Anderson Canyon in the Big Sur region of California was named after pioneering homesteaders James and Peter Andersen who were the first European settlers of the area. The canyon, Anderson Creek, and Anderson Peak () are south of McWay Falls and within the boundaries of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
During construction of Highway One in the 1920s and '30s, it was the location of a convict work camp. After the camp closed, literary bohemians like Henry Miller rented the shacks, forming what Miller later called the "Anderson Creek Gang".
The canyon is within the boundaries of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Sea Otter Refuge, and California condor reintroduction area. The Staude House built in the 1960s sits on a bluff at the mouth of Anderson Canyon above sea level. A parcel on the bluff between the coastal cliff and Highway 1 sold for $31,394,000 in 2010, one of the largest sale prices for residential real estate in Monterey County history.
Early history
Pino Palado Peak, the name given the peak during the Mexican era, is said to refer to a tall Ponderosa pine, “peeled” of its bark by a lightning strike, that at one time grew on the southeastern summit. The creek was named after the peak. The modern name is a corruption of the surname of settlers James Andersen, who emigrated from Denmark in 1874 and homesteaded in the canyon, and his brother Peter, who arrived in 1883. The Andersen family had business ties to many of the early settlers in the region, including the Pfeiffers, Slates, and Danis.
In the late 19th century a trail was constructed that connected the coast ridge with the coast at Burns Creek, just south of Anderson Landing.
Saddle Rock landing
Before construction of Highway One, local residents harvested redwood and tanbark, and mined limestone and gold. These resources were shipped out of dog-hole ports located in the region including Saddle Rock Landing at the mouth of Anderson Creek. It was named due to its proximity (.4 miles) to Saddle Rock, a prominent sea shore feature of present-day Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
The Anderson Canyon region was homesteaded by Aaron Harlan in the 1880s, located about a mile up the canyon from the mouth of the creek. "Pop" Ernest Doelter, a Monterey, CA restaurateur who created the abalone steak owned the Saddle Rock Landing for abalone harvesting. Pop's restaurant was a favorite of George Sterling, Jack London, and Andrew Molera.
Highway construction
The section of Highway One between Anderson Canyon and Big Sur was completed in October, 1924. In 1926, construction was halted due to lack of funds. Anderson Canyon was the southern terminus of the road. Construction of the southern portion resumed in 1928, and in 1932, Anderson canyon was selected as the site of the largest prison labor camp on the coast. From the Anderson Canyon camp, the highway was built south to connect with the road at Big Creek. Anderson Canyon was the last labor camp built. The entire highway was completed and opened on June 17, 1937.
Bohemians
After the Highway was complete, many buildings were left standing on the site from its use as a convict camp. During the 1940 and early 1950s, these cabins were rented out to early Bohemians. Henry Miller lived in a shack in Anderson Canyon from 1944 to 1947.
Other residents included avant-garde musician Harry Partch, Emil White, and collagist Jean Varda. Author Elizabeth Smart also lived at Anderson Canyon. Her novella, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945) may be the first fiction regarding Big Sur's bohemian residents.
Miller wrote "Into the Nightlife" while living there, and he described his fellow artists as the "Anderson Creek Gang" in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. Miller paid $5 per month rent for his shack on the property.
Bluff-top home
In 1965, Tony Staude, former chairman of pharmaceutical wholesaler Bergen Brunswig, and his wife, sculptor Marguerite Brunswig, bought the property. They found abandoned cars and remnants of the convict labor camp, including the former infirmary. They hired Carmel architect George-Brook Kothlow, who had designed other Big Sur dwellings, to design a residence. Staude and his wife had previously been instrumental in designing and financing Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona.