History of the Property

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The property that Fern River Resort occupies was originally 3 parcels with the highway running through them and down into and through Gold Gulch Creek. The original few cabins were built for gold miners coming to search for prosperity. Around the 1850s, a large boulder was found in Gold Gulch that was reported to have contained $30,000 to $50,000 worth of gold, according to the various stories and was considered one of the largest gold finds in the state of California. The gold rush only lasted a few years as not many substantial finds were found afterwards.

On April 18, 1906, San Francisco had one of the worst natural disasters in American history. With an estimated 8.3 magnitude earthquake and fires that raged parts of city. Most buildings had been made of wood. Fires accounted for the majority of the resulting damage, leaving approximately 4.7 square miles (the equivalent of 508 city blocks) of San Francisco scorched in their wake. Redwoods trees were harvested from all over the coastal forests surrounding San Francisco and you can see evidence of their harvest at Fern River. Look for the large cut mother stumps with smaller redwood circles growing around. Fern Rivers property originally only hosted a few small studio cabins that were thought to originally host those looking for gold, logging, or working for Isaac Graham to build the local distillery , sawmill and train tracks to hail the wood harvested further north.  Graham has a " rough and tumble" history with plenty of rich stories. It is believed potentially the original cabins were used as a brothel for those earlier gold and lumber seekers. 

There is also a story about Reed from the Reed-Donner party. Reed was banished from the famous Donner party over an argument resulting in a death about how the Oxen were being treated. Reed was banished before the Donner party was lost.  With zero supplies he managed to navigate down to the foothills, secure supplies and ride back up to gather his wife and children. They came down into San Jose and lived in both San Jose and The San Lorenzo Valley while he worked for Graham taking care of his cattle, logging and searching for gold. It is believed he  was the one who found the famous " Gold Nugget" of Gold Gulch. Only it wasn't actually gold, it was mostly silver and therefore at the time relatively worthless. Graham believed it not worth it to try to smelt it to separate it. Instead he hauled it all over with the trains to various city and has tourists pay to see it.  Labeling it " The largest piece of gold ever found"

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History of the Business

 

Fern River Resort was originally established under the name Griffin's Resort by the Griffin family in 1929. Known as Griffin's resort the property had several vacation cabins for rent. Nearly nothing is known about the Griffin's Family. 

 

The property was setup entirely differently then future days. Below is a very old brochure of the property before the Martins took ownership.

 

In 1971 the Martin family purchased the property and has been running it ever since. Fern River Resort is a multi-generational business.

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1st generation

 Eugene and Beverly Martin bought the resort to work together and raise their family onsite. They felt that Eugene's career as a high level aero and defense engineer and Beverly's desires to return to college amongst being busy raising her young family's would pull them apart. It was important to both of them to keep their family strong so they made a huge choice to move from LA to the Santa Cruz Mountain to develop a company and property together. Eugene built and added to many of the cabins you see today. Beverly and Eugene worked as a team. At first with no staff as they pinched pennies to make it work as they remodeled the few cabins onsite to be rentable. Both worked a second or even third job to make their American dream come true. Beverly for years kept horses in the area that is now used for weddings and special events. Eugene and Beverly created a camp like family fun atmosphere with games like horseshoes and weekly sing along campfires while they hosted the resort. Most of the cabins have been built by the Martin family. Eugene is a master gardener . His wife and him cultivated many of the older larger plants like the Camellias, Rhododendrons, Plum + Apple trees, Ferns and Snowbells.  At this point we can not even keep track of the sheer diversity of plant life we have ! Eugene and Beverly are now in their late 80's are are dancing up a storm. They are as deeply in love as ever and still visit the resort frequently to share their ample wisdom.

 

2nd Generation

Daniel Martin took over the resort in 2001. He remodeled many of the buildings putting in more modern flooring, adding upgraded lighting, electrical and needed infrastructure to the property.  He used his engineers mind to teach himself everything about electrical, plumbing, and wood work and was the heart behind Fern River maturing into its own. Daniel took the resort from no online presence to hosting a domain and growing his client base rapidly. 

He created and added more modern touches and eventually built-up the grounds as a gift for one of his daughters' wedding.  Allowing her to host her wedding at the resort. He gifted her with a beautiful redwood gazebo milled from our own trees. Eugene built the very top of  the gable of the gazebo. Daniel owned a Lucas mill and harvested several of the redwood trees on site that needed to be harvested for the clusters health. With those trees he used his mill to build many of the decks, the gazebo and most of the Adirondack chairs onsite at Fern River. It is very special to have our trees provide for us and stay on our property. We love them even the more for their contribution. 

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3rd Generation 

 Nicole came to facilitate Daniels' retirement and create and manage weddings & special events at Fern River. She built the wedding sector of the company with the centerpiece beautiful gazebo Daniel built. From the ground up she created all aspects of our Weddings' at Fern River.  Nicole Chose to purchase the property in 2018. In 2020 her health started to fail her and she was able to put Fern River temporarily in the hands of her dedicated staff while she traveled the nation seeking true wellness.  Upon her mission to heal, she encountered spiritual energies and situations she could not deny and made it a laser focus of developing her understanding of the intersection between science and spirituality.

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Nicole is now creating a new division of Fern River to host spirituality , wellness understanding, metaphysic discovery focused  events and retreats. If you are interested in working with her check out her bio for a bit more information and a link to get in contact with her.

She is creating world wide .

 

Her current projects are WhalesWithoutCages.com , ConsciousBeings.world and her landing site for all her projects Cherish-Nicole.com

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