Farmhouse GetawaysRamona, California
Mountain Retreat from the air, eight acres of oak and granite at the foot of Iron Mountain. Ramona, California · 8 acres · private

Mountain Retreat

A hot tub under a star-filled sky, eight acres of hiking trails, and pine and granite pressed against the base of Iron Mountain. Guests keep telling us it feels like Colorado, then remembering they are half an hour from San Diego.

The numbers

  • Sleeps14
  • AdultsUp to 10 comfortably
  • Bedrooms4
  • Bathrooms3
  • Acres8
  • Indoor space2,700 sq ft
  • Arcade700 sq ft
  • Hot tubAlways warm
  • Wi-FiHouse and game room
  • Hiking trailsStart at the back yard
  • Chemicals on the groundsNone
  • Bath & laundryProvided, chemical-free
  • PrivacyThe whole place is yours
  • Superhost — 9 years of exceptional stays
  • 4.9 ★ across 47 reviews
  • 35 minutes from downtown San Diego
  • San Diego Zoo Safari Park — 10 miles
  • Julian — 30 minutes up the road
  • 40+ wineries within 10 miles
  • Potato Chip Rock — 2 miles
  • Eight acres of private trails
  • 700 sq ft game room
  • Mt. Woodson Castle — 2.7 miles
  • As seen in the San Diego Union-Tribune
  • Featured in Ramona Home Journal & Hidden San Diego

Check dates and book

Secure checkoutNo booking feesInstant confirmation

The house

One floor, one big room, and a deck to spill out onto.

Two thousand square feet of house on eight acres, with everybody able to gather in one room and still spill out onto the deck. The kitchen has a copper sink and a gas range and opens straight onto the living space, so whoever is cooking is not cut off from everyone else.

Every bedroom is on the ground floor. There are two steps up at each entrance to the house, so it is level once you are inside but not entirely step-free.

Fourteen sleep here comfortably as a mix of grown-ups and children. Six of the beds are proper beds and two are fold-down couches, and the bunk room suits children far better than it suits adults — so we would say ten adults is the happy maximum, with children filling out the rest.

Sleeping

  • PrimaryKing, ensuite with walk-in shower
  • Bedroom 2Queen and a fold-down, ensuite with walk-in shower
  • Bedroom 3Two queen beds
  • Bedroom 4Double-over-double bunk and a fold-down
700 square feet

Built like a pub, plays like an arcade.

A proper counter, booth seating, a lounge, and eighties arcade art across the walls. Seven arcade machines, a 75-inch television with an Xbox, air hockey, foosball, side-by-side basketball and darts.

It runs all day for the children and stays open all evening for everyone else.

In the arcade

  • Arcade machinesSeven
  • Television and Xbox75-inch
  • Air hockey, foosball, dartsYes
  • Side-by-side basketballYes
  • Counter, booth and loungeYes
  • Floor space700 sq ft
The pub-style arcade: an air hockey table, arcade cabinets, foosball, a dartboard and screens under an open timber roof.
Seven hundred square feet of arcade
A steel welcome sign in the entry showing the property's coordinates and an elevation of 1,545 feet.
Elevation 1,545
The open living room and kitchen: a stone fireplace, two long sofas and a granite breakfast bar with six stools.
Everybody in one room
The kitchen with a gas range, a hammered copper farmhouse sink and a granite bar set for four.
Copper sink, gas range
The living room looking back toward the kitchen, with sliding doors to the deck on the right.
Doors straight out to the deck
The covered deck under a white pergola, with wicker seating, a stock-tank plunge pool and the hillside beyond.
The deck, most of the day
A long pine table with bench seating on the shaded end of the deck, under the pergola.
Dinner outside
The fire pit lit at the foot of the deck, ringed by turquoise Adirondack chairs, with the hot tub off to one side.
Where the evening ends
The land

The trails start at the back door.

You do not drive to a trailhead here. You walk off the deck, across the footbridge, and you are on it — single track through manzanita and scrub oak, granite boulders the size of cars, boardwalk where the ground gets wet in spring. A seasonal stream runs through the property and there is a small bridge waterfall when the water is up.

Iron Mountain runs off the back by way of our own trails. Potato Chip Rock, at the top of Mt. Woodson, is a mile or two away for anyone who wants the real climb before breakfast.

We are far enough from town that the stars come out in full nearly every night. Most groups end up at the fire pit or in the hot tub, staying out much later than they meant to.

The property from the air: the house and deck surrounded by oak and pine, with a dry creek bed running through the meadow below.
A wooden footbridge over the creek bed, with flagstone steps leading away under a live oak.
Over the creek
A cleared single-track trail winding through manzanita, with moss-covered granite alongside it.
Single track through the manzanita
A plank boardwalk running across low ground toward a stack of granite boulders.
Boardwalk over the wet ground
Within reach

What is around it

  • Iron MountainWalk onto it from our own trails.
  • Mt. WoodsonPotato Chip Rock sits at the top, a mile or two away.
  • Mt. Woodson CastleA 1921 stone estate at the foot of the mountain, 2.7 miles away. A lot of our guests are staying with us for a wedding there.
  • Ramona Grasslands PreserveOpen rolling hills, easy walking and good mountain biking. Hawks nest there, and some springs National Geographic comes out to photograph them hatching.
  • WineriesSchwaesdall and Mahogany Mountain are the closest. Six within three miles, and more than forty within ten.
  • GolfMt. Woodson Golf Club and San Vicente, both a short drive.
  • Dos Picos County ParkA short walk away. Oak groves and a fishing pond, with trails, mountain biking and a big playground.
  • Mini Barn MarketOur own farm stand, a short drive across town. Eggs, sourdough, produce, mushrooms, and the soaps we make. Worth the trip — it is the highest-rated thing we run. Visit it.
  • Ramona Farmstand MapThirty-plus stands across the valley, hand-drawn by us. See the map.
  • JulianThirty minutes up into the pines.
  • Safari ParkAbout twenty-five minutes.
  • Downtown San DiegoThirty-five minutes.
Check dates Planning a gathering?
The question everybody actually asks

What do we do all day if we never leave?

The trails begin at the back fence, so the walk starts before anyone has decided to take one. There are eight acres of hiking trails and three holes of disc golf for whoever needs to burn something off. There is a horseshoe pit for the people who would rather stay near the deck.

The arcade runs through the afternoon. Dos Picos Park and its fishing pond are a short walk away, which is the closest thing to an outing you will need.

In the evening it is the fire pit and the hot tub, with the stars out overhead.

On the property, no ticket required

  • Hiking trailsOff the back fence
  • Disc golf3 holes
  • Arcade700 sq ft
  • Hot tubYes
  • Fire pitYes
  • HorseshoesYes
  • Dos Picos and fishing pondShort walk
  • Acres8
The practical part

Good internet, and a house that runs itself.

There is Wi-Fi at the main house and in the game room, and it holds up with a full house on it. Three smart TVs — one in the game room, one in the living room, and one in a back bedroom.

Every entrance is on a smart lock and keypad, so there is no key to collect on the way in. The air conditioning is connected, and the lighting and irrigation are automated. There is no EV charger here.

The hot tub is on year round and ready whenever you are, day or night. It sits under a locked cover rather than behind a gate — worth knowing if you are bringing very small children.

One less thing to pack

Set up for families with young children.

Two pack-n-plays, high chairs and toys. Every bedroom is on the ground floor. Three or four families fit here comfortably, which is the size a lot of groups are actually looking for, and there are eight acres for everyone to spread out into.

The bathrooms and the laundry room are stocked too — shampoo, conditioner, hand and body soap, and laundry soap. They are ours, they are chemical-free, and they are what we use ourselves. Bring your own if there is something you are loyal to; plenty of people do. But they are there, and we hope you like them.

The place to yourselves

The whole property is yours.

Mountain Retreat is private. For the length of your stay the house, the arcade, the hot tub, the fire pit and all eight acres belong to your group and nobody else — no shared drive, no other booking alongside you, nobody passing through.

We are a few minutes down the road and always reachable. Call or text whenever you need anything at all, however small, and we will take care of it. The rest of the week is yours.

Before you book

Good to know

This is a peaceful rural property, best suited to guests who appreciate nature, privacy and a slower pace. The terrain is natural and uneven in places, there is wildlife, and conditions change with the season. That is most of the appeal, but it is worth knowing before you arrive.

Mountain Retreat · sleeps 14

Secure checkoutNo booking feesInstant confirmation