Visiting Camps & Cottages

A few weeks ago we celebrated our anniversary by taking a trip over to the coast to our favorite destination, Carmel, California. We took the dogs to the beach and then decided to drive

into Carmel Valley. As we were driving down the Carmel Valley highway, I spied a sign that said, "Camps & Cottages" with an arrow pointing down a side street.

Could it be The Camps & Cottages?

My dear husband, being the patient person that he is, made a sharp 45 degree turn and whipped the car down that road!! And to my amazement, what did we see? Well, you guessed it, Molly Hyde English's adorable shop, Camps & Cottages. And who was there? You bet, Molly herself! This was just the icing on the cake! We visited as I shopped and Molly was gracious to allow me to snap some photos of her wonderful and inspirational store.

If you recall, I posted about her books here and here, so when I actually set foot into her shop, it was like walking in the pages of her beautiful books.

I only had an hour to mill around the three buildings - each one decorated beautifully with gorgeous antiques, pillows, indian art, furniture....well, you will see...

...just take a stroll with me.
Camps and Cottages is located at:
24000 Robinson Canyon Road
Carmel, California 93923
phone number: 831.622.0198

Off a small and winding coastal mountain road,
...you will find the old redwood sided buildings that are tucked back under gigantic old shade trees. Being there in person just felt good - like being in a secret little hideaway and surrounded by all things beautiful. Flower beds were filled with white and yellow daisies - just as cheerful as can be!
A retired - and very shabby - vintage truck greets you as you enter the yard.

A peet gravel path leads you either down to the barn

or to the front door. Lets go to the front door, shall we?

Beautiful warm colors are everywhere - on the walls and in the decor - including these old hand dyed indigo pillows. The fabric came from old kimonos.

Molly's shop features antique indian textiles, art and artifacts

as well as old oil paintings of cabins, birds and flowers.

You will find a lot of vintage souvenir pieces from National Parks and from California.

I would love to start a collection of these vintage Indian souvenir cups! Aren't they cool?

Every cabin should have at least one bear and deer!

Lots of fun pillows made from old grain sacks and French linens.

Molly gave me one of these cool chip-board "Camplogue"

tablets and a pencil.....thank you, Molly!

Now I did not go away without purchasing a few things...like a 1935 trophy that is in one of the photos.

Meeting Molly was the perfect touch to a wonderful weekend. Like any of us, we don't particularly care to have our photo taken, but you can see the corner of her arm in the first photo...snicker. If you EVER have a chance to go there, do so. Molly is so kind and so much fun and you may even find a vintage cottage or cabin piece to take home, too. :)

You can visit Molly's website at http://www.camps-cottages.com/