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The Land These oak woodlands, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, and forests of redwood and Monterey pine rise from 100 to 3,000 feet. They hold 54 distinct habitats virtually hidden from outside view by the surrounding ridges of the Santa Lucia Range, which plunges into the sea at Big Sur. From the 1770s, when Carmel Mission cattle grazed here, until the final decade of the 20th century, these 31 square miles were always family-owned and escaped development despite their proximity to Carmel and Pebble Beach and a sunnier, warmer climate. 1,500 years ago that temperate weather, along with sheltering mountains that hold back wind and fog, abundant water and wildlife, drew native Californians to establish the village of Echilat that thrived on The Preserve until the early 1800s. |
 "The first impression was astonishment that 20,000 acres had somehow fallen through time without being changed very much other than as a cattle ranch."
Tom Gray, Developer & Resident
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