about
the lodge
The Rocktop Lodge has a storied history dating back almost 100 years.
The Rocktop Lodge was originally part of a large estate containing five separate structures that spanned both sides of Westside Road. The estate was owned by Henry Hess, who ran a local lumber company with lumber yards in Sebastopol, Guerneville, and San Rafael. Henry made a fortune as a lumberjack felling redwoods from the Russian River area to help rebuild earthquake-ravaged San Francisco.
What has become the Rocktop Lodge was originally built as Mr. Hess’s River Lodge for the estate. Unfortunately, the stately main house across Westside Road from the Rocktop burned down in the 1980s, leaving four remaining structures of the original estate, Rocktop being the most grandiose of them all.
After Henry Hess passed away, the property was bought by the Willis family. The Willits installed the pool in the 1950’s. You can find a "W" embedded on the pool deck if you look closely.
The property changed hands a few times after the Willits ownership until it was purchased by its current owner in 2017 and transformed into what we all know and love today, The Rocktop Lodge.
Photo of Henry "Jake" Hess, owner of the Henry Hess Lumber Company in Sebastopol, about 1940.
Workers removing train tracks and converting the Hacienda bridge into a new road. Henry Hess's "river house" (what is now Rocktop Lodge) is in the background. Circa 1937
Henry Hess and men pose for a portrait at the Bohemian Grove in 1937
Train crossing the Hacienda Bridge over the Russian River in Forestville, CA