PERSONA Carmel’s Vagabond Host As I sit in Cypress Inn awaiting the arrival of owner Denny LeVett, I notice a grand looking gentleman briskly ascending the hill. Within seconds the impeccably attired package of relaxed power is inside, greeting me with the familiar disarmament of a seasoned human relations pro. LeVett shared stories at a cozy table inside Terry’s Moroccan Bar, Cypress Inn’s popular watering hole, named after his longtime friend and partner, Terry Melcher, whose fondness for all things Moroccan came while spending a year there as a boy while his mother, Doris Day, was filming “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Here is a small taste of one of one of Carmel’s most flavorful characters. Summer 2008

Raymond Napolitano

“My father died when I was about 13 or 14.
My mother, a teacher in Owasa, Iowa, moved to California with my brother in tow, and tripled her $4,200 dollars a year salary. I stayed behind with my grandfather for a few years until my mom suggested I attend the University of the Pacific, the most beautiful college I’ve ever seen.”

While at Pacific, Denny signed up for a real
estate program taught by a Professor Brombaugh: “He made me a deal: If I got my real estate license, he’d give me a top grade. He said Palo Alto would be the greatest place for real estate in California history. It was, ‘Thank you Pacific U, hello Palo Alto.’ I just couldn’t wait to buy buildings and really got into that in downtown Palo Alto.”

This dapper gentleman will travel anywhere in the world they have an old grand hotel. “When you grow up in Iowa and all you have is Post, Life and Holiday Magazine you look at these grand hotels and say, ‘ahh, someday.’ The Benbow Inn in Garberville, about an hour south of Eureka, was just the most romantic beautiful hotel. Owner Art Stadler and I became great friends. When he had a heart attack he told me, ‘Den, you’re buying the Benbow Inn, you’re the only one that loves it the way I do.’ I commuted back and forth in little rinky-dink planes with patches on the wings—I’d be forced down here and there—there were four different weather patterns between Palo Alto
and Garberville.”

LeVett always dreamed of the Flying Leathernecks: “I love flying. I’ve flown since I was 22 or 23. All I wanted to do was be an adventurer. I’ve got stories—like flying a broken down Cessna into Mexico, but lately, the instruments are so much more sophisticated and you have to be pretty careful where you fly, so I started hiring a pilot.”

Opportunity often serendipitously redirected LeVett’s life: “Chuck Watts owned Vagabond House and loved the Benbow Inn. He said, ‘LeVett, sell it to me,’ so I took Vagabond’s in the down payment. Hence, I moved from Palo Alto to Carmel.”

He has also exhibited in a few Concours where as he jokingly put it: “I was awarded worst of show in two of them,” LeVett is a self–proclaimed, “car lover, a collector, anything that’s exotic, fun, sporty, 1950’s, 40’s too.” He’s also an antique arms collector: “I did a book on the original Colt Patersons. Since I was a little tot I’d buy toy soldiers, mostly British so at Vagabond’s House we just started displaying them in the office, along with some of the antique firearms and a few trains.”

Denny’s love of Carmel radiates a warming glow. He realizes that, “we have to fight a little harder for our share of tourism. This town is still every bit as gorgeous, as enchanting as it ever was. It’s so important that we have the best stores in Carmel, in my humble opinion. You need to have Gucci, Armani as well as the heavenly, delightful one-of-a-kind stores. We should have always done an art week, like Santa Fe does. How can they get away with it and Carmel doesn’t have one?” That’s a grand idea indeed Denny LeVett. °

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