Nepenthe celebrates its 50th anniversary as a cultural landmark.

Just before you walk into the front door of Nepenthe restaurant, there''s a log cabin on your right. It doesn''t look like much compared to the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design of the restaurant proper. It doesn''t even look like a log cabin from the outside, it looks like an adobe building. But that log cabin is the soul of a Monterey County cultural landmark that is celebrating its golden anniversary on Saturday (see Hot Picks).

The log cabin dates back to well before the day Nepenthe opened. Originally it was built by the Trails Club of Jolon, as a cabin for adventurous horseback riders. In 1944, it was purchased by Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth who never spent a night there because they got divorced soon after. When Henry Miller first came to Big Sur, as a nearly nameless and penniless writer, novelist Lynda Sargent was living in the cabin and she gave the young Miller a place to sleep at night and type during the day. The two didn''t get along very well and Miller soon found his own place to crash on Partington Ridge.

Then, in 1947, Bill and Lolly Fassett bought the cabin. They figured it was a pretty good place to raise their five kids but they needed a way to make a living--and with all the guests who seemed to drop by, a restaurant seemed to be a pretty good idea. And the seeds for Nepenthe were sown.

Nepenthe, as it was envisioned, wasn''t going to be just any restaurant. Even its name pointed to a more grand vision. The restaurant''s name, as notes on the menu point out, is derived from Greek literature and refers to a mythical Egyptian drug that was supposed to "induce forgetfulness and surcease from sorrow." The Fassetts insisted that it be built out of sight from the highway, and they hired Rowan Maiden, a Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte, to design it.

While the Fassetts'' family grew up in the log cabin and Henry Miller grew into an international star, Nepenthe restaurant grew into a landmark.

Miller was a frequent visitor to his old haunt, and developed a friendship with the Fassetts that he immortalized in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch. He also developed a passion for ping-pong which he frequently indulged--sometimes in the middle of the night--with Bill Fassett.

But Miller wasn''t the only Bohemian or member of the intelligentsia who found the carefree atmosphere of Nepenthe alluring. Over the years it has hosted a range of characters ranging from actors to astronauts.

Bill Fassett, who tended the bar, among other things at the restaurant, has been quoted as saying, "On any day, I might look up from the bar and see Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Man Ray or Janko Varda. On another night it might be Ernest Hemingway." There is a photograph from Nepenthe''s scrapbook that shows poet Eric Barker, Miller, artist Harrydick Ross and scientist Giles Healey roaring with laughter, presumably at some off-color offering, in the bar''s "Dirty Corner." Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor filmed scenes for The Sandpiper there. And their contemporary celebrities Joan Baez, Kim Novak, Steve McQueen, too, were known to frequent the restaurant.

More recently, astronaut Neil Armstrong wrote, "I''ve never seen the moon look more beautiful than it does above Nepenthe, and I''ve walked on the moon."

Of course, the restaurant has offered more than a place for celebrities to stop by on their way to somewhere else. It''s provided a gathering place for locals during harsh winters and a place to party on mild nights. Dancing under the moonlight on Nepenthe''s deck is a tradition among locals up and down the Monterey County coastline. The restaurant is famous for its annual, outlandish, sometimes erotic Bal Masque on Halloween and for the astrological parties it hosts on the last Wednesday of each sign.

It has also given to the community in more tangible ways, contributing by way of the Bal Masque, the Big Sur River Run and the Big Sur Jazz Festival to a number of local charities.

Today, the restaurant is run by Bill and Lolly''s daughter Holly and her son, Kirk. Holly''s daughter, Erin Gafill (who does some PR work for the restaurant) and her family live in the original log cabin.

"Years ago, we had to put the adobe on the outside," says Holly, "because when my dad got mad he would slam the door, and the chinks [between the logs] would fall out."

Stretching out from the cabin, in the opposite direction from the restaurant, are a series of outbuildings--rooms and cabins for about 17 of the restaurant''s approximately 100 employees. Close to the nearest employee quarters is a small sheltered area where a collection of clothes hang from a rack and shoes lay scattered on the ground. It''s the "free box," a place where restaurant personnel can bring the clothes they don''t want--or fit--any more and leave them for someone else.

"They [Bill and Lolly] wanted people to come and be themselves," says Holly. "We''ve tried to improve the service; we don''t want any criticism. We want people to forget their worldly cares." cw