In its Gilded Age heyday the Hotel Del Monte at Monterey, California, was called "the most elegant seaside establishment in the world" — and this luminous hand-colored postcard, published by the celebrated San Francisco house of Edward H. Mitchell, shows exactly why: the grand Queen Anne–style resort sprawls across the frame behind a circular garden ablaze with formal flower beds in red and gold, the American flag snapping from a corner tower, the whole scene projecting wealth, leisure, and the romantic promise of California sunshine available to those who could afford a Southern Pacific railroad ticket. Originally built in 1880 and twice rebuilt after fires (1887 and 1924), the hotel seen here in its second incarnation was a destination for presidents, railroad barons, and European nobility. Today the building survives as the main administration hall of the Naval Postgraduate School. Published by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco — one of the most prolific and respected postcard publishers of the early twentieth century — this undivided or early divided-back card with address-only reverse and the elegant red Mitchell imprint dates to approximately 1904–1910.