Heritage House: same time, next year

In the 1978 motion picture “Same Time, Next Year,” actors Ellen Burstyn and Allen Alda return each year to Heritage House Resort in Little River on the Mendocino coast, where the movie was shot. 

For decades, they were not alone. Returning to the Heritage House Resort was an annual tradition for many guests until the resort closed in 2008. It reopened last year with fresh interiors, four-star service and a focus on being dog-friendly.

Heritage House is a collection of cottages and contemporary buildings set on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Its guest rooms are posh, yet welcoming to DogTrekkers. Floors are covered with easily cleaned Swedish vinyl thatch and dark brown slate.  

Semi-private decks and picture windows offer sunset views of a cove ringed by sea caves and surf-washed outcrops. A trail along the bluff leads to fields where dogs responsive to voice commands may romp off-leash through coastal grasses.