A little bit of our story...

Hi, I’m Mary Zeeble, the owner and designer of The Knotty Oak. Thanks for checking out the website!

The first time I saw the property when it was for sale, I was gobsmacked by its history, charm & resilient beauty. I’d driven by it a million times, but never knew what potential magic was hidden behind the gate.

As the oldest house in Philo (from 1888), the property was Anderson Valley’s first post office and a stagecoach stop that decades later turned into the Philo Pottery Inn which had long been closed. I knew it was destined for becoming again an integral part of the town center and a place for people to share and gather at. During the painstaking restoration this past decade using nearly all retrofitted salvaged materials (“Can we make this cool weird window fit”?), its secrets and history began to resurface. With so much delight, me and my incredibly patient construction team (“Oh, hey, I found a really cool sink at salvage today can we change out the one we installed a few months ago?!”) were constantly discovering little finds...from over 200 late 1800 tinted glass bottles buried across the grounds to the homestead’s original brick lined well to the headline clad 1915 newspaper covered walls in the Homestead house. We also incorporated lots of little surprises, and continue to add them in…- which ones will you find?

It’s been part remodel, excavation and archeological dig. And we hope it never ends. Now it’s ready to host events and make fresh memories for decades to come. People have been just loving it so much and it’s been a massive joy to share it with the local community and traveling guests. Come see for yourself and be part of its future & evolving history.

In my other life I’m an advertising producer, running around all over the world producing ad campaigns, casting and finding locations as crewyou.com and it’s been such a gift to travel so much, mentally collecting ideas for years, that have been funneled into the ongoing The Knotty Oak complex. It’s truly been a labor of love to bring this historic property back to vibrancy.

The Knotty Oak is 100% woman owned and 100% inclusive.

We work with couples of all genders and orientations.