A River Lodge Legacy
From Henry Hess's lumber estate to Rocktop today, nearly a century of history remains rooted along the Russian River.
The Hess Estate
The Original Estate
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. Hess made his fortune felling redwoods from the Russian River area to help rebuild earthquake-ravaged San Francisco.
Along the Russian River
The River Lodge
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 Rocktop burned down in the 1980s, leaving four remaining structures of the original estate with Rocktop being the most grandiose of them all.
The Lodge Today
The Pool and the W
After Henry Hess passed away, the property was bought by the Willis family. The Willis family installed the pool in the 1950s. You can find a "W" embedded on the pool deck if you look closely. The property changed hands a few times after the Willis ownership until it was purchased by its current owner in 2017 and transformed into what we all know and love today, The Rocktop Lodge.
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