Resort profile: The Lodge at Torrey Pines

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The Lodge at Torrey Pines offers the epitome of California's Craftsman-style architecture

Courtesy of Torrey Pines

The Lodge at Torrey Pines, located north of San Diego, offers the epitome of California's Craftsman-style architecture

Jan. 25, 2010
By LINKS Magazine

For those who think Southern California's main contributions to architecture are drive-thrus and strip malls, the Lodge at Torrey Pines stands in elegant counterpoint.

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The Lodge is an updated example of the Arts and Crafts, or Craftsman, style of architecture of the early 1900s. This movement thrived in Southern California, where architects Charles and Henry Greene designed what many consider the world's grandest Craftsman-style structures.

Like the architecture itself, the atmosphere at the Lodge is typically Californian: laid back, without any of the stuffiness that sometimes permeates luxury resorts of a similar quality back East.

You'll feel relaxed and welcome from the moment you pull up to the Lodge's entrance, with its low-slung timber entry porch and bulging, ivy-covered brick walls. The pleasant scent of a wood fireplace greets you as you open your car door, thanks to dulcet ocean breezes that blow through the lobby. White oak floors, wood paneling of Brazilian cherry and simple furniture groupings in the high-ceilinged public areas add further comfort.

Located adjacent to the Torrey Pines complex, the Lodge is the perfect base from which to enjoy a round on the difficult 2008 U.S. Open-hosts South course or the shorter yet no less enjoyable North course. (The Farmers Insurance Open, which takes place this week, is played on both layouts.)

As hospitable as the Lodge is upon arrival, it will be even more welcoming after a round on the 7,628-yard South course, after which you'll feel as if you had gone 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao.

Head straight to the spa for a massage, followed by dinner at the Lodge's signature restaurant, A.R. Valentien, where Executive Chef Jeff Jackson's team is on the leading edge of California cuisine, with an ever-changing selection of seasonal dishes. The highlights of this winner's menu include California lamb chops and Alaskan sablefish.

But you won't be able to stay inside for long. Try another round. Or visit the nearby Lodge is the Torrey Pines State Reserve, which is perfect for walks along the trails overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Like the Lodge, the clifftop setting of the Reserve is distinctively Californian.