“Thank you Melody and John for the lovely hospitality, perfect room, …and the sky full of stars last night.”
    — San Francisco, CA

“Done beautifully…and of course discreet and considerate caretaking. Thanks for a superb weekend!”
    — Carmichael, CA

John and Melody Merriman met by chance after both had been residing in Mendocino County for over twenty years. She was running a bed and breakfast inn in the village of Mendocino. He was restoring the picturesque Blanchard House. It was across a room at a social gathering place…well, the rest is history. When the bed and breakfast in the village was sold, the two continued to rebuild the Blanchard House together, finally tying the knot on the bluff overlooking the ocean just south of the house. They enjoy their flower garden, which is a focal point of the house's surroundings. A covey of quail, blue and scrub jays, and an occasional deer in the front yard complete the picture.

John is the former owner of Coast Flyers, Inc. at the Little River Airport. He has been a pioneer in aviation by establishing a flight program in Anderson Valley at the local high school in the late 1960's, and has logged over 10,000 hours as a flight instructor. John recently received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award from the FAA for 50 years of flight without incident. He is a member of the Fretted Instrument Guild of America (FIGA), and plays a Vega plectrum banjo.

Melody continues to work part-time as an innkeeper at a bed and breakfast inn in Mendocino village. She collects vintage postcards and is a hand knitter with the Mendocino Art Center knitting group that meets weekly. She is a student of the piano and plays a Steinway. Sometimes the two team up as a "Vega & Steinway" to play a jazz standard or two.