Scenic Hwy. 1 property was home to beloved restaurant, garden. Now it’s for sale
For $5.5 million, you can buy a one-of-a-kind oceanfront property in Cambria that’s had both commercial and residential uses for decades.
For three decades, the property high on a bluff overlooking Highway 1 and the shoreline was a destination restaurant, jazz venue and garden known as The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens.
Now, more than a dozen years and some other owners later, the three acres of prime property and the structures on it — known in the interim as Centrally Grown and then Daou Ocean — are for sale again.
The highway-visible property at 7432 Exotic Garden Drive in Cambria is located at the northern edge of Cambria just off the Highway 1 intersection of Moonstone Beach Drive and Exotic Gardens Drive.
After its years as The Hamlet, subsequent owners of undulating, ocean-view site included Dave Robertson of Centrally Grown; the Daou brothers of Daou Vineyard and Winery; and Treasury Wine Estates in Australia, Paso Robles, and other locations, which bills itself as “one of the world’s largest wine companies.”
The site for sale, with its on-the-coast location in a tourism-rich area, existing structures and improvements, is a “one-of-a-kind investment” opportunity, according to the online listing from Coldwell Banker Realty.
Note to potential buyers: A neighboring 78-acre estate recently sold for $17 million.
The listing mentioned the property’s potential for “a luxury hospitality venture, high-end dining or an oceanfront winery/tasting room,” such as Daou had planned.
What else would buyers get besides the land and the view?
Beside the land and the view, a potential buyer for the property would also get a 6,662-square-foot restaurant space — including a large commercial kitchen and rustic upstairs bar and deck area — a 2,453-square-foot, two-story residence which has an attached garage and a 687-square-foot outbuilding which has been used in the past for everything from storage to a room for tasting wine and cheese.
Some important groundwork toward further development has already been completed, including a minor-use permit, and a municipal water hookup was established in 2019 to the Cambria Community Services District’s system, the district confirmed Friday. Work on the property’s onsite septic system.
In 2020, the Daou brothers applied for and got a sewer-connection permit from the district in 2020. They also applied for an encroachment permit from Caltrans for a sewer connection, according to James Green, the CSD’s utilities department manager, but he said Friday, “They have not yet installed a connection to the district sewer-distribution system.”
The property is “positioned in a high tourism area with potential for a luxury hospitality venture, high-end dining or an oceanfront winery/tasting room,” the online listing said. “Infrastructure includes preliminary septic work, existing easements and potential for parking and rock-wall adjustments.
“This rare coastal property combines location, versatility, and development potential, making it a savvy investment for establishing a presence in one of California’s most desirable destinations,” the listing continued.
Daou Ocean’s history in the last half century is diverse
Many longtime North Coast residents remember going to Exotic Garden Drive to buy vegetables and other produce from the two men who lived in the home and owned the property with a killer view.
Then Norm and Maggie Hamlet realized their dream of having a destination restaurant after they bought the property and he spent three years building The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens. They opened their eponymous restaurant in 1975 as the first eatery in Harmony, moved it to San Simeon in 1978, and relocated to the new Moonstone Gardens site in 1982.
For the next three decades, The Hamlet was established as a go-to place with a jaw-dropping view. The Hamlet’s large, notable garden of succulents and other plants was even the focus of a Huell Howser episode broadcast in 2002 and 2017.
After the death of the Hamlets and their partner Roy Ford, Robertson bought the place for about $2.5 million in 2012.
He directed his ever-changing Centrally Grown enterprises with a rustic vibe. At various times, those included a restaurant, small bakery, eclectic and upscale convenience store and an upstairs bar and deck.
Georges and Daniel Daou bought the property at auction for $4.3 million in 2019, and spent the next five years working on plans, permits and infrastructure for it.
Then they sold the site and the rest of their United States holdings to Treasury Wine Estates.
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
