52 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF ENCHANTE HOTEL / COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN PIZZIRANI - LOS ALTOS STAGE COMPANY {due west} It’s a great way to find out about the many inhabitants who’ve called the region home—from indigenous peoples and Mexican land grantees to early California settlers and apricot growers. The property also boasts a preserved windmill and the J. Gilbert Smith House, a historic Craftsman-style farmhouse turned gallery. STAY A SPELL Want to make a weekend of it? Enchanté Boutique Hotel doesn’t offer cookie-cutter rooms. Instead, each abode at this French chateau-inspired destination has a personal touch. With themed rooms ranging from Madame Curie to Marie Antoinette, Musique de l’Opera to Tour de France, the hotel curates artifacts to match. Expect framed sheet music, old world portrait paintings, tapestries, a myriad of chandeliers and exceptional attention to detail. Campagne One Main, the Napoleon-themed bistro and bar downstairs, displays handpicked artifacts from the French military including an authentic bicorn hat. Hotel guests recieve a complimentary glass of wine and appetizer plate in the evening and a made-to-order breakfast each morning. WONDER & WANDER Take time to engage your artful side at MADSEN, a collaboration between sculptor Oleg Lobykin and Byington Vineyard & Winery. You can sip chardonnay and admire Oleg’s organically shaped stone sculptures, but in Los Altos, art flourishes outside gallery walls as well. Downtown features a number of murals, so you never know when you might turn a corner and encounter giant peonies or monarchs the size of people. How about a performance? Let Los Altos Stage Company entertain you with one of their latest productions. The 99-seat Bus Barn Theater is the kind of intimate venue that allows the audience to truly enter into the world of the characters. You can take in nature’s show at the Redwood Grove Nature Preserve with six acres of trees, observation decks and a rose garden. If you’re interested in learning about the town’s past, let Los Altos History Museum fill you in.
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