I actually thanked the owner and she said "no....thank you". From the moment i stepped foot on the property, and the owner showed us around, it was spellbinding. My husband and I were celebrating our anniversary and this home was perfect,. Gorgeous, secluded, with an herb and orchard garden, deers, birds, eagles... And a wonderful patio setting to take it all in. We planned to leave the property and hike (which we love to do) and there is a trail head at the bottom of the driveway, but we enjoyed the setting and house so much we just opened bottles of wine and drank in the beauty of the place. There is a great record collection with a turntable that had us pulling out old albums and remembering when we last heard them - as well as played one a turntable. That was fun. We are definitely coming back!! Like any Big Sur property , as the area is remote, bring provisions - we love to cook and hike so we brought food/wine and gear for both. This home is a great launching pad for hiking, the beach, etc...and has all the ammenties. So enjoy it. We planned to trek but were so happy at the home we just stayed there but next time, we may just venture down to that trailhead... :) read more

Celebrating a big birthday and what to give someone that really wants nothing, but absolutely adores ocean views? A vacation at the Big Sur Stone House! What a WONDERFUL time we had. Ana met us at the house, provided us with a nice bottle of wine and gave us a thorough tour and told us to make sure we, "made ourselves at home". Mark's extensive album collection (that would be LP's to us old folks!) was absolutely amazing. That's what my partner keyed in on and for the next 3 days played so many albums and was just in 7th heaven!! Then there are the views!! Seating everywhere, ocean views from everywhere on the property and sitting in a chair with a fine glass of Cabernet, watching the sun set over the glistening waters of the Pacific Ocean, listing to vintage Beatles...well, there just isn't anything better! I also arranged for massages to be given out on one of the landings on the property, and listening to the waves crash against the rocks, the birds tweeting about how much THEY loved the area and just relaxing, as the world passed us by! Ahhhhhh. And if that weren't enough, each morning and evening, we ran ourselves a steamy bath in the OUTDOOR soaking tub and sat there (again) watching the ocean and (in the evening only mind you), nursing that lovely glass of Cabernet as the sun set beneath the ridge line. Again, did I mention, ahhhhhhhh. Thank you Ana and Mark for such a lovely time and money well spent at your home away from home.....the Big Sur Stone House. We will see you again! read more

I really can't say enough about how awesome this place is. The vistas are jaw dropping gorgeous, you can see the ocean from every room in the house. The house is well appointed and very comfortable. The grounds are also truly stunning. The best part is you really feel like you are in your own private kingdom as it is a large piece of land with no immediate neighbors. It was perfect for me, my wife, and our two small children. It really is a perfect slice of paradise. read more

My husband and I adore Big Sur so naturally when we came across the Big Sur Stone House on Airbnb, we were so excited and immediately booked. We were planning to visit with our baby and were very much looking forward to our first ever trip as a family of 3. One week prior to our trip, Ana flat out cancelled the reservation. It was unexpected and disappointing as we had all our arrangements planned out. Airbnb shared that they expected more communication from a host, and as such tried to accommodate by providing a credit to put forth on an alternative booking, however, given the short time frame before our time off work, and the fact that it was holiday week, there was no alternative to be found... read more

Amazing Views, Lovely House... Creepy Surveillance & High Unexpected Fee's. If you are looking to write, read or relax, this is the perfect place for you....as long as you don't mind that there's several surveillance camera's around the property, easily seen over the front doors and elsewhere. I have no reason to believe that we were filmed inside. If you have a guest over for dinner or light a candle on a cupcake, I would worry that this would be entitled an "event" and you may get charged a fee. Here's our story; maybe it will help you decide if this is the right place for you. We rented the Big Sur Stone House for three days in August 2012, for four of us. The rental fee per night was significantly higher than their posted rate because there were four people instead of two, and it included the cleaning fee. We planned to have a private wedding ceremony at the beach on a Monday, with our dear friend and her partner officiating and witnessing our simple ceremony, but knew we'd have to figure that out after we got there as we weren't familiar with the area. We let one of the owners know that we were planning on getting married, but came to find out, she didn't understand we would actually exchange our vows in Big Sur. When an out of town relative reached out to her, asking for an address to send congratulatory flowers, we received a stern email that stated if any of our guests showed up on the property for our wedding 'event,' even to use the telephone, we would be charged an additional day use fee per person. (Because of legalities, I won't tell you the amount of the fee, but it rhymes with "Haiti"). When we arrived the owner was there to greet us and she was nice and gave us a lovely bottle of wine and had small flowers arrangements throughout the rooms as a welcome and congratulatory gift. Once we settled in, we observed that there were several little cameras around the house and knew that much of what we did was most likely being captured on video. There was no written or verbal notice prior or during our stay that we were being recorded, only our visual observation that there were cameras installed. We also realized that there was no way easy or quick way to walk to the beach (no shoulder on the busy road) and even if we drove there, there was a steep hike down to the beach. Logistically, it made sense to have our ceremony on the patio facing the ocean. Besides us four (paying) guests, we were fortunate to have a couple that live part-time in Big Sur join us for the ceremony and a post ceremony toast. We understood that we'd have to pay "the per guest day use fee"(even though they were there less than two hours and didn't even enter the actual house). Our ceremony was perfect, exactly what we wanted. Six people, 15 minutes and a memorably heartwarming toast with wine and cheese. Our local friends departed and we had a lovely dinner with the four of us. About a week after we had ended our stay, we received an email from the owners thanking us for the "truly excellent work you did on cleaning the house before you left; everything was spotless which is above the call of duty, and quite wonderful" and then stating that they had reviewed the video and that, since we had an "event" at their property, we would be charged an event fee. (Again, because of legalities, I won't say the amount, but it's the same amount as the title of the movie where Gerard Butler yells "We Are Sparta!") This would be on top of the "day use fee" for the two guest and that we would receive the remaining balance of our deposit by mail. We asked them to reconsider charging us for what we considered excessive fees, an additional 60% of another, very expensive, nights stay, but they flatly refused and stated that, in their opinion, we had perpetrated fraud (even though we didn't try and cover the cameras or put a stop payment on our security deposit check) and we should be happy that we got out of it with only paying such a small fee. We're pretty simple folks and renting this home was a splurge for us. Small fee. Really? Well, I guess if you compare it to the thousands of dollars that we had already paid for the rental fee, then maybe it could be considered small. Our wedding ceremony was beautiful and nothing can mar that. While we will absolutely return to Big Sur to celebrate anniversaries, we will never return to or recommend the Big Sur Stone House, which is really a shame, as we probably would have if things had turned out differently. So, that's it, I will let you decide, as a potential renter, if this is the right property for you. Good luck. PS...For view and location, it would have received 5 stars. UPDATE: It's so funny, I finally got my review up on Home Away...the owner (Ana T.) tries to make it sound like they only observe things from the security gate camera (you can't see it from the house & it points to the street) but there are more than one on the house itself. Fyi, Steve & I wrote the review together. read more

While the Big Sur Stone House offers spectacular views of the coastline, interaction with the owners post visit has been truly disappointing. In August 2012 I officiated a private exchange of vows at the Stone House. Here are the opportunities: Update rental website to accurately reflect all fee policies. If a 15-minute exchange of vows attended by paying guests is considered "an event" or inviting guests for cocktails incurs a "guest fee", so be it. At the time of rental, there was NO posted guest or event policy or associated fees. Charging an additional 60% on top of a night's stay, post homeowner review of surveillance cameras was disturbing. Be open to constructive feedback. Everyone I've shared my experience with is shocked by the homeowners subsequent communications. Referring to a guest as "con man", alluding that a wedding was not "special and honorable" is offensive. There was an obvious difference of opinion regarding the parameter of our stay. Again, so be it. Denigrating guests flies in the face of everything that is high-quality customer service. Speaking of service, that's the business I've been in for 25+ years; I've coached thousands of employees on the topic. Key to delivering excellent customer service is the understanding that a poor experience is exponentially worse than a good one. It may take 10 acts of good service to counter the effects of a bad experience. My experience at the Big Sur Stone House will serve as an example of what not to do when striving for excellence. I'm looking forward to returning to Big Sur in 2013 - I've already secured a rental home for 4 guests, and you can be sure, it's the not the Stone House. read more

We just left a wonderful weekend there for my cousins wedding. We arrived to be greeted by the owner Ana who is so kind and amazing to deal with. The home and views are absolutely breathtaking. This is an ideal place for a perfect destination wedding. Thank you Ana for a memorable stay. read more

My fiancé and I just got home from an amazing weekend at the stone house to celebrate our engagement. From the moment we arrived, the hospitality (hand-written note, fresh flowers in several rooms, complimentary wine, etc etc) was unparalleled. We have never rented a home that felt more comfortable. The views from this property are AMAZING!!! The property will not disappoint. The house itself is completely off the grid, but you wouldn't know it. All utilities worked great. There are multiple hiking trails very close to the property that offer spectacular views and a good workout for those looking for a little more adventure. Ana is truly a sweetheart. She even came equipped with her iPad full of research for our honeymoon on Sunday when it was time to check out and even offered us a couple books from her library to study for our trip, which although we didn't accept her gracious offer - the fact that she was so sweet meant the world. I highly recommend this property. Ana and the home are absolutely wonderful and its hard to imagine a better overall experience. read more

Amazing house in an incredibly special location Couldn't imagine a better place to spend a weekend...everything was exactly as it was listed. Ana was incredibly sweet and the house was magical. Definitely recommended to anyone who wants to have a quiet beautiful weekend in Big Sur! read more

My husband and I got married at the Stone House last weekend and couldn't be happier. Just from the ad, my husband could tell that this was where we wanted to get married. After visiting the property in January, we were sure. We arrived at the Stone House last Friday. Ana greeted us with hugs and showed us everything we would need to know about the house. She had even set up a surprise for us with wine, chocolate, and flowers. We had about 10 people come over that night and begin setting up for the wedding. We rented 5 tables with umbrellas for the patio and wooden chairs for the ceremony and had them delivered to the property. That night we had a beautiful evening talking with the other couple that was staying with us, drinking wine, and sitting in the greenhouse hot tub. The next morning, after asking our permission, Ana came back and helped us set up for the wedding. She hung stars from the table umbrellas, helped hang signs, and cleaned some of the coffee mugs people were using. Ana also let us use the tools in her shed. This gave us access to things such as extra extension cords and screw drivers. Then she used the flowers that I picked out to arrange a beautiful bouquet for me and created vases of flowers to put around the wedding! Her excitement, flower arranging skills, and knowledge of the property really helped set up go more smoothly. At the wedding, we had about 60 guests and it seemed like we only used about half of the space we had available for us. Everyone commented about how incredibly beautiful and unique the wedding location was. We took countless pictures with the amazing ocean, stone, and garden backgrounds. There was enough parking for everyone to park on the property, only about 100 feet from the wedding. The kitchen allowed us to bring all of the wedding food and store it, refrigerate it, and heat it. After the wedding there was more hot tubbing. The couple staying with us said they had a wonderful time sitting in the outdoor bath and listening to the waves crash on the cliffs below. Ana came back on Sunday and hugged us goodbye. She sent us an email today saying that we did a good job of taking care of the property and cleaning up so we will get our full deposit back. It was the best wedding I could have imagined. I would definitely encourage anyone looking for a Big Sur wedding to visit this property. read more

In July of 2012, my husband and I had the pleasure of staying at the Stone House in the Big Sur area. As you can see from the photos, the house is beautiful and I don't have words to describe the beauty of the view. To say it was a pleasure staying there is really inadequate. We were privileged that the owners opened their home to strangers and allowed us, if only for a few days, to experience a way of life that few of us will ever know. This house was the perfect getaway. Unlike some Big Sur properties where access requires an SUV and nerves of steel, the Stone House was easily accessible, yet at the same time, completely private and quiet. The easy access allowed us to come and go freely, further exploring the surrounding area and more completely experiencing the awe of Big Sur. But the coziness of the house, with it's well-stocked library of books and music, and the grandeur of our personal view of the sea, tempted us to not leave the property at all. Listening to Van Morrison's Astral Weeks on vinyl on our first night there was just magical. In the warmth of the surroundings and the music I felt relaxed for the first time since our vacation began. Although Ana and Mark were extremely considerate of our privacy and essentially invisible to us, we were lucky enough to get to know them both a little while there. Ana greeted us upon our arrival and in her gracious way introduced us to the space. When Mark offered us a bottle of wine on the night before our departure we were able to convince him to share it with us. I won't soon forget that beautiful evening, looking out over the sea while sharing a nice bottle of wine with good company. I'm glad to have met both of them. I want to briefly respond to one reviewer who claimed that he saw cameras on the property. I was very observant of all details during my visit there and here is what I saw. At the gate to the property, which is down a long drive from the house, I noticed a camera. Given the relative seclusion of all properties in the Big Sur area, this seemed both prudent and practical to me. Outside, over the entry doors to the house, what I saw were motion detector lights which I thought were well-considered and conveniently placed. I say that because this home has been built in an "L" shape with two different wings. If you want to go from one wing to the other, you must step outside and enter the other wing from a nearby outside door. It made perfect sense to me that the doorways were automatically illuminated when I moved from one space to the other. In fact I was wishing I had similar lights at my own home. I do not believe there were cameras in those outside lights, but if there were, I would view that as simply a responsible security measure. At no time did I ever feel like our privacy was compromised. I wouldn't hesitate to visit the Stone House again. In conclusion, this setting and it's perfectly matched home reminded me of how I felt when visiting the Grand Canyon. If you let it, it will change you. Even though it has been nearly 3 months since our trip, I can still close my eyes and recall the feeling of being there. For me, it really put a lot of things into perspective. read more