The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe is far more than a premier destination. It's a convergence of dreams. A dream climate transported directly from Camelot. A dream community of genteel rural life in clear contrast to the buzz of urban living. An architectural dream in which Nature and classic Spanish buildings live in harmony. A dream hacienda and grounds that welcome guests to the romance of an inimitable place in time.

The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe traces its roots to Rancho San Dieguto, an 8,824-acre land grant deeded by Spain in 1840 to Juan Maria Osuna, first mayor of Pueblo de San Diego. The Osuna's family earliest adobe, now restored, overlooks the scenic San Dieguito River Valley.

In 1906, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad purchased the land to cultivate eucalyptus trees to convert into railway ties. When the wood proved too soft, the railroad formed the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company to develop the property.

To give the dream shape, the Land Company retained the San Diego architectural firm of Requa and Jackson in 1922. In the hands of a gifted young architect named Lilian Rice, they got more than they ever imagined.

The first building, a guesthouse in the Spanish Revival Style was called La Morada, "the house of many rooms." Originally intended to provide accommodations to prospective property owners and later to become a clubhouse, La Morada was transferred to private ownership in 1940 and the named changed to The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.

From 1922 until her death in 1938, Lilian Rice continued to transform The Village, homes and The Inn into marvels of architecture and livability. She believed that the nation's communities are important entries in the book of our history and our art. Small wonder many of her designs have found their way onto the National Register of Historic Buildings.

If you are comfortable, inspired or renewed here, it's for a reason. As Lilian said, "I have found real joy at Rancho Santa Fe. Every environment here calls for simplicity and beauty: the gorgeous natural landscapes, the gently broken topography, the nearby mountains. No one with a sense of fitness, it seems to me, could violate these natural factors by creating anything that lacked simplicity in line and form and color.