Mendocino Village Massage

Some Mendocino buildings do not announce themselves loudly - they just keep adapting, one small office door at a time.

Overview

This little building at 45061 Little Lake Street has that quiet Mendocino village look: simple siding, a steep roof, small divided windows, and a front that feels more like a converted cottage than a modern commercial office.

Mendocino Village Massage operated from Suite B at 45061 Little Lake Street under certified massage therapist Bethany Yim.

Yim describes her practice as specializing in deep tissue, sports massage, Thai massage, myofascial release and medical massage techniques. She trained at the Massage Therapy Institute in Davis and later studied at the Alternative Healing Center in Nong Khai, Thailand.

The business website still identifies Mendocino Village Massage and lists the Little Lake Street address on its contact page. However, the main page now announces a "new location one mile from the village" and describes the practice as being in the redwoods a few minutes from Mendocino. That indicates the massage practice has recently moved away from 45061 Little Lake Street.

Location

The former village location was 45061 Little Lake Street, Suite B, Mendocino, in the small commercial building just east of the center of the village.

The address has housed more than one kind of business over the years, which helps explain its office-like arrangement and multiple doors.

Mendocino Village Massage's contact page lists Suite B at this address and notes that visits were by appointment.

History

The strongest documented history currently available for 45061 Little Lake Street is its more recent commercial history rather than its original construction.

Before Mendocino Village Massage occupied part of the building, the address was associated for years with real estate and vacation-rental businesses.

Coast Getaways, a Mendocino Coast vacation-rental company, listed 45061 Little Lake Street as its Mendocino office. An archived Coast Getaways page from 2017 gives the address along with the company's local telephone number.

That business later became associated with Vacasa. Visit Mendocino County still lists Vacasa Vacation Rentals at 45061 Little Lake Street and describes the company as managing vacation homes along the Mendocino Coast.

Real estate offices have also been tied to the property. Period advertising for First Equity Realty placed its Mendocino office at 45061 Little Lake Street, showing that the building had already developed a long-running role as professional office space before its massage chapter.

Other listings have connected the address with Redwood Empire Title Company and Mendocino Bayside Realty, further suggesting that this modest building has spent much of its recent life divided among small professional businesses rather than serving a single large storefront operation.

Mendocino Village Massage became another chapter in that pattern.

Bethany Yim brought a very different kind of business through one of those little office doors. Her practice was intentionally small and personal. She describes working alone rather than as part of a rotating spa staff and limiting herself to two bodywork sessions per day.

That fit the building remarkably well. Instead of a large resort spa or heavily remodeled commercial space, the Little Lake Street location offered the quieter scale of a village office tucked into a building that still looked more residential than commercial.

The Building Today

The massage business has since apparently moved. Its current website says the practice is now about a mile outside the village in a private setting among the redwoods, while the older contact page continues to preserve the 45061 Little Lake Street address.

The earlier history of the building itself remains an open part of the story. Historic photographs, Mendocino directories, property records, Sanborn maps and Kelley House Museum archives may eventually establish when the structure was built, whether it began as a residence, and which businesses or families occupied it before the better-documented real estate and vacation-rental years.

Why It Matters

For now, what can be seen clearly is a very Mendocino pattern: a small cottage-like building that has quietly shifted from one practical village use to another - real estate, vacation rentals, professional offices and, for a time, massage therapy.

Timeline

Before 2017 - First Equity Realty advertises its Mendocino office at 45061 Little Lake Street.

2017 - An archived Coast Getaways page lists the address as its Mendocino vacation-rental office.

Later years - The vacation-rental business becomes associated with Vacasa, still listed at the address.

Recent years - Mendocino Village Massage operates from Suite B under Bethany Yim.

Present - The massage practice announces a new location about a mile from the village.

Sources & Original Research: This history blends current and archived business records with the original Buildings and Businesses in Mendocino post and additional research. Sources include the official Mendocino Village Massage website and contact page; Visit Mendocino County's Vacasa Vacation Rentals listing; archived Coast Getaways records; period First Equity Realty advertising; business-directory records for other companies associated with 45061 Little Lake Street; and original post text and photograph provided by Gee Bee.