Post Ranch Inn

Post Ranch Inn opened in 1992 on a ridge 1,200 feet above the Pacific at Big Sur, the only hotel by the architect Mickey Muennig, who settled on the coast in 1971. It was built to tread lightly. The Tree Houses stand on nine-foot stilts to spare the roots of the redwoods, the Ocean Houses are roofed with turf, and many rooms are lined with redwood reclaimed from old wine casks; there are no televisions or alarm clocks, and every room has a wood-burning fireplace. Of its 100 acres, 90 are set aside as conservation land, habitat for the Smith's blue butterfly, the California red-legged frog and the California condor. A solar array of 945 panels, switched on in 2009, generates almost 350,000 kilowatt-hours a year, all water comes from seven wells on the property, and there are no single-use plastic bottles anywhere on site. Sierra Mar, a Wine Spectator Grand Award holder, cooks from the Chef's Garden and gives one per cent of food revenue to Zero Foodprint, and spa treatments use Big Sur jade gathered from a local beach. Since 1997 the inn has led a levy on local businesses that funds Big Sur's health centre.