Owners of Nestldown—a hidden world in the redwoods that hosts weddings and other events—looking forward to the next chapter

The engulfing redwoods that surround Los Gatos are a bit of an enigma. You can’t help but wonder what lies beyond the greenery.

And not too far out of town, there’s a unique venue on 180 acres, known as Nestldown, that’s played upon this sense of mystery since 1991.

The land has garnered a reputation as a wedding venue that’s hosted global names. However, the owners of Nestldown, Barbara and Mark Beck, want the community to know that, despite the occasional celebrity visit, the location offers something for everyone.

Early images of the land purchased in 1991 depict not much more than ruffled redwoods. “We were looking for a place with rarified air—with a map that oversaw 35 acres—to house a barn, a baseball field, a tennis court and a giant treehouse,” says Barbara, as she describes how some of their early plans turned out. 

“Initially, we wanted this place to be for every kid in the mountains to come and play and camp, so the first places we made were the barn and the playground.”

Right before the site was purchased, the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake collapsed a barn. Both Barbara and Mark took that as a warning to ensure that structural requirements were met when erecting the current one.

The new barn was built to withstand a magnitude eight earthquake. Barbara says it was important to her that kids have a place to play safely. “This is a place for children—that’s how it started,” says Barbara. Constructed with 96 concrete friction piers that extend 20 feet beneath the ground, over the years they’ve had private receptions, movie nights, cooking classes and memorials inside.

In 1999, Barbara, who served as head for HR as Cisco (she was the 38th employee), sold her stock options. Those resources allowed the Becks to extend their holdings to 180 acres—all the way down into the canyon. Their dreams began to come to life.

All aboard the train

A view of the land, which can be experienced by train, takes visitors to several 10-foot-tall sandcastles produced by professional sand sculptor Kirk Rademaker, which have been maintained for eight years. There’s also a large iron dragon under a maze of hedges that leads to a cottage playing Disney theme tunes. 

Designed by husband Mark, the cottage was crafted as a fun thing for kids but ended up being one of the central attractions for all. “We have 19,000 tulips housed on our land, but Barbara says she wants more,” laughs Mark, explaining how their approach to developing the property differs. 

They started dating 45 years ago. And they’ve come up with a familiar pattern of teamwork to realize one idea or another. Typically, Barbara will see something she’s drawn to, then, Mark finds a way to make the vision come to life.

“We’ve treated it like a family compound, but it’s really a business,” says Barbara. 

From 2010 to 2020, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital held a camp several times a year at Nestldown. “A lot of the brothers or sisters didn’t laugh or smile in a very long time because they had siblings that had cancer. We would watch them from the back and see the emotions of the family members. We had horses, paintball guns, trains and golf carts with about 150 people, which continued to grow every year. These kids hadn’t laughed in so long. That did something to us.” 

Barbara was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 20. This was followed by a-year-and-a-half of chemotherapy. “When we first began dating, Barbara told me there is no future in dating her and that she only has five years,” Mark says. 

Nestldown’s effervescent beauty is a testament to Mark and Barbara’s labor of love towards one another, which is now on display for the entire public. Good things take time, and with aspirations come setbacks. 

For years, the Becks struggled with county permitting requirements, something many other Santa Cruz Mountains residents will find familiar. However, they eventually made it out to the other side. “Sixteen years in, the county came knocking,” according to its website. “So began a ten-year ordeal to obtain the right permits to operate as a venue — a costly and hair-pulling process.”

Then came Covid, when more than 100 weddings were canceled or rescheduled and Nestldown encountered some disputes with couples who went public with complaints about unreturned deposits.

The county published a notice of a tax default in September 2020, noting unpaid taxes as of 2017 of $243,033.28. The Becks survived the tax and cash flow difficulties from canceled events, assisted by $568,009 in federal pandemic PPP loans that were subsequently forgiven, according to public documents.

Both Barbara and Mark say that they aren’t going anywhere. In many ways, they add, they’re just getting started. 

Barbara remembers when she first stepped foot in the garden that’s now known as the Chapel. It serves as a spot for ceremonies with a turquoise pond in the background, seen through draping wisterias. “Honestly, this is going to sound crazy, but I always thought there was a spirit of the land here—standing at the Chapel, under a redwood tree, next to the water,” Barbara reflects, noting the only issue was the noise from the traffic. That sound “was the wind and the trees,” Mark offers, playfully.

The Becks describe how they’ve seen people gain such positive energy from their visit to the unique site that they can’t help but want to return one day. “People come from Paris and around the world to see these redwoods that only grow from Carmel to the Oregon border,” Mark says. “We don’t like to say we’re owners—we’re stewards. We’re not here forever. We learned that we can leave something that will still be here in 50 years,” Mark says. 

The community and beyond

“I designed that train 25 years ago,” Mark says. “And now, we’re waiting for a new steam train to arrive that is built by the company that makes trains for Disneyland.” They’re now looking at extending the track even further.

Over the years, Nestldown has hosted a wide array of guests from Fortune 500 companies, to celebrity weddings, such as for Ashley Greene and Nicholas Cage. Even Jimmy Kimmel’s wife’s sister got married there, and the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host was entertaining his own kids on the grounds, they said. Fifteen years ago, “The Bachelor” television show filmed an episode in the barn. Despite all the name dropping, the Becks say a key part of the operation is that the land is open to the community. Easter egg hunts, Mother’s Day brunch and family-friendly events are on the horizon.

One of Nestldown’s programs is a nonprofit run by their daughter Alexandra, offering referral-based therapy for individuals with social anxiety or a history of being bullied. “We sell out our weekends a year in advance, but we’ve always said that for police officers, teachers or government officials, we would make it work for them to afford our place,” Barbara says. 

Their daughter Diana says she was drawn to maintain the land by witnessing her parents’ attentiveness to their clientele. “I learned how to drive on the golf carts when I was a child,” Diana says with a laugh. “We were nonprofit-heavy in the start, with less weddings. I had a career in recruiting. But what drove me back here was my love for my parents.

“I’m protective of them, and that comes from witnessing their caretaking of others since I was a child,” she says.

In 2023, Cancer CAREpoint held a fundraiser at Nestldown, which raised more than $1 million.

The Becks also operate a horse-riding program as a 501c3 nonprofit, the stated purpose of which is, “To provide therapeutic horseback riding experiences for autistic children,” according to the organization’s Form 990.