How Stinson Beach dodged development and stayed wild

Before the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, access to Marin was by ferry. Then you could take a train partway up Mt. Tam and a stagecoach down to Stinson Beach.

There was not much there in 1900 except a campground with tents under the willow trees named “Willow Camp.” By the 1910s and 1920s the first buildings were completed: the hillside Old Town, southern Calles, Sea Beach Hotel, and Dipsea lodge.

But a forward-thinking and controversial move would halt development in its tracks and preserve the serene Stinson Beach as we know it today. The population today is just 541 residents! (And yes, vacation homes and rentals too, but just 773 housing units.)

Rather than approve developers to build more housing, around 1950 Marin County transferred the land to the California State Park System. This resulted in development only on privately own parcels around the small village, including the northern sandspit that would become a new gated subdivision called Seadrift.

Seadrift is the thin sandbar at the northern end of the main beach, up against the lagoon. It has had many famous homeowners including Dianne Feinstein, Phil Lesh, Danielle Steel, and many tech and finance people like Warren Hellman and the Genentech founders.

So next time you make your way out to Stinson, think how different things might have ended up.

[Thank you Eric Schmitt real estate for some of the facts. More realtors need to share local history!]

If we are going to dream, it should be a beach house, right?!

Marin isn’t Hawaii though. It’s not very comfortable swimming in the 56 degree ocean even on the hottest summer days. That’s why you should have a pool overlooking the ocean. You deserve it.

But the best part? "The pool on the beach is one of a kind there in Seadrift and cannot be replicated again. This pool creates something no one else has."

This home isn’t just for you to enjoy. It is a status symbol. This is your chance to be the only person on Billionaires’ Row with a pool right on the beach.

Zillow link

Thanks for reading. We will be back with the regular events and activities email Wednesday morning!

— Allison + Brian

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