Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/357002
T ake a walk along the coast on Carmel's Scenic Avenue and chances are a car will soon pull alongside and a lost tourist will lean out the window and ask, "How do I get to Clint's place?" The "place" in question is the Mission Ranch hotel and restaurant, locat- ed just around the corner from the circa-1771 Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, known locally as the Carmel Mission. Clint, as in Eastwood, likes to tell that he had his first legal drink at the cozy bar on the property when he was a soldier stationed at nearby Fort Ord in the 1950s. The incredible views of grazing Scottish black face sheep against a backdrop of meadows, the Pacific Ocean and Point Lobos were almost lost to the public, but thanks to Eastwood, are preserved, along with nearby property he bought and donated as open space. The internationally famous movie star, director and former mayor of Carmel has owned the Mission Ranch since 1986, when a developer planned to flatten the historic structures and build condos on the 22 acres. For $5 million, the property and its rundown buildings were his. But that was only the beginning. Faulty wiring, gas leaks, crumbling chim- neys, termite damaged structures, broken windows and cracked walls need- ed replacing; the addition of new tennis courts and a workout room were required. Alan Williams and Michael Waxer of Carmel Development Property headed the award-winning multi-million-dollar restoration project, which more than three years later resulted in 31 remodeled guest rooms and a spruced up restaurant and bar. At the time, it is said Eastwood told his Carmel constituents that he would be evicting the termite population, which were keeping "some buildings together by holding hands." As Eastwood relayed to Architectural Digest a few years after the pur- chase, the investment was a labor of love. "There's a big difference between MISSION RANCH HOTEL AND RESTAURANT C a r m e l , C a l i f o r n i a B Y S A B R I N A S P E I D E L D E S T I N A T I O N S C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 4 219 All photos: Scott Campbell Photography