
For Michele’s birthday, we decided to go to Southern California to get away from the cold here. Not that’s it was that cold, but it was overcast and dreary which makes eating outside in a restaurant less fun and Michele wanted a good restaurant dinner for her birthday. I’ve been wanting to drive Highway 33 where it wanders through the empty space between the Coast Range and the Thatchapies south of the Carizzo Plain which led to Michele finding the Buckhorn in New Cuyama.
We drove through the Salinas Valley, cut over to Highway 33 just before we hit Paso, and followed 33, past the Midway-Sunset Oil Field, to New Cuyama and the Buckhorn. I was going to say that In the 1950s, America was a different country...and then write about how the Buckhorn was a result of the 50s Roadhouse culture that was brought on by the post-war car boom and the start of the Interstate Highway system, but, it turns out, that was not the case.



In the early 50s, New Cuyama was an oil town, essentially owned by Atlantic Richfield, and the Buckhorn was built to attract new residents to the “The Hidden Valley of Enchantment”. It was the center of the community. The Cuyama Buckhorn is what is now called mid-century modern and was designed in 1952 by George Vernon Russell, an architect I had not previously heard of but was fairly well known having designed the original Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas and the Library at UC Riverside.
As an aside, In the 1950s, America was a different country front, George Russell designed the Joyce Shoe Company Factory in Los Angeles, Avery Adhesive Label Building in Monrovia, and the JC Penney factory in Van Nuys, three buildings that probably, today, would be virtually undesigned tilt-ups. End aside.
1952 was 70 years ago and during that time, New Cuyama and the Cuyama Buckhorn slowly went downhill, the Buckhorn changing owners several times. Finally, in 2018, a couple of Los Angeles architects – Jeff Vance and Ferial Sadeghian, the founders and principal architects of iDGroup, a design-build company specializing in high-end properties in the LA basin – bought and revitalized the dilapidated remains. The pool had been shut down and then filled years ago so the new owners built a new pool along with a bocce ball court. Inside, the bar, which had been shuttered years ago was busy when we arrived and everything, from the rooms to the coffee shop, has been updated.


When we travel, almost every place we stay is designed not to offend which is another way of saying they all have beige personalities. They are clean, comfortable enough, and very forgettable. The Cuyama Buckhorn is different, it just oozes personality, the sheets and towels are luxurious, and we’ve been talking about it since we left. The bar, where Michele had a Mezcal Old Fashion and I had a Rye Whisky Sour, both to go, was terrific. The food was also terrific, organic, most of it is locally sourced, and it was delivered to our room; we split the Buckhorn Smoked Platter with red oak-smoked Santa Maria tri-tip and dry-rubbed pulled pork, a plate that I would definitely have again.
All this good news, however, was overruled by the weather. The Cuyama Valley is at 2100+ feet and that elevation was enough to make it considerably colder than the Bay Area. It was too cold to eat outside, the way I was dressed, it was too cold to even walk around outside once the sun went down. But these are the Covid Omicrown times so we ended up eating in the room. The room, for all its style, had no place to really sit down to eat. It also had a shitty heater and the only truly comfortable place was in the luxurious bed, under the covers.
The next day we wandered around the area looking for Condors – we think we spotted three, riding the thermals very high above us – talked about how we would like to come back when it is warmer, and then drove down a very nice Highway 33, through the southern tail of the Coast Range to an anonymous hotel near the Getty Villa.



Nice pictures Steve. Fun to share your journey the easy way.
I love Highway 33. From Tracy down to Ventura Beach, from aggriculture to cattle to oil, and on to the beach. And a mountain range in between. It must be one of the most diverse highways in the West. Good fun. Happy Birthday, Michele!