
This 1950s Retreat Started the Luxury Spa Trend—and It Still Delivers Today
One of the country’s premier spas is cultivating a healthy food-focused wellness program and a kitchen garden that showcases the very best in California produce.

The Golden Door spa in San Marcos, California, has been an exclusive, and legendary, destination for well-heeled wellness seekers for over six decades. The intimate, women-only environment (save for limited men’s and co-ed weeks a year) has remained largely unchanged since the 1970s, and the architecture and gardens, inspired by traditional Japanese design, have been lovingly preserved. Guided, challenging hikes through the rolling hills across 30 miles of trails at 6:00 a.m. are a big draw. The entrance is marked by a discreet sign off of a country road north of San Diego, and they do not advertise. It’s a very specific place that relies on word of mouth among women who crave peace of mind more than trendy workouts. And those who have been immersed in its magic often become lifelong devotees.

Thomas J. Story

Thomas J. Story
“Where else can you go where you would be able to turn off and just pause safely and find this whole camaraderie among the guests, the natural beauty of the land, and a whole staff caring for you?” says Kathy Van Ness, the general manager. “Every Sunday when someone arrives, they are immediately a part of a community. You start off with a familial feeling that you trust these people and that this is going to be an amazing week.”

Thomas J. Story

Thomas J. Story
The people who come through The Door crave a full mind and body reset and some spiritual grounding. The exercise options are delightfully old-school: yoga, weight training, cardio classes in and out of the pool, Pilates, spinning, and the like for several hours throughout the day. There is no biohacking happening here, just tried-and-true movement and access to nurturing, beautifully prepared food designed to showcase seasonal eating and curb unhealthy cravings.

Thomas J. Story

Thomas J. Story
“Here, we learn to appreciate everything we put into our mouths,” says Van Ness. “Let’s be realistic. You’re going to eat dessert when you leave us and go home, but we hope the lasting lesson is that portion size matters and what comes out of your body in energy needs to be replaced.”

Thomas J. Story
The spa did away with the practice of taking guests’ measurements at the beginning and end of each stay several years ago, when they had the good sense to realize that any weight loss a person can experience in seven days is impermanent and not the sole factor in a successful spa week. Yes, it feels good to drop an inch or two of bloat, but the more meaningful and lasting takeaway is a deep understanding of what healthy eating is. That’s where the spa’s chef, Greg Frey Jr., who has been the Door’s culinary star since he took over the kitchen in 2014, really shines. No one counts the guests’ almonds there. But they do fill their plates with lean, organic protein, and a bounty of lettuces, herbs, and vegetables grown just steps from the kitchen.

Thomas J. Story
“I like to say the Golden Door and I found each other because of a nice river of energy that connected us,” says Frey. “I wasn’t looking for a place like this. I didn’t know it existed.”

Thomas J. Story
Frey brought the focus of the spa back to fine dining, where guests indulge in fresh-squeezed orange juice and omelets for breakfast, Asian noodle bowls for lunch, and duck breast or miso-braised cod for dinner.

Thomas J. Story
“You don’t want to have to say no to yourself all day. And what we do goes against the old conventional thought about eating only vegetables and steamed chicken at a spa,” he says. “We want guests to focus on increasing their bone density and muscle mass, and to change their thinking about food. Balance is important. Stressing about your food is unhealthy. The best diet in the world means nothing if you’re just going to sit all day. Once you get into that mindset, it’s much simpler than you think.”

Thomas J. Story
Frey has become a healthy eating champion with a national profile, appearing on talk shows and sharing recipes. Still, among the locals and neighboring communities, what he and the Golden Door team were doing on the 600-acre property remained a bit of a mystery.
“In the community, we’re seen as kind of like the Wonka chocolate factory,” says Frey. “Unless you worked here at one point, you don’t really know what’s going on.”

Thomas J. Story
The North County residents got a welcome glimpse behind the door when they opened the Golden Door Country Store, about a mile down the road, to showcase the produce coming out of the world-class gardens, avocado grove, and fruit orchards that the spa’s team has been cultivating for years. Frey is an enthusiastic gardener and experienced beekeeper who started managing the gardens in 2019. Under his leadership, throughout the epic 10-month growing season, the garden produces over 50 varieties of tomatoes, thousands of pounds of avocados and citrus, many salad greens and lettuces, peppers, melons, root vegetables, and herbs like mint, savory, basil, parsley, and zaatar.

Thomas J. Story
“This year, oh my goodness, the melons are just amazing, thanks to a mild summer. And I’m on pace to can almost 1,200 pounds of tomatoes,” he says, with obvious glee. “We planted 3,000 square feet of just rosemary, which we use for herbal wraps in the spa. I will use a blanket of it to roast a lamb rack or Chateaubriand. Diversity of herbs is a big focus of mine in the garden, and it’s especially useful in healthy cooking to build flavor when you don’t get to use a glob of butter and extra salt.”

Thomas J. Story
Frey had been eager to share the bounty of produce with the local community for years, but it took a pandemic to propel it into reality.
“The store was a long-term dream for many of us over the last 10 years. We wanted to show more visual support and make us feel more a part of our surrounding community,” says Frey. “We first started with a foldout table, and we’d randomly be out there in a parking lot because we had extra tomatoes and cucumbers. Then we had to maintain the gardens through COVID, and it kind of became a necessity.”

Thomas J. Story
The spa closed to visitors, but the plants, well, they continued to grow. Frey was able to keep a skeleton crew working in the garden to save it all from ruin.
“In March of 2020, we had one of the better harvests we’d ever had, and we were working around the clock to keep it alive,” he says. “If there was ever a time to open up that country store, that was it. We were calling local food banks, but they were inundated. So, we set up a stand and had the community come out in droves to get eggs, beets, and fresh corn. We could only have 15 cars in the lot, and there were days when I had to get out there and work traffic control.”

Thomas J. Story
Though the spa is still available to a couple of dozen extremely lucky guests, and The Door remains closed to outside visitors, the Country Store has become a favorite spot for foodies. Some customers drive from Orange County to pick up a bag of Chef Frey’s famous granola, a bag of juicy oranges, jars of sauce, a loaf of bread from favorite local bakeries, and a little slice of that Golden Door magic to serve at their own tables at home.

Thomas J. Story

Thomas J. Story
“What I want to be a proponent for is people adding more vegan and vegetarian meals to their diet, to spend a little more on their food, especially the protein, and eat a little less,” says Frey. “If the source of the protein isn’t good and it isn’t raised well, you can taste it, and you will pay the price later on. Go ahead and get that rib-eye that you want to have, but share it with friends. Have a nice side of beans on the side to get your protein. Eat a variety of vegetables. Eat to give yourself energy. Then when you leave the table, you’re going to want to get up from your seat and actually do something.”