Celebrating the Genius of American Architect Mickey Muennig

In this week’s episode, host Scott "Sourdough" Power describes his recent 20th wedding anniversary celebration at the breathtaking Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. Nestled among nature's grandeur, this luxe getaway highlights the seamless blend of architecture and the environment, thanks to the visionary work of designer Mickey Muennig.

Scott paints a vivid picture of the stunning landscapes that envelop the Inn, where each view is a testament to the beauty of eco-minded design. Muennig’s unique approach to architecture at Post Ranch Inn embraces sustainability and fosters a deeper connection with the surrounding nature. Scott reflects on how this experience enriched his understanding of creativity and its role in harmonizing human life with the natural world.

The episode is a delightful journey through joy, love, and reflection, as Scott shares personal anecdotes about his time spent there with his partner. Listeners will hear about the invigorating beauty of Big Sur and the enchanting allure of Post Ranch Inn, described as a luxurious treehouse suspended in time. 

Scott also explores broader themes of creativity and community in the arts, encouraging listeners to support and celebrate the artists that inspire us. With a dash of humor and whimsy, he invites everyone to join him in appreciating the interplay of love, nature, creativity, and architecture—reminding us all that life’s most precious moments are meant for sharing.

For more information, please visit https://notrealart.com/architect-mickey-muennig

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The Not Real Art podcast isintended for creative audiences only.
The Not Real Art podcastcelebrates creativity and creative
culture worldwide.
It contains material that isfresh, fun and inspiring and is not
suitable for boring old art snobs.
Now let's get started andenjoy the show.

(00:47):
Greetings and salutations, mycreative brothers and sisters.
Welcome to Not Real Art, thepodcast where we talk to the world's
most creative people.
I am your host.
Faithful, trusty, loyal,tireless, relentless host.
Sourdough coming at you fromCrew West Studio in Los Angeles.
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(01:08):
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People, please considersupporting the show by going to notrelart.com
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go to our website,notrelart.com and check out all the
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is the exclusive video seriesRemote with the one and only Badir
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Where Badir follows, well, he.

(02:12):
He travels the world and isfollowing the trail of public art
around the world and.
And demystifying andexplaining the power and the impact
of public art around the world.
So please check out remoteart.com okay, people, as you might
have heard, it's August.
It's the month of August anddog days of summer.
And I have decided that we'regoing to spend all of August doing

(02:35):
auditorials.
As you know, the last week ofevery month I drop an auditorial
short episode.
I get on a soapbox, talk aboutsomething that's near and dear to
my heart.
And hopefully it's, you know,interesting to you and relevant to
you and has some value andutility for you as well, if nothing,
but then to just give yousomething to think about.
But this month, rather thanwaiting to the last week of the month,

(02:57):
I thought I just turn Augustinto the month of August.
Torials.
This is the month of August.
Torials, people.
So every week we're going todrop auditorials on Tuesday, and
I'm going to get on my soapboxand talk about something that's on
my mind.
And today, today I'm going totalk about something that is very
special, because this year, onJune 11th, a couple months ago, June

(03:21):
11th was my 20th wedding anniversary.
Yeah, you heard it right.
Years of marriage.
For my wife, it feels like 40,but for me, it's gone by so quick.
And I know you're thinking,scott, how the hell are you?
Have you been married 20 years?
I mean, you're.
You're only like, you know, 40.
You must have gotten marriedwhen you're 20.
Well, no, people, I'm 55.
I got married at 35.

(03:42):
Doing the math.
I can't believe it.
20 years of marriage, andhopefully my wife won't wise up and
kick my ass to the curbanytime soon because I love her.
She's the best.
Anyway, I wanted to tell youabout our wedding anniversary because
we did something amazing thatI think is really special, and I

(04:02):
want to tell you about it.
So, you know, being the 20thwedding anniversary, of course, we
wanted to do something reallyspecial that we've never done before.
And, you know, some peoplewant to get on a plane and fly to
somewhere exotic and dosomething, you know, romantic like
that, you know, and we thoughtabout it.
We thought about, you know,going to someplace romantic, whether

(04:23):
it's France or Italy or Greeceor whatever.
But, you know, it's a lot of travel.
You get on the plane, you gotto fly for hours.
Expensive, too, of course.
And we decided, you know what,we live in California.
And rather than getting on aplane and flying somewhere and wasting
all that time flying somewhereamazing, we live in an amazing place,
and let's enjoy our amazing state.

(04:45):
And in fact, you know, as busyas we are with the kids and everything,
it's like we don't really getto do and travel in California quite
like we'd like to.
And one part of California welove is the central coast and Big
Sur and that whole area.
And we got married actually inCarmel Valley, and that's just up
the coast.
And we hadn't been to Carmelin years and years and years.
And we want.

(05:06):
So we wanted to go back towhere we were married and which was
awesome, but then we wanted todo something we'd never done before
and go someplace really,really special.
And so we drove to Big Sur andwe stayed at a place called Post
Ranch Inn.
And Post Ranch Inn is trulyone of those places that you want
to go to on a specialmilestone like your 20th wedding

(05:27):
anniversary.
A because freaking expensiveand you need to save your pennies.
But it's just, you know, it'sspecial and you know, it's a nice
way to commemorate, you know,a wedding anniversary or something
or a honeymoon maybe.
So we go to this place calledPost Ranch Inn.
And I've never been and itblew me away.
And number one, of course,it's in Big Sur, which is an incredibly

(05:50):
gorgeous part of California,incredibly gorgeous part of the world,
full stop.
Hands down, Big Sur is one ofthe most beautiful places in the
world.
And this place called PostRanch Inn is right there.
And part of what makes Post Ranch.
Well, the reason Post RanchInn is so special is because of the
person who built it, theperson who designed it.

(06:12):
And that person was Mickey Munich.
And on not real art.
You know, I'd like to say thatwe talk to the world's most creative
people.
Well, Mickey Munich wasclearly one of the world's most creative
people.
Just going to read you alittle bit that I learned about Mickey,
Mickey Munich.
And this was something thatthe Wall street journal wrote in
2019.
The writer Alastair Gordonwrote this, said Mickey Munich became

(06:35):
the first master of eco mindedarchitecture perfecting green roof
construction more than 30years before it became the fashionable
way to build.
He's an unsung hero of thegreen movement precisely because
he never made an effort topublicize himself.
How cool is that?
Just a guy, a visionary, anartist out there doing it.

(06:55):
Doesn't care about any publicity.
He just out there doing the work.
And man does it show.
Man does it show.
You know, I will say thatMickey clearly was one of these visionary
people that made an impression.
His managing partner, MikeFreed said Mickey had a passion for
design and for doing somethingthat no one else had done architecturally

(07:17):
in the hotel business.
Not only did Mickey sleep inthe forest with the redwoods and
oak trees to choose the bestlocation for each room, but he also
refused to accept conventionalthinking about hotel rooms.
He was a true visionary.
And what these hotel rooms,what they mean by that is these hotel
rooms are essentially littlecabins that are designed to integrate

(07:40):
into the landscape.
So if.
And it's right on the coast.
That's the thing.
So Big Sur, this property islike right on the edge of the continent,
overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
So out in the distance all yousee are blue Water views of the Pacific
Ocean.
And Post Ranch Inn is acollection of cabins that are built
both right on the edge of thecontinent overlooking the water,

(08:03):
but then also kind of behind,on the other side of the street,
so to speak, on the, on the hillside.
He has these cabins thatalmost like tree houses that have
been built in the trees thatalso kind of look out over the ocean.
But really you're in the treeline and so you're surrounded by
these trees.
So you have these twodifferent kinds of experiences.
You feel like you're campingin a treehouse.

(08:25):
If you're staying in one ofthe kind of treehouse cabins or if
you're staying on one of thecabins that are on the coast, you're
just looking out over the bluewater, you know, of the Pacific Ocean.
And it's just breathtaking.
You know, you know ospreys orvarious hawks and big birds are flying
over and you know, you knowyou're seeing wildlife.

(08:49):
Years I saw a skunk run by, Iwas happy that he kept running.
So anyway, so you're nestledin the, the tree line.
You got wildlife runningaround, you got the, the, the, the
blue water views from each ofthese cabins.
And these cabins are small.
I mean they're not necessarily big.
Some are bigger than others,of course, but they're all super
ecologically designed, very green.

(09:09):
They're, they're justintegrated into nature, integrated
into the landscape.
And that was what was sovisionary, one of the things that
was so visionary.
And you know, it's no surprisebecause you know, Mickey was this
architectural visionary whoarrived on the California coast in

(09:30):
1971 from Joplin, Missouri.
Having studied with Bruce Goffat the University of Oklahoma, he
worked with variousarchitects, merely disciples of Gough
and Frank Lloyd Wright in Joplin.
In Denver, Colorado, hiscreative mind later roamed and when
he sketching and shaping theridge, giving us, you know, the design
for Post Ranch Inn and youknow, the objective was to provide

(09:54):
a unique and artisticexperience of the Big Sur coast.
The primary features are guestprivacy, comfort, inspiring views
and high quality amenitieswithin a variety of accommodations.
You know, the inn is locatedon one of the most historic ranches
in Big Sur owned by the Post family.

(10:16):
The theme of the inn really isabout Big Sur history with all the
units featured after the earlysettlers at Big Sur.
And by the way, this artisticexperience that they're talking about,
the property is huge and guesswhat, there are artworks and sculptures
like all throughout the property.

(10:37):
And so, and there's hikingtrails so you can be hiking around
and then you hike upon an artwork.
And by the way, all theartworks are for sale.
Not that I can afford any of them.
Some of them are huge.
Just, just moving some ofthese artworks because a lot of these
artworks are made out of, youknow, they're sculptures, right?
So they're made out ofconcrete or stone or steel or iron
or what have you.

(10:58):
So they're big, they're heavyand expensive but beautiful and very
much add to the magic of thisPost Ranch in experience in Big Sur.
And so I just wanted to takesome time to shout out to Mickey
Munig and his vision for forPost Ranch Inn.
And you know, it is.
It takes artists like Mickeyto change the world and to connect

(11:22):
with nature and to connectwith our humanity and connect with
our earth.
And I just love the fact thatMickey didn't care about being famous
or having any publicity.
He just wanted to do the workin this amazing place and help people
connect with nature and helppeople connect with their humanity

(11:43):
and do that through veryvisionary and inspiring and innovative
architecture and design thatis sustainable and green.
And so shout out to Mickey Munich.
Thank you Mickey for giving mywife and I an amazing experience
for our 20th wedding anniversary.
And for all of you guyslistening, if you have the chance
to go someday to Post Ranch into celebrate something special, please

(12:05):
do and check it out.
Be sure to google it.
You'll.
You'll love it.
Start saving because I thinkI'm going to be in debt for a long
time.
I'm paying for this thing, butit was worth it.
And I just wanted to shout outto Mickey Munich for his vision there
at Post Ranch Inn.
So that's all I got today people.
Thanks for tuning in Sourdoughover and out foreign.

(12:32):
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(12:55):
We'll be back soon withanother inspiring episode celebrating
creative culture and theartists who make it.