House On the River - Lakehead, California

Gopal I.

This is a large property located on the Sacramento river bank in lakehead. Easy access I-5 and convenient place to stay if going to Mt. Shasta and lake siskiyou. Very nice for large groups. Has scenic views with trails going down to the river along the railroad.

Claren F.

Had my wedding here June 2021 and it was the most amazing three days ever! We had originally booked with the previous owner but were so delighted to get a chance to meet and plan with Michelle. She was SO understanding and flexible and easy to work with. The venue was beautiful and was exactly what we were looking for, as a DIY wedding!
For the trains, we had a sign that said “in case of train, pop the champagne” and that was a blast for us and guests when it came by! 💕

Ellen S.

My daughter had her wedding here recently and hers was the first wedding to take place under the new ownership. The venue is beautiful and clean. It was wonderful to have the place to ourselves for the weekend. I’m sure it’ll be even better as the new owner works out some of the finer details. The only drawback is that the train comes through quite frequently which can be distracting. That’s not something the owner can control. The new owner is very conscientious and easy to work with. I highly recommend this venue!!

Javonté B.

I love love love this venue! We knew instantly this was where we wanted to have our wedding. It is a family run operation and has been since day one! I’d say my wedding was a huge success and everyone who attended asked me “how did you find this place It’s stunning” long story short... I love searching on the web and so does my husband. So we found it on google, haha of all places. Now I hope I can share my love for this area with anyone else who may see this review. Legit, do it! Thanks Craig Suttles, Michelle and Debbie Suttles. Michelle is the new owner and she is so kind, responsive and light hearted. I can only imagine this venue becoming even better in the future. So Gorgeous. Plus the cabin is the ultimate experience; staying on site is priceless ❤️

Brenda M.

Wedding Venue....I'd be very cautious selecting this place for a wedding or any other important get-together.
In October 2020 my son and his fiance contacted the House on the River via their website inquiring about booking the venue for their wedding. The owner responded and after finding out what date they wanted, he stated they would have to book it right away as they were filling up. He sent them a copy of his contract for them to read over. The price of the venue was $5000.00. They decided right away they wanted to reserve it and contacted him to set it up. The owner asked that they meet him at Home Depot in Redding to pay the deposit ($2500.00) and sign the contract reserving the venue for 4/30/2021 - 5/2/2021. The owner stated the $2500.00 deposit be paid in cash. My son's fiance and her dad met with the owner and paid a $2500.00 deposit in cash.
A short while later my son and his fiance were browsing the website again, checking out the photo gallery, and noticed the venue had increased in price from $5000.00 to $7500.00. They were happy to have booked their reservation before the price increase.
They also noticed the venue was listed for sale. This concerned them a little in regards to what if the venue sells before their wedding? They were assured by their wedding planner that they had a signed contract and it would be upheld with the new owners if it were to sell before their reservation date.
Excited to have a signed contract, they started contacting vendors for the wedding. They contacted their wedding planner, letting her know of the location for the wedding, and she proceeded to gather ideas for the planned venue location. They booked their honeymoon flights and hotels. They purchased and mailed out "save the date" cards with the announcement that the wedding would be in Lakehead (30-45 minutes from their hometown of Redding). They were excited and busy planning the wedding.
Fast forward to 5 months later (2 months and 3 weeks BEFORE the wedding) they received a phone call from the owner stating he had to cancel their reservation/contract. He claimed he had just noticed he had double-booked for the same weekend. How do you go 5 months not noticing a double booking He stated he never noticed because the other reservation had the same names. WHAT My son's fiance was shocked, caught off guard, and didn't know what to say. The next week she contacted the owner via text and asked him to refund their $2500.00 cash deposit. The owner met with my son at his work on Feb. 17, 2021. The owner asked if it was ok to backdate the check for Dec. 27, 2020, for the cash deposit. My son said, "you do what you want to do". The owner stated he wanted to backdate the check so he could write it off his taxes. My son again said, "you do what you want to do". How do you write off a cash deposit that you had to refund Sounds pretty shady to me. My son and his fiance have all the texts and emails with dates and conversations.
I would seriously recommend another venue for a wedding, reunion, etc. Canceling a signed contract 5 months after it is signed is not good business. Leaving them scrambling, trying to find another venue 2 months and 3 weeks before the wedding is awful.

Christina A.

This review is for a use as a wedding venue.

Pros-
It's Beautiful scenery
No curfew

Cons-
No Wifi
No cell service for a few miles
No lighting for night time festivities
Dance floor area overgrown on pillars

We rented this venue for 4 nights total. We arrived 2 days before the wedding with every intention of starting the lighting setup that afternoon. The owner would not allow us too because he didn't want anything on the grass. He allowed us to start setting up lights the day before the wedding but nothing else. It is extremely hard to engineer and set up an entire light structure the day before a wedding considering rehearsal that day as well. We were unable to finish it the day before so it had to be finished the day of the wedding. The wedding tables he did not want on the grass ahead of time along with barrels we were using for decore. The tables were still not completely set up by 1pm. How is a bride and her wedding party supposed to setup that late in the day of the wedding? My bridesmaids did not get to hang out and get ready with me, they were to busy setting up when it should have been done by 10am. Owner told my mother in law wrong table sizes so my table clothes did not fit. He was so conserned with the grass the entire time, it was soaking went the day of the wedding. My dress is muddy mess, even our heel stoppers were getting stuck in the soaking wet grass. Could not send my vendors emails or texts because the no wifi or cell service.Owner was not very pleasant to work with and said he was losing his patience since my wedding was the 11th that season. This is one of the most important and special days of my life and it was chaos trying to get everything done at the last min. Especially since we paid extra to come earlier so we would have enough time. He was not fond of us setting up lighting to begin with and asked my mother in law if I didn't think the property was beautiful enough already. My photographer previously shot a wedding at this venue and told me there was not enough lighting.

Overall I would not choose this venue unless lighting was added or I was having a simple wedding.

Bob B.

We went there for a wedding and it was beautiful. The Sacramento river is plainly visible. There were two trains that went by and blew their horn and waved to us. What a nice place.

J.J M.

we used to camp at this little beach spot when i was a kid (late 1970's / early 1980's). brings back memories scanning through Google Maps & looking at this location. My dad would goldpan while my stepmom would sunbathe, and me and my stepsister would swim & jump off the rocks. Such memories. This spot is a lifetime memory.