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| Worth Your Time |
Under the Elderberry Trees
Marianne Cotter
06/01/2004
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Our national parks with their grand rustic lodges and breathtaking scenery
can be inspiring backdrops for a family meeting. But within the park borders,
seldom, if ever, will we find the amenities, service and privacy we require when
attending to family business. However, when we wish to experience the
awe-inspiring grandeur of Yosemite, we need look no further than the small
Sierra town of Oakhurst, Calif.—just eight miles from the park’s entrance—for
lush accommodations as well as personalized access to the park.
 | THE CHÂTEAU du Sureau,
a French country-style inn on the outskirts of
Yosemite, is the brainchild of Erna Kubin-Clanin. |
Oakhurst is
home to three related gems: Erna’s Elderberry House, an AAA five-diamond
restaurant; the Château du Sureau, a 10-room French country château; and,
secluded behind wrought-iron gates and fields of pines, the Villa Sureau, a
private, 2,000-square-foot, two-bedroom French villa. All three share a common
proprietor: Erna Kubin-Clanin.
Kubin-Clanin, though Viennese by birth, has
brought a little bit of France to the High Sierra, and her touch is evident
everywhere. In Erna’s Elderberry House, where her daughter is the sommelier,
Kubin-Clanin donned the restaurant’s first chef’s hat in 1988. She furnished the
château with antiques and tapestries from her European travels. She built the
villa in response to guest Barbra Streisand’s wish for something a little more
private than the château.
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