Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn / Coulbourn's Haunted House

A fanciful name on the sign out front is only the latest mystery attached to a Main Street Victorian with deep connections to some of Mendocino's earliest physicians.

Overview

The large Victorian at 44860 Main Street is historically known as the McCornack House and, in more recent years, became known to visitors as the Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn.

California historic-property records identify the McCornack House at 44860 Main Street and date its construction to 1882.

Its history reaches well beyond its years as an inn. The house was associated with Mendocino's early medical community and became the home of Dr. James W. Milliken, one of the physicians practicing on the Mendocino Coast during the late nineteenth century. That medical connection gives the building a much richer story than its later lodging name suggests.

Location

The house stands at 44860 Main Street in the village of Mendocino, on the historic Main Street streetscape overlooking the headlands, across from the Presbyterian Church.

History

The historic name attached to the building is McCornack House. Kelley House Museum historical photographs identify the distinctive mansard-roofed building on Main Street as the McCornack House and note that it later became the Didjeridoo Inn.

The name connects the property with Dr. William A. McCornack, one of Mendocino's important early physicians. McCornack arrived on the Mendocino Coast in 1873, first opening a medical office in Little River before moving to Mendocino. He eventually practiced medicine in the community for more than two decades.

He also established the Mendocino Hospital Company in 1887, an early cooperative medical institution intended to provide affordable care, particularly for workers in the mills and woods. The hospital itself was not located in this house. From 1887 until 1895 it operated from the building at the southeast corner of Ukiah and Howard Streets, today's Blue Door Inn, before moving to another Main Street building. That distinction is important because Mendocino had several buildings connected with its early doctors.

One of the clearest documented residents of the McCornack House was Dr. James Wallace Milliken. Milliken came west after learning that the Mendocino Coast needed another physician. After initially living on Ukiah Street, he and his family moved into the McCornack House on Main Street. The house was sometimes referred to as a doctor's house because several physicians were associated with it. Four of the Milliken children were born while the family was living there.

Milliken began practicing medicine in Mendocino in the 1880s and became a prominent member of the community. In 1894 he joined the Mendocino Hospital Company as a consulting physician and surgeon. He remained in Mendocino for the rest of his life. In 1909, Dr. Milliken died at his Main Street home after suffering from heart disease. His funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church across the street and drew a large gathering from the community.

That gives the old house a very real human history beneath all of the later stories and legends attached to it.

A Recognizable Main Street Victorian

The McCornack House is easy to pick out in historic photographs because of its distinctive mansard-style roof. Kelley House photographs looking across the east end of Main Street repeatedly identify the building among other familiar Mendocino structures.

Its survival also makes it an important part of the streetscape. Many buildings around it have changed or disappeared, but this large Victorian residence remained and eventually found a completely different use.

The Building Today

In its modern chapter, the McCornack House became the Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn, sometimes spelled Didgeridoo in travel listings. The lodging operated from 44860 Main Street as a bed-and-breakfast-style inn, with guest rooms, gardens, breakfast and other accommodations within the historic property.

Kelley House Museum has also referred to the McCornack House as the building that later became the Didjeridoo Inn, confirming that the historic house and the modern inn are the same property. Some travel listings still preserve the Didjeridoo name even though the inn is no longer operating as it once did.

The property has also circulated under the description "Coulbourn's Haunted House." That name adds another layer to the folklore surrounding the old Victorian, but no reliable historical documentation has been found establishing Coulbourn's Haunted House as an official historic name for the property. For that reason, it is best preserved as part of the building's remembered or locally used identity rather than presented as documented nineteenth-century history. The documented historic name is McCornack House.

As for whether the house actually is haunted, that belongs more comfortably in the long tradition of stories attached to old Mendocino Victorians than in the verified historical record. A large 1880s doctor's house with a mansard roof that later became an inn was probably never going to escape a ghost story or two.

Why It Matters

The story of 44860 Main Street can be followed through several distinct identities. It is an 1882 historic house. It is the McCornack House. It became home to Dr. James Milliken and his family and was associated with Mendocino's early medical community. More than a century later, it became the Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn. And somewhere along the way, stories attached another intriguing name: Coulbourn's Haunted House.

Whether every ghost story can be proved is another matter. The history of the house itself needs very little embellishment.

Community Memories

The replies to the original post were brief but show that the unusual property still catches people's attention. One person said they would love to stay there, reflecting the attraction the old Victorian and its mysterious reputation continue to have for visitors. Another response simply expressed appreciation for the corrected information.

Those replies also demonstrate something useful about this history project: sometimes a reply changes the story. In this case, separating the documented history of the McCornack House and its physicians from the later haunted-house description gives the building a more accurate — and actually more interesting — history.

Timeline

1873 — Dr. William A. McCornack arrives on the Mendocino Coast, first practicing in Little River.

1882 — The McCornack House is built at 44860 Main Street.

1887 — McCornack establishes the Mendocino Hospital Company, which operates from the Ukiah and Howard Streets building until 1895.

1880s — Dr. James Wallace Milliken begins practicing in Mendocino and later moves his family into the McCornack House.

1894 — Milliken joins the Mendocino Hospital Company as consulting physician and surgeon.

1909 — Dr. Milliken dies at his Main Street home; his funeral is held at the Presbyterian Church across the street.

Modern era — The historic house operates as the Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn and becomes locally known as Coulbourn's Haunted House.

Sources & Original Research: This history combines historical documentation, former business information, community recollections and original research. Sources include the Kelley House Museum, including its histories of Dr. William A. McCornack, Dr. James W. Milliken, the Mendocino Hospital Company, the McCornack House and historic Main Street photographs; the California Office of Historic Preservation historic-property record identifying the McCornack House at 44860 Main Street and dating it to 1882; historical and travel listings for the Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn; the original Buildings and Businesses in Mendocino post provided by Gee Bee; and community responses supplied by Kyle Kemper and Sandra Liljeberg.