Cabin Fever

For 86 years, Felton’s only dedicated bar has been serving the community in more ways than one

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GENEVA RICO

Does a bar sit in the woods?

In this instance, the bar in question—Monty’s Log Cabin—really is on the edge of the forest, just across the road from Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park on Highway 9. The 86-year-old roadside tavern was designated a historic landmark in 2007, but its role in the community goes far beyond architectural relevance and serving alcohol.

Ask any of the longtime patrons about Monty’s and the word “family” is sure to come up. Longtime proprietor Monty McKissock says he considers his staff and regulars members of an extended clan. Like so many neighborhood bars, his business is less a watering hole than a place where one can find camaraderie, compassion or a helping hand.

From the outside, Monty’s is no less inviting. The exterior is adorned with fairy lights and vintage neon signs; a hitching post to the right of the entrance provides “parking” for thirsty horseback riders from Covered Bridge Equestrian Center. “Sometimes it’s nothing but horses and Harleys out front,” says McKissock.

The history of the watering hole, formerly called George’s Log Cabin, is intertwined with McKissock’s own story. The post-and-beam cabin was built in 1936 by Frank McCrary, founder of Big Creek Lumber, for George and Stefaneta Graziani. George was an Italian immigrant who met his bride while stationed in Siberia during World War I. The couple arrived in the United States in 1920 and moved to Felton a decade later.

The cabin was originally a trading post, from which the Grazianis sold sundries and supplies to campers. A digital article on Historypin (author unknown) states, “The story is told of someone asking, ‘George, don’t you need a license to sell that beer?’” Graziani reportedly obtained a liquor license within the hour and by 1937, the trading post had become an Italian restaurant and bar. Stefaneta cooked in her home kitchen next door and served meals in the cabin’s diminutive dining room. A walk-in refrigerator behind the building served as a de facto butcher shop, where whole animals including wild game were broken down.

By the time McKissock arrived in Felton in the late ’70s, the Grazianis’ son, George Jr., was running the 33-seat establishment. George Jr. had muscular dystrophy and was unable to hold a bottle with his hands, so he poured drinks by tucking it into the crook of his arm, recalls McKissock. A buzzer at the bar was connected by a string to the family home; if George Jr. needed help, he summoned his father. McKissock, 72, hails from upstate New York, but as a former Marine, he’s been stationed all over the world. A nomad by nature, his first visit to Santa Cruz was during a West Coast road trip in the early ’70s.

“Like most stories, there’s a girl involved,” he says, adding that the couple eventually settled in Sunnyvale, where he started driving a truck to make ends meet.

While McKissock was captivated by the San Lorenzo Valley because of its resemblance to the Adirondacks, he also felt a kinship with the locals. “Felton had a huge hippie scene at the time,” he says. “There was a lot of long hair, me included.”

“We get bikers, campers, working class, millionaires,” says McKissock. “That’s what keeps it interesting.”

By this time, McKissock was working as a graphic designer and bartending on the side at Don Quixote’s, now Felton Music Hall. He was also an occasional patron of George’s Log Cabin, but he didn’t become well-acquainted with the Grazianis until he started holding VFW events there.

In late 2000, George Sr. and Stefaneta’s daughter, Rose, approached McKissock and asked if he’d like to take over operations. The timing was fortuitous, as McKissock’s primary graphic design client had just moved out of state, and he needed work.

“They just happened to hit me at my life’s sweet spot,” says McKissock. “It was such a gift to get this place.” He made some improvements to the property, including turning the adjacent open field into a backyard with seating and a fire pit. The interior has remained mostly unchanged, a hodge-podge of vintage taxidermy and beer signs, biker memorabilia and swags of fake foliage and twinkle lights.

McKissock eventually changed the name of the bar with Rose’s blessing, but he didn’t have an opportunity to buy the place until November 2020, after the property had changed hands a number of times. “I bought it because it felt like the fruition of something,” he says. “I just loved this place, and I was blessed to have the family entrust it to me. It’s just kind of wrapped its arms around me.”

The best part of the job is the people, says McKissock. The tavern has always had its devout regulars and while most of the old-timers have passed on, there’s a new generation of locals, tourists and folks up from Santa Cruz. “We get bikers, campers, working class, millionaires,” says McKissock. “That’s what keeps it interesting.”

Like many bartenders, McKissock says he enjoys talking with his customers, even when he’s hearing about their problems and offering guidance. “Sometimes people just need a conversation to help them figure it out for themselves.

I also believe in that old school attitude of, if someone needs something, you get off your bar stool and go help them.”

Longtime bartender Janette Waters echoes those thoughts, “Everyone knows Monty. He’s got great stories and he really cares about people—we’re like an extended family. He saw me through breast cancer and sat with me during chemo. That’s pretty rare in a boss, but he’s also a friend.”

For the community, then, Monty’s Log Cabin is more than just a bar. It’s part of the social fabric of Felton, a place McKissock describes as a neutral “Switzerland.” “Everybody is welcome here. We’re a mixed bag of nuts, but I don’t allow proselytizing—this isn’t the place for it.”

Although he’s at the bar every day, doing everything from ordering and bartending to wiping down tables, McKissock says he still thrives on the constant exposure to new people and ideas. “I’m not a guy who can retire, and the bar business keeps me young,” he says. “This is my forever job.”

Monty’s Log Cabin
5799 Highway 9, Felton