pigs, and cattle.

In 1996 a portion of Spring Ranch Mendocino became part of Van Damme State Park. The resulting Spring Ranch Mendocino Coastal preserve—350 acres of oceanfront meadow and forest—features a collection of rustic barns that date back as far as 1864 and whose evocative settings can often be seen in the paintings of local and visiting artists.

Today Spring Ranch Mendocino consists of 10 private acres owned by businessman and antique aficionado Derek Webb. Derek has traveled the globe to seek out vintage treasures to bring the glory of past days to life at this one-of-a-kind property on the Mendocino coast.