Building a Restaurant Where There Was No Road

Shadowbrook Stories – Part Three

A vision is inspiring.

Building it is something else entirely.

By the time Brad Macdonald and Ed Philippet purchased the abandoned hillside property in 1944, they knew they had found the perfect location. They also knew they had chosen one of the most difficult places imaginable to build a restaurant. The beauty that had captured their imagination—the steep hillside, towering redwoods, and secluded setting above Soquel Creek—would challenge nearly every step of the project.

The first obstacle was simply getting materials to the site. There was no practical road leading to the old house, so everything needed for the restoration had to be brought down the hillside by hand or with tremendous effort. Lumber, plumbing, kitchen equipment, furniture, windows, and countless other supplies all made the same difficult journey before they could become part of the restaurant.

Construction became an exercise in patience as much as craftsmanship. Rather than tearing down the aging summer home, Brad and Ed chose to preserve as much of its character as possible. The original log cabin remained at the heart of the design, while additions were carefully blended into the existing structure. Every improvement respected the setting instead of competing with it, allowing the restaurant to feel as though it belonged on the hillside rather than had simply been built there.

The work stretched across nearly three years. Progress came one project at a time, often more slowly than the founders would have preferred. Yet each completed wall, restored room, and finished pathway brought them closer to the restaurant they had imagined when they first stood on the neglected property.

Finally, in the autumn of 1947, Shadowbrook was ready to open its doors.

Guests arriving for those first dinners probably couldn’t appreciate everything that had gone into creating the experience around them. They saw a welcoming lodge nestled among the redwoods, not the thousands of hours of labor required to make it possible. They admired the peaceful setting without realizing how many obstacles had been overcome to preserve it.

Looking back today, that’s what makes Shadowbrook’s beginning so remarkable. Brad Macdonald and Ed Philippet never tried to conquer the hillside. They worked with it, allowing the landscape to shape the restaurant’s character from the very beginning. Nearly eighty years later, guests are still enjoying the results of that decision.

The restaurant was finally ready to welcome its first guests.

Its timing couldn’t have been better.

Next in Shadowbrook Stories: A New Beginning for America—and for Shadowbrook. After years of war and uncertainty, America was about to change, and Shadowbrook was ready to begin its own remarkable journey.