17-Mile Drive
— — the road the cypress trees taught how to bend.
Not only on a wall.
“A toll road that loops the headlands south of Pacific Grove and threads back inland to Carmel. The Monterey cypress are the through-line — wind-carved into shapes no other tree on the coast quite makes. Bird Rock barks all afternoon. The Lone Cypress holds its small ledge above the surf the way it has since long before anyone counted. There are pull-offs where the fog comes in mid-sentence and people stop talking. from the studio
17-Mile Drive, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
17-Mile Drive is a private scenic toll road that runs along the Pacific shoreline of the Monterey Peninsula in California, connecting Pacific Grove in the north with Carmel-by-the-Sea in the south through the gated community of Pebble Beach. The route was first promoted in the 1880s by the Pacific Improvement Company as a carriage outing from the original Hotel Del Monte. It now passes 17 marked stops, including Spanish Bay, Bird Rock, Seal Rock, the Lone Cypress, and the fairways of Pebble Beach Golf Links, which has hosted the U.S. Open six times.
The peninsula sits where cold upwelled water meets warmer inland air, so a low marine layer rolls in across the cypress almost daily through summer. Average July highs in Pacific Grove hold near the mid-60s Fahrenheit; the fog is the climate, not the exception. The Monterey cypress (Hypocyparis macrocarpa) is native to only two small groves in the world, both on this stretch of coast, and its salt-trained, wind-flagged silhouette is the shape the road is famous for. The Lone Cypress has held its granite ledge for an estimated 250 years.
Access is by private gate at five entrances: Pacific Grove, Highway 1, Carmel, Country Club, and Morse. The toll for passenger cars is around $11.75 and is refunded with a $35 restaurant purchase inside the gates. Bicycles and pedestrians enter free. Most drivers complete the loop in 60 to 90 minutes, longer with stops at Bird Rock and Spanish Bay. The road is open from sunrise to sunset and closes for tournament weeks at Pebble Beach Golf Links, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February.