It really is a toss-up whether, if someone dropped a couple of million dollars on my head, I would rather have a sheep ranch just inland from the coast or a house in Sea Ranch. But for now, thanks to Pinterest, I can have both! Cheap as free!
Actually, while Sea Ranch is amazing (if you don’t know the history, check it out here), it’s pretty isolated and involuted, so I might opt for one of the run-down (but still ungodly expensive) coastal cottages that pepper the cliffs along Highway 1 off and on from Tomales Bay to Mendocino. You know, the ones that have a telescope permanently posted up in the living room window for whale watching and a retired couple having cocktails on the deck no matter what time of day it is, as long as the sun is out.
Design-wise I ended up kinda splinched between the two options because Sea Ranch has a very specific look (at least the original houses, which are the ones I like): lots of wood and built-ins and eco-righteousness; that’s option A. The Internet was not feeling me on option B so I had to cobble it together from parts, but if you’ve glimpsed these cottages through their front windows while driving or biking by them, you’ll likely pick up what I’m laying down: washed-out neutral palette, slightly sunset-stained, lots of beach finds on the walls and in the corners, on the end table that lamp your mother-in-law gave you when you got married, your old couches upcycled with white slipcovers, everything a bit shabby and outdated but really comfortable. That’s the vibe I’m going for.
The Rookery 