This past August (2022) we had the opportunity to borrow a home belonging to a business associate of Scott’s located at the Sea Ranch in Sonoma County. We figured it would be a great time to visit there since San Diego can be a little warm and humid that time of year… and sure enough it was. The weather during our visit was nearly perfect – dry and cool and the famous fog stayed off the coast.
Getting There
We flew into Santa Rosa and drove along the Russian River to the coast. We followed the Shoreline Highway north to Sea Ranch, our home for the next 3 days.
History
Sea Ranch was created way back in the early1960s by several architects who wanted to preserve the natural beauty of the area along 10 miles of northern Sonoma County coast. The initial plan was a wood timbered lodge with condominiums. Buildings were to be of unfinished wood or muted-color stains with timber-frames and wood shake or rough wood, blend in with the topography, and somewhat echo the area’s farm buildings. Most of the buildings lack overhanging eaves to allow the wind to pass around the buildings. Over time single family homes became the most popular structures with currently about 1800 homes. Most of the homes have large view windows and a steep roofline with the highest point facing away from the ocean to deflect the nearly constant northwestern winds. Landscaping outside of the enclosed courtyards is restricted to only indigenous plants. The style was copied by architects in California and other parts of the country. Visiting there has a reminiscent feeling of being in the 60s and 70s.
Condominium One and the entrance marker on Highway 1, 1965. It was the first in the Sea Ranch development, a complex of ten units considered a single structure.
Credit: Morley Baer Photography Trust, Santa Fe; via Special Collections, University Library, University of California Santa Cruz
A large portion of the land was set aside as a park at the north end of the development with no public access through the development to the coast. Opposition to the lack of coastal access helped lead to the creation of the California Coastal Commission by ballot initiative in 1972. Today, there are several public parking lots along the coast highway with trails to beaches and overlooks. A ten mile long trail runs along the bluff tops. Scott and I would spend the next several days exploring the trail and nearby areas.
Beyond the low impact and unique architecture of the buildings, the most notable thing of Sea Ranch is what is missing. Almost all of the plants are native to the area, so there are no Eucalyptus, palms or many of the other plants seen frequently in California. There are a lot of windblown Monterey Cypress, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa, and Monterey and Bishop pines. The bluff tops are covered with mostly native wildflowers with the exception of a lot of naturalized South African iceplant in places.
Nearby a few of the original farm buildings were still standing. However, the old barn building has become unstable and no longer accessible.
Where we stayed
We stayed in one of the original shake-shingled single family houses built in 1966. Most of the interior walls were unfinished wood. We were close to the bluff and the house had a large windows looking northward along the coast. We watched the sunset into the Pacific each evening.
Cliff top trail
We spent a lot of our time exploring the cliff top trail at Sea Ranch.
The coastal California poppy, Eschscholzia californica maritima, is perennial with gray foliage and yellow flowers with an orange center. It also is more immune to mildew than the more commonly available, taller orange poppies.
Angelica, not sure which species since several are native.
Monterey Cypress framing the view.
African Kniphofia, red hot poker. Remnants of earlier gardens are seen throughout northern California.
African Kniphofia, red hot poker.
African Kniphofia, red hot poker.
Sea stacks.
A lovely little white sand beach.
Marine Life
Point Arena
We did a short visit into Mendocino County to Point Arena Lighthouse. The San Andreas fault runs just north of here and the geography of the sea cliffs was different from Sea Ranch. The cliffs were layered with softer rock which looked like coastal uplift. Undercutting of the cliffs by the surf had knocked over the cliffs in places.
Point Arena Lighthouse. The original lighthouse was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.
Sea arch formed in toppled cliffs.
Interesting fence made of upended flagstones. The yellow flower is Coast Goldenrod.
Solidago spathulata.
The line of rocks where once sea cliffs that were undercut by the surf.
Gualala River
Just north of Sea Ranch is Gualala Point Regional Park. Here the 40 mile long Gualala River enters the Pacific Ocean. The Gualala River runs parallel to the coast line roughly following the San Andreas fault through the coastal mountain range. Some of the largest redwood trees once grew along the river. But due to easy access from the river most of the old growth trees were cut down in the 1800s and after the 1906 earthquake to rebuild San Francisco.
Naked ladies, Amaryllis belladonna bloom in mass in old gardens in mid-August.
Sealion sculpture near the park headquarters.
Coastal sand verbena, Abronia latifolia, growing in beach sand.
Coastal sand verbena, Abronia latifolia.
Many creative structures built from the abundant driftwood on the beach.
A driftwood labyrinth.
Amazingly, Scott was able to find his way out of this labyrinth.
The fence marks the north end of Sea Ranch.
Sea cliffs and wind sculpted trees.
Wood stacks.
Dead wood was put into many stacks throughout the park. These will be burned during the wet season. The goal is preventing the buildup of fuel that could result in a much larger fire.
California Aster, Corethrogyne filaginifolia, was abundant in places.
The mouth of the Gualala River.
A large estuary where the river meets the sea.
Cool looking trees growing along the river and undergrowth.
Carved totems near the park entrance feature Russian-style equestrian carvings.
Sea Ranch Chapel
The non-denominational Sea Ranch Chapel was designed by San Diego local artist James Hubbell in 1985. More recently it has been restored and preserved. Like many Hubbell buildings it has a free-flowing shape with few right angles. It looks a bit like a seashell, or a witch’s hat, or…well lots of other things you might imagine.
Interior Details
Exterior Details
Coming Home
Life isn’t always a pretty sunset… well maybe for a few days it is.
But eventually you have to come home.
