Marin Magazine October 2015

BRAD HOWE

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IT’S A LONG JOURNEY TO BECOME THE ONE.

In our constant pursuit of absolute beauty, every Forevermark ® diamond undergoes a journey of rigorous selection. This is why less than one percent of the world’s diamonds are worthy of the Forevermark ® inscription –our promise of beauty, rarity and responsible sourcing.

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October is wine month here at Marin Magazine and for the last couple of years the topic has been featured on our cover. This time we chose art from Robert Holmes, who loves to photograph wine culture. Other people love the results; he won both first and second place in the Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year competition.

TIM PORTER (TOP LEFT AND RIGHT); CHRIS HARDY (MIDDLE); TONY PROBST (BOTTOM)

PUBLISHER / EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nikki Wood

Editorial

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Mimi Towle

MANAGING EDITOR Daniel Jewett

FASHION EDITOR

Veronica Sooley SENIOR WRITER Jim Wood

EDITOR-AT-LARGE Tim Porter

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Kasia Pawlowska COPY EDITOR Cynthia Rubin

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WHEN OCTOBER ROLLS around, there is only one thing on most Marin residents’ minds: the Mill Valley Film Festival. It’s an exciting time to explore new fi lms and start thinking about who might be in contention for an Oscar. This year, we proudly present our second annual guide to the event. You’l l fi nd it in the middle of the magazine; pull it out and bring it with you to learn more about the festival, fi nd screening times and even get a little backstory on Marin’s cinematic contributions.

In the regular issue we start things off with a story on second homes by writer Ann Wycoff. Whether you are considering such a purchase or just want to dream along with the rest of us, you’ll learn about three stunners that offer a respite from everyday life.

We continue with a story by Bill Marken on the mighty oak trees that, while not as famous as their redwood cousins, add character to the Marin landscape, particularly in places like the Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve. And continuing with the theme of natural landscapes, writer and photographer Robert Holmes paints a beautiful

picture of Sonoma’s winegrowing region and looks at plans to make the industry there 100 percent sustainable.

Up front we offer tips on being prepared for the next big quake, ask what your favorite Halloween candy is and find out how Limantour Beach got its name. We also introduce you to a scream queen, a local chef and a local cosmetics maker, a hand fan collector and the man helping to bring Marin a better hospital.

In Destinations we present ideas and tips for travel close to home — be sure to check out our new “Tank of Gas” piece — and a little farther a field. We also introduce you to Tony Probst, an individual with an interest in all things maritime, particularly when it relates to Pitcairn Island and the infamous HMS Bounty

It’s a jam-packed issue and we sincerely hope you enjoy reading it. Once you fi nish, it’ll be time to dig out that tux or fancy dress and head for the red carpet. We’ll see you there.

It’s an exciting time to explore new films and start thinking about who might be in contention for an Oscar.

Marin Magazine Staff Editors

From left: Mimi Towle, Nikki Wood and Dan Jewett receive some breaking news.

Slow Start for Tam Ridge

of California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) money on exurban developments in Arizona and Southern California.”

Newest development could provide Marin with a walkable community.

They are high density, but in the 21st century that’s where housing is headed.

BY JIM WOOD

ONLY IF YOU’VE spent the past four years on a deserted island would you not know the furor the Tam Ridge Residences (actually they’re apartments, 180 of them) have caused in Marin County. First it was the project’s massiveness; then its adding to tra ffic and drought problems; and lately it’s been the project’s colors. As a topper, last week a Corte Madera neighbor requested the media stop calling the development “WinCup,” referring to the 40-year-old steam-emitting factory that previously occupied the four-acre site adjacent to Highway 101. “It’s a disservice to the name WinCup,” she claimed.

Actually, I like the concept of Tam Ridge Residences. Yes, they are high density — 40 units per acre — but in the 21st century that’s where housing is headed. People want “walkable” communities. And Tam Ridge, on Tamal Vista Boulevard, is indeed that. Three retail centers and K-12 schools are less than a mile’s walk away. And transportation is also close by in the form of ferries, buses, the freeway and biking and hiking paths.

Tam Ridge is a development of MacFarlane Partners of San Francisco, headed by Victor B. MacFarlane. The company has been around for 25 years, not all of them pleasant years. The Great Recession smacked MacFarlane hard; according to the Washington Post, in 2011, MacFarlane’s assets under management went from $20 billion down to $4 billion. In the process, Victor MacFarlane, once referred to as the “most prominent African-American fi nancier in San Francisco,” lost his two $35 million penthouses at the St. Regis Hotel, where his longtime pal Willie Brown still resides, and his ownership of D.C. United, a soccer team based in the nation’s capital, where many of his real estate investments are located. And according to the Bay Citizen, “Mr. MacFarlane lost more than $1 billion

Tam Ridge Residences are one part of Victor MacFarlane’s comeback. He also recently bought and sold a key multimilliondollar property on San Francisco’s Market Street and reportedly is developing a 660-unit apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles.

Local rumors hold that MacFarlane’s fi nancial entanglements are to blame for Tam Ridge being a year late in coming to market. “That’s not entirely true,” says Mill Valley’s Hank Baker, a real estate marketing consultant who advised MacFarlane Partners in the early stages of development in Marin. “Much of the slowdown, I think, results from architect, contractor and developer di fferences — changes to plans, cost overruns, those kinds of things — that often occur in a project of this magnitude. It’s not unusual.”

As for rental income from 180 units lost during the extreme construction slowdown, Baker says, “Bay Area lease rate increases may offset the additional development costs.”

What a re the lease amounts? By snooping around, I discovered that an 850-squarefoot one-bedroom will go for about $3,000 a month, a 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom for $3,850 a month, and a three-bedroom town house for around $4,550 a month. Which means Tam Ridge will be occupied by households earning, on average, $130,000 a year. Meanwhile, 18 of the 180 units are classi fied as “a ffordable housing,” with rates based on a tenant’s income.

Nationwide, there’s ample evidence that people, young folks especially, not only want walkable communities, but are anxious to free themselves from their cars. And if public transportation is convenient it will be utilized.

That said, after a slow start but now nearing completion, Tam Ridge Residences could very well blend in here and possibly even enhance the livability and economy of Marin County. That’s my point of view. What’s yours?

Email pov@marinmagazine.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Marin Magazine and its staff. RICHARD

A strong community starts with a strong bank

Doing right starts right here. Community banking is at the heart of what we do. From giving customers more convenient access to their money to financing their home in the neighborhood, Union Bank® believes in acting locally.1 We also believe that investing in local businesses helps everyone. For over 150 years, Union Bank has grown strong, one community at a time. We live here. We do business here. And we’re here, for you.

Experience the strength of Union Bank. Stop by your local Marin County branch today. unionbank.com

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1 Loans subject to credit and collateral approval. Financing available for collateral located in CA, OR, or WA. Restrictions may apply. Terms and conditions subject to change.

©2015 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A.

Denys

By 2033, a private college education will cost half a million bucks. It feels awfully good to start planning now. If your wealth manager’s not driving the process, find someone who will. Don’t stay stuck in a loveless relationship — download our Practical Guide to Finding Happiness at www.privateocean.com/guide

POVYour Letters

Crime and Punishment

Dear Jim Wood: thank you for a history of the death penalty in Marin County (POV, August). As I am a man of simple thoughts and solutions, it occurred to me that the early technique of shooting was unsuccessful because of inaccurate ri flemen. My suggestion is that we may be able to employ accurate ri flemen and be able to proceed and reduce the overcrowding problem. I imagine some people will think that is inhumane. It is. So is raping and killing a defenseless woman or a young girl. If we have a court system designed to successfully determine guilt or innocence, and the overwhelming conclusion is that we have a brutal killer and threat to society, it seems the people of California believe that death is the right penalty. What is your solution to the threat these people pose to society? SCOTT GERBER, SAN RAFAEL, VIA

Union Strong

EMAIL

Dear Jim Wood: reading your article on the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (Looking Back, July) brought back memories of my younger years as a passenger in the backseat of our ’52 Chevy driving down the ramp to the ferryboat. However, I took exception to your statement that “union strikes beached the ferries that daily transported cars and commuters from Marin to the East Bay and back. Reliability was needed.” Sometimes a strike is important to let the public know what is going on. One more thing: that wonderful bridge was a very hard job done right and stood the test of time thanks to the union steelworkers, union carpenters and union laborers. ALFRED FERRERA, VIA EMAIL

Recycling Tips

Jim, thank you for your article (POV, July) regarding recycling. When I have recyclable items that I can put in my regular compost, I store them in the freezer in to-go containers, egg cartons or cereal boxes so there’s no stench. I then put them in the green can on the day of pickup and they stay frozen so there’s no mess. I also have a separate small garbage can for used tissues, paper towels and nutshells, which I also place in the green can. Hope this helps.

LYNN KEMMETER, SAN RAFAEL, VIA EMAIL

I see a future CEO or tech entrepreneur or senator!

I see half a million dollars in education debt. I see a future CEO or tech entrepreneur or senator!

I see half a million dollars in education debt.

feel PULL a

SUNVALLEY.COM

WHEN WHERE WHY YOU SHOULD GO

COST

FIND OUT MORE

Bay Area events you’ll want to attend

Friend us to share RSVP Hot Ticket photos at facebook.com/marinmagazine.

[UPCOMING EVENTS]

FORT ROSS FUN-RAISER

October 8, 6:30–10:30 p.m.

Bay Area Discovery Museum, 557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito

A night of great fun, fairies, fortunes and delectable treats under the majestic Golden Gate Bridge, all in an informal and festive ambience. We call it a “fun-raiser” so people can come, have true fun, enjoy the food, music, a bit of fairy-tale theater and circus acts, and learn a few new things about California natural history and heritage, most specifically about Fort Ross State Historic Park. All the proceeds from the event will go toward Fort Ross Park and initiatives dedicated to children and youth.

$375 212.257.6448, fortrossfoundation.org/funraiser

HOSPICE BY THE BAY’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY BALL

WHEN WHERE WHY YOU SHOULD GO COST

FIND OUT MORE

November 7, 6 p.m.–midnight

Marin Center Exhibit Hall, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael

Help us celebrate 40 years of service. At this event, you’ll be the star. Your red carpet entrance takes you back to the glamorous golden era of Hollywood. A sparkling cocktail lounge with a premier silent auction will greet you. Then it’s “lights, camera, action” with dining and dancing. Your place at the table will help us raise the curtain on our next 40 years and allow us to continue making a meaningful difference to those who come to us seeking care and support.

$250; sponsorships $350–$20,000

415.526.5500, events@hbtb.org, hospicebythebay.org

Want to see all the images from our RSVP Hot Ticket events? Visit marinmagazine.com/hotticket for the latest.

A Roar of Approval

What a gripping tale (“Botswana,” September), told with a great sense of humor, deep insight and attention to detail.

ASHOK KHANNA, NOVATO, VIA EMAIL

Still in Touch

Thanks so much for publishing a great magazine. We moved from Belvedere to Greenwich in 2007 and your magazine is a wonderful way for me to keep a connection.

HEIDI SCHARFMAN, OLD GREENWICH, CONN., VIA EMAIL

September Issue Corrections

In our “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” feature, a computer glitch caused two photos to appear in the wrong sections. This error meant two profi le shots did not run that should have. Below, see Mari Steeno of Issaquarium and Henry and Renee Baer of The Train Wreck The problem has been corrected online.

In On the

Job we incorrectly described Joanne Jarvis as a National Park Service ranger. She is a ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Your comments may be edited for clarity and brevity. Send letters to Marin Magazine , One Harbor Drive, Suite 208, Sausalito, CA 94965, or email us at letters@marinmagazine com . Please include the town where you live and a daytime phone number.

Finding the right home is so much more than the square footage and number of rooms. It is also about your quality of life and how you live outside those walls. Carey Hagglund Condy is not only one of the most respected luxury real estate agents in Marin County, but also one of its most passionate residents. Providing a unique and personal perspective to living in Marin County, her unparalleled knowledge, standard of care and attention to detail will help guide the journey to your perfect home.

Bay Area events you’ll want to attend

Friend us to share RSVP Hot Ticket photos at facebook.com/marinmagazine.

[UPCOMING EVENTS]

PERFECT PAIRINGS — A NIGHT OF FOOD, WINE, MUSIC AND STORIES

WHEN WHERE WHY YOU SHOULD GO

November 14, 5–9 p.m. Chateau St. Jean, 8555 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood

Enjoy an evening of food, wine, music and inspiring stories with host Spencer Christian of ABC-TV. You will be treated to culinary delights from chef Jim Modesitt of BBQ Pitmasters fame, Latin dance music from David Correa and Cascada and a special VIP reception with rising star Em Rossi. All proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay in its work to help children facing adversity realize their potential and build their futures.

GET OUT AND PLAY DAY

NEW IN TOWN

» Marin is already a great place to live, and these new businesses are making it even more fun. Check out what’s new (or just getting better).

BEAUTY

Sarah McClure of Greenbrae has launched 1 Sarah Rose Oil, an organic moisturizer you can purchase at United Markets, farmers’ markets and online; sarahroseoil.com. After moving to the U.S. from Kyrgyzstan with her daughter and husband in 2002, Oksana Kosmynina and her business partner Dianna Saypahrath have recently opened Atelier Salon in Mill Valley, offering cuts, blow-dry, makeup application and more; ateliersalon220.com

COST

FIND OUT MORE

$160

415.453.3800, mcunningham@ bbbsnorthbay.org, bbbsnorthbay.org

WHEN WHERE WHY YOU SHOULD GO COST

FIND OUT MORE

October 3, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Town Center Corte Madera

Celebrate healthy Marin living with a host of fun free events for the whole family. Bring down the bikes for a free bike safety check, let the kids hit the skateboard mini-clinic, stop by for a free outdoor spin or yoga class and so much more. Participants include Athleta, REI, the Bay Club, S.A. Elite, Lucy Activewear, Eddie Bauer and more.

Free

415.924.2961, shoptowncenter.com

Want to see all the images from our RSVP Hot Ticket events? Visit marinmagazine.com/hotticket for the latest.

HOME

Nashif Custom Designs sells quality custom original furniture that includes classics inspired by midcentury masters, as well as original designs; nashifcustomdesigns.com 2 Henrybuilt, known for its award-winning kitchen system, has opened up a showroom in Mill Valley on Miller Avenue; henrybuilt.com

To be considered for future listings, email lwalker@marinmagazine.com.

It’s a fact that during the 2008 catastrophic “bear” market downturn, most investors lost significant wealth – and faith – in financial markets. Many never fully recovered – financially or psychologically. Strangely, most investors are poised to make the very same mistake during the next big market decline. Unfortunately, this is a result of Wall Street’s “set it and forget it” approach to investing. Here at Main Street Research we see things differently. Our Active Risk Management process mitigates the risk of catastrophic decline, as was the case in 2008, while at the same time allowing investors to participate in today’s rising market. If you are interested in avoiding past mistakes and preparing for the “bear,” we should talk. Call or visit www.ms-research.com. Minimum relationship $1 million.

Bill Marken

Writer, “Oak Stories” (p. 60)

Bill Marken grew up in the Santa Clara Valley when there were more prune orchards and cattle ranches than tech startups, tra ffic jams and frappe cappuccinos. He was the editor-in-chief of Sunset magazine and other print and digital publications (Garden Design, Organic Style, ehow.com). Marken also served as president of the board of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. He is now a publishing consultant and writer on environmental and landscape subjects. Marken and his wife, Marilyn, live in Los Altos, near their grown children and 12 grandchildren, except for the “distant outliers in Orinda.”

Robert Holmes

Photographer/Writer, “Sustainably Sonoma” (p. 68)

In 1979, Bob Holmes moved to Marin from his native England. He quickly became established as one of the country’s leading travel photographers. He also specializes in the international wine industry and this year won both first and second places in the international Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year competition. He has contributed to more than 50 books, most recently Almonds with Marin Magazine contributor Lynda Balslev. To see more of Holmes’ work go to robertholmesphotography.com.

Calin Van Paris Writer, Various

Calin Van Paris is a Mill Valley native and the former assistant editor of Marin Magazine. Now a regular contributor and Petaluma resident, Van Paris continues to shout her love for Marin from Sonoma County rooftops, while journeying south frequently to feed her Sol Food addiction. She also writes about beauty for vogue.com and gets her kicks from long walks, Point Reyes beaches, good books, traveling, food and friends. For more of her work visit calinvanparis.tumblr.com.

Monty, Chairman

• in person

Roll Film

If you had a blast at the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) last year and used our guide to help you pick which movies to watch (and learn about Marin film history), then we are glad to tell you it’s that time of year again. The MVFF, now in its 38th year, is October 8–18 and we have put together the Ultimate Guide to the 38th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival. New this year is the MVFF music pass, providing access to nine evenings of music curated for the MVFF at Sweetwater Music Hall. Will you be attending? Let us know by tagging @marinmagazine and #MVFF38 in your photos.

New Look

When it comes to figuring out where to get breakfast, lunch or dinner here in Marin, our Dine Out section sure comes in handy. Now you’ll notice something even better about it: helpful service icons. Our improved Dine section includes new restaurant write-ups and symbols that tell you if a restaurant offers cocktails, is kid-friendly, has outdoor seating and much more. Is the legend useful? Let us know by leaving a comment on Facebook or tweeting @marinmagazine.

Fall Beauty Week at Saks

With fall finally here, what better way to prepare for those cold-weather-month parties than to head to Saks Fifth Avenue San Francisco’s fall beauty week? From October 1 to 10 receive an exclusive beauty tote with an in-store beauty purchase of $125. Be sure to make it opening day and nosh on some light bites and refreshments by All Seasons Catering from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information call 415.438.5264.

Marin Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to

MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

KEY to the CURE

Join Saks Fifth Avenue in the fight against cancer. Get the shirt, designed by Jason Wu, available exclusively at Saks this October. Then shop Thursday to Sunday, October 15 to 18, when Saks will donate 2% of sales to local and national cancer charities.*

Special thanks to Julianne Moore, the 2015 Ambassador for the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer and Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key To The Cure

I’m Mary Ann, and this is my healing place.

When Mary Ann Smith fell and broke her rib, she was covered with bumps and bruises. But as she healed, one large bump under her breast wouldn’t go away. Tests revealed a cancerous lump as big as a tennis ball. Having delivered all four of her kids at Marin General Hospital, Mary Ann felt confident choosing the Marin Cancer Institute for her treatment. She received a complete continuum of care, beginning with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor as much as possible before surgery. Then came a mastectomy, followed by radiation to eradicate any errant cancer cells. A year after her surgery, Mary Ann returned to Marin General Hospital for breast reconstruction using advanced oncoplastic surgery techniques. Today, Mary Ann is cancer-free and can often be tapping into the healing power of nature on her favorite beach.

To read more healing stories, visit www.maringeneral.org/healing

In Marin

CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE, PLACES AND CAUSES OF THIS UNIQUE COUNTY

BE PREPARED

When disaster strikes, it pays to have stored resources and a solid plan.

BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA

TIM PORTER

Batallion Chief Scott Barnes in the Mill Valley Fire Department’s fireresistant demonstration garden.

WHAT WILL YOU do when a fi re, earthquake, tsunami or other disaster threatens your house and family? In light of the recent New Yorker piece “The Really Big One” about the Cascadia subduction zone, we wanted to call attention to some best practices that should be employed in case of an emergency. Here’s a chart inspired by information on readymarin.org.

THE BASICS HOW DETAILS

“Hi-chews.”

MARIN’S FAVORITE CANDY

For Halloween this year we asked our Facebook friends to tell us what candy items they enjoy handing out the most. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know. K.P.

Build Your Kits

Make a Family Plan and Practice Store Food and Water

Download FEMA’s Family Communication Plan and ReadyMarin checklists to help organize your information.

Store your supplies so they are readily available in an emergency.

Choose nonperishable food that’s low in sodium and plan on a gallon of water per person a day.

Get Informed Take advantage of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to get training; register your cellphones with the Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) of Marin County at alertmarin.org.

Emergencies and disasters can happen when family members are at work or school: take time to make sure everyone understands how to get out and where to meet.

Create emergency contact cards as well as evacuation backpacks and mini-survival kits for work and home.

You will need to store food and water for at least three days, though you should aim for seven.

Your best defense in the case of an emergency is being educated; fortunately, Marin County offers multiple training options such as CERT and Get Ready to all residents.

Katrina Power

“Chocolate

Lee Walkien

“Glow

Nysa Wong Kline

“Kit Kats, Reese’s and Butterfingers together in a handful.”

Yvonne Deasy Gowdey

“Only

Christina Slayton

DigitA l Worl D…

An A log l if E.

In today’s world, connect I ons seem to be all about speed. At Whitetail Club, we see it differently. Connections here are about friendship and adventure and can take as long as you desire. We invite you to discover the premier private community in the Pacific-Northwest, located in spectacular McCall, Idaho, just 100 miles north of Boise. Live a life of unparalleled adventure and luxury.

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CREEPY CRAWLERS

Halloween time conjures up images of frightening creatures: bats, vampires and more. But the bloodsuckers parents should be most concerned about are far more commonplace, and as it turns out, the ever-rising popularity of selfies could be propagating these pests. We’re talking about lice, of course. Lice are highly contagious and can spread quickly from head to head, so all those close-up snaps your kids are taking with their friends are putting them at #risk. Research presented at this year’s national American Chemical Society meeting exposes another alarming side to the story: lice in at least 25 states are currently resistant to overthe-counter treatments. While “who gave it to whom” is often a mystery, here’s what we do know about these tiny creatures. K.P.

BY THE NUMBERS

FALSE CLAIM

Something that probably hasn’t crossed your mind when you walk your dog or watch the migrating whales on Limantour Beach is the unsavory past of the place’s namesake. In fact, about 175 years ago you might have seen the name Limantour in many other locations around the Bay Area. A French-born trader, Joseph Yves Limantour was living in Mexico City when he first landed — literally: he beached his vessel — on the Point Reyes Peninsula. The merchant continued to make frequent trips to and from San Francisco and resolved to own land in the area — and he did. Capitalizing on the lax laws of the Wild West, Limantour filed claims to more than 17,000 acres in Tiburon, the Farallones and beyond. The ploy didn’t stand for long and in 1858 the trader was found guilty of massive land fraud; the name of the larger estero was changed from Limantour to Drakes. K.P.

For the Good of the Kids

How much media should kids be exposed to, even when that media relates to education?

Many teachers and parents are finding a real upside to embracing technology in the classroom. Here are a few free educational apps that were born in Marin. K.P.

1 Tales Untold

Parents are right to be concerned about their kids spending time in front of screens, but what if there was a program that featured both fiction and nonfiction stories, each with its own plot and resolution, that came together to form a bigger narrative much like a podcast? For kids ages 3 to 7 that is exactly what Tales Untold offers. “The culture at large is becoming normalized to the concept of podcasts, and adults clearly love them. So why wouldn’t kids?” says founder Nick Vidinsky. talesuntold.com

2 Marin County Free Library

While many libraries are keeping things old school, the Marin Library is making itself more accessible to the masses by diving into the 21st century with a mobile app. The app lets you locate and search the library’s catalog of movies, books, music and other resources wherever you are. With the MarinLibrary app you can reserve or renew books as well as download and listen to audiobooks for free. marinco.boopsie.com

3 M odMath

ModMath helps students with dyslexia and dysgraphia (inability to write coherently) by circumventing the need for a pen and pencil when solving equations. The app functions like a virtual piece of graph paper that allows students to set up math problems in an easy-to-understand and legible way. Students can then print out the pages or email their teachers directly. A new version with updated features that will work for algebra students was just released. modmath.com

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QUESTIONS FOR

Barbara Crampton

The autumn nights grow dark and blustery as the month of October rolls its way through to Halloween. What better time to chat it up with Barbara Crampton, one of the preeminent Scream Queens of the past 30 years? The star of such classic horror films as Re-Animator and From Beyond in the mid’80s, with stints on TV soap operas The Young and the Restless, Guiding Light and The Bold and the Beautiful, and back in the horror genre this year with We Are Still Here, Crampton finally fled Hollywood with her husband, financial executive Robert Bleckman, 15 years ago to raise her three children in Mill Valley. We caught up with her in broad daylight, feeding on a spinach salad at The Depot. MARC HERSHON

Actress MILL VALLEY

1

2

What’s the first horror movie you ever saw? The Exorcist. That movie is so scary!

Do you ever get scared watching a horror movie? I do.

The Shining still scares me. That’s one of my favorite movies and I watch it today. The scene with Jack Nicholson and the girl in the bathtub in that room? It’s the freakiest scene to me and I still get scared when I watch it.

3

How do you still manage to be scared even though you know all the tricks of the trade? I like to be a good audience and I like to be scared, so I want the filmmaker to scare me. I want to enjoy that. I don’t want to sit there and analyze it. I want to go along for the ride because I really believe that horror movies are a thrill ride. They’re fun. They’re an adventure.

4

Are there types of images that you think are inherently frightening to most people? There’s something about an expressionless or a frozen expression or not being able to see someone’s face that’s scary. Like in Friday the 13th, the fact that you can’t see Jason’s face and it’s just a mask — that image is so creepy.

5

What about your children? Are they allowed to watch your movies? I have three: a bonus child — my stepson, Ben — who is 20, and my own two kids, Olivia and Luke who, at 12 and 13 respectively, are not allowed to watch most of my movies, because I’m either scantily clad or they’re too scary, but they did both watch We Are Still Here . I thought my daughter would be too scared but I was in the room with her and she was OK.

6

What do your kids think about your career? They like the fact I did and still do movies. I think it’s because most little boys and girls think, at some point, “I want to be an actor.” So they think what I do is fun, and cool, and make-believe.

7

Any other interests? I worked hard during the past seven years reinventing the Garden Faire at Edna Maguire Elementary [in Mill Valley].

8

Why Marin? I love it here. It’s been a great place to raise kids. Mill Valley’s such a fantastic community — so supportive of children’s education. My kids go to public school. They’re so supportive of all the sports teams, and everybody cares about one another, and I just love Mill Valley.

9

Do you have any favorite hangs in Marin? I like the Sequoia theater, just because it’s cool and old-fashioned. And I like going to the comedy nights at the Throckmorton when I get a chance.

10

Do you help your kids with their Halloween costumes? Oh, yeah. Always. Normally, we buy like 10 different costumes for each kid because we get so excited about it. So we have 20 costumes in our living room and, depending what party they’re going to, as the run-up to Halloween, they get to wear different costumes. I’ll do their makeup for them — scars, blood eyes, fake blood.

11

You’ve made a number of t op 10 Scream Queen lists through the years. And you’ve done a lot of onscreen screaming. What does it take to be a queen of the screams? In horror movies, any scream is a good scream. Still managing to look good while you’re doing it, that’s the secret of a good editor. Hopefully, they’re taking the best angles they have and cut around a weird wrinkle in your forehead or a grimace on your face. This is something I’ve thought about while screaming, because I’ve done quite a bit of it. You don’t want to look bad, but you want to make it look as natural as possible and as real as possible. m

Author Talk

MM: Your book details a number of exciting and varied journeys. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned while traveling? JW: I’ve learned we are all just people — once societal barriers are overlooked, we all just want to live our lives. The most contented people I encountered lived rather sparse, simple lives in remote Tibetan villages.

MM: How long have you been working on your book? When did you realize you needed to share your story with others? JW: In many ways, I’ve been working on my book all my life, which is now approaching 80 years. I’m a strange duck who loves life and wants to make the very most of every minute of living. What a Trip! was written to explain who I am to my daughters and, in effect, to me. But when I finished — the writing part took 10 years — Steve Costa of Point Reyes Books really got me thinking about sharing my work and stories with others.

MM: Which experience would you choose to relive if possible? JW:

I’d return to the Tibet of 30 years ago in a heartbeat. It changed my life in that it calmed my ambitions and increased my contentment. I also could retrace my journey across America, which I traversed via buses, trains and hitchhiking in 1980–81. It would be fascinating to see how things have changed.

MM: What advice do you have for future life-embracers like yourself? JW: As you age, stay in the game — don’t become a spectator to life. Travel in an adventuresome way, take public transportation whenever possible, work hard doing something that helps the community, exercise regularly and do your best to stay positive. Don’t let life tell you what to do; you tell life how you want to live. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you have to walk slow and hunched over — stand tall. And smile. CALIN VAN PARIS

Jim Wood will discuss What a Trip! at Book Passage in Corte Madera on October 22 at 7 p.m. See book events in Calendar for more.

Local Page Turners

Tangled Vines by Frances Dinkelspiel (Berkeley), St. Martin’s Press, $26.99. Noted California historian Frances Dinkelspiel investigates the tangled history of California wine and uncovers the avaricious scheme behind the costliest destruction of wine in history Appearing at Book Passage Corte Madera October 25, 4 p.m.

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra (Oakland), Hogarth, $25. From the Stalinist purges to contemporary Chechnya, Marra takes us on a captivating tour of Russian life, illustrating the dramatic changes over the last century. Here we see both the beauty of St. Petersburg and the darkness of Grozny, and we meet amazing characters like a Siberian beauty queen and a Russian soldier. Appearing at Kidney Foundation Luncheon in San Francisco October 24, 10 a.m.

Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson (San Francisco), Random House, $27. A programmer from Palo Alto, a father in post-Katrina Louisiana, a former Stasi agent in Berlin, defectors in Seoul — the characters in these six short stories each struggle with love, loss and the consequences of their past decisions. Appearing at Book Passage Corte Madera October 21, 7 p.m

Devil’s Chessboard by David Talbot (San Francisco), Harper, $29.99. Allen Dulles may be remembered as the longest-serving head of the CIA, but the true story is far more mysterious: his connections to top financiers in Germany during World War II allowed Dulles to begin a shadow campaign in both Europe and America early in his career. Working from newly released U.S. government documents, personal correspondence with Dulles’ wife and interviews with his daughter, David Talbot exposes one of America’s greatest untold stories Appearing at Book Passage Corte Madera November 10, 7 p.m.

The

Only Woman in the Room

by Rita Lakin (San Rafael), Applause Theatre & Cinema Book Publishers, $29.99. As a scriptwriter, Rita Lakin broke into the boys’ club that was Hollywood television in the early 1960s. Widowed and with three young children to support, Lakin began with a secretarial job at Universal Studios and with perseverance climbed the ladder to become executive producer and show-runner, meeting many fascinating Hollywood luminaries along the way. Appearing at Book Passage Corte Madera October 24, 1 p.m.

Book picks by Book Passage Head Buyer Luisa Smith.

We sat down with Marin Magazine’s own Jim Wood to discuss his new book, What a Trip! A Mostly Positive Life Story.

Innovating Care for Dementia

The Ray Dolby Brain Health Center at CPMC

Launched by a visionary philanthropic investment from Dagmar Dolby and her family, under the direction of Catherine Madison, M.D. the Ray Dolby Brain Health Center at CPMC has helped hundreds of local families deal with not only the challenges of medical care, but also the stress and practical considerations of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Now, in a move toward developing innovative new treatments for dementia, the center has hired Alireza Atri, M.D., Ph.D., formerly of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School to hold the Ray Dolby Endowed Chair in Brain Health Research. “We want to support patients and their families,” says David Dolby. “And we welcome the participation and philanthropic support of the entire community.”

(Left to right): David Dolby, Catherine Madison, M.D., Dagmar Dolby, and Alireza Atri, M.D., Ph.D.

Chef’s Life

Payao “Mama” Suthipipat, chef, Kitti’s Place, 3001 Bridgeway, Sausalito, kittisplace.com

AS THE SIXTH of nine children in Bangkok, Thailand, Payao “Mama” Suthipipat grew up in the kitchen. At 63, she’s still there, turning out up to 150 meals a day as the chef at Kitti’s Place, the family restaurant where she’s worked for two decades with her daughter, Lisa, and husband, Kitti. How did you learn how to cook? From my mom. My family was always in the kitchen. We never went out anywhere. What’s your job? I shop for the food, I cook and I prepare a menu of specials every week. Where do you shop? I go to the produce market in San Francisco. (“It’s like Disneyland for Mom,” daughter Lisa says.) It’s fresh and nice. I know exactly where my meat comes from, where my vegetables come from. You know in this business I don’t make much money, but I love it. Why? I like the people. (“She loves the guys who work in the market,” Lisa adds with a laugh.) What are your hours? I get here around 10 and I’m done by 9:30. Almost 12 hours? That’s OK. If you love something that you do you’re not going to be tired. Every day? Six days a week.

Most restaurants don’t last 20 years. What’s your secret? It’s in my blood. And I cook from my heart. I don’t like to take vacations. When I do, I feel so empty every day. When you’re working it’s like a challenge. Work is good. Where do you come up with your new ideas? I get inspired when I go hiking. I hike the hill above Rodeo Beach on Sundays, my day off. I go at 8 in the morning. It’s beautiful by the water. It clears my head. Do you go alone? No, with my husband. Not Lisa? No, she does yoga. We need a break from each other. I love working with her, but sometimes a mother and a daughter — you understand? Advice for a would-be restaurateur? You have to love your job with your whole heart. That is the most important thing. And don’t give up. Don’t give up. Have you considered giving up? Many times. But I told myself that giving up is not a challenge. You have to keep going. I’ve learned that if you try and you keep trying hard that someday you will have the things you wish for. You’re kind of tough, aren’t you? Absolutely. m

TIM PORTER

It’s not easy working in the same restaurant for 20 years, but this Sausalito cook wouldn’t have it any other way.

BY TIM PORTER

There are 288 children, 0-3 years old, who need child care, but whose families can’t afford it. At an average cost of more than $1,100 per month, it’s simply beyond their reach.

That’s why the Marin Child Care Council has created Fund 288. All funds raised will help increase the supply of affordable child care spots in facilities across Marin. Immediately.

Quality child care is one of the most important investments that a community can make – and this is an issue we can solve together.

Donate today at www.fund288.org or by calling 415-472-1092.

Let’s give our county’s children the best possible start to their lives.

Major support provided through a partnership with the Marin Community Foundation.

This is a newborn baby girl.

The course of her entire life will be determined in the next three years.

Together, we can make those years count.

MADE BY MARIN

lilah b.

CRADLING A SLEEK, white compact from lilah b. in your palm is akin to finding a lucky pebble. Small but surprisingly weighty (the compacts, not their contents), lilah b. products excel in both form and function, packing moisturizing, highintensity lip and cheek color, eye color, foundation and bronzer — each crafted from earthy ingredients including aloe and agar, an algae derivative — into magnetized pots reminiscent of sea-polished stones. The Sausalito-based company was launched earlier this year by Cheryl Yannotti Foland, who spent more than a decade advising beauty brands and found that despite the endless supply of products at her disposal, she always returned to a favored few. “With lilah b., I’ve tried to create a n innovative, high-performance collection that allows women to achieve a finished look with fewer products — making beauty simple,” she says. With buildable lip colors that act more like stains than balms and a range of luminous, lightweight pressed-powder foundations, a few of these pretty pebbles may be all you need in your makeup bag. PHILOSOPHY The brand’s pristine packaging echoes its refreshingly pure composition — each product is free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and phthalates. Simplicity in both design and formula represent lilah b.’s overarching message: in an increasingly cluttered world, your beauty routine can and should be easy, even mindful, with a pared-down collection of options that enhance your natural look without harsh additives. THE SCOOP The streamlined, well-edited collection includes the Divine Duo lip and cheek color, Flawless Finish pressed powder, the Bronzed Beauty bronzer duo and the Palette Perfection Eye Quad, each contained in stone-inspired compacts. Prices for the little treasures — as well as the specially designed retractable brushes — range from $42 to $48. MARIN Beginning this fall, lilah b. will be available at Napa Valley’s luxurious Meadowood Spa, the first resort to carry the products. WHAT THEY SAY “I have a true passion for beauty and, using the skills I’ve learned over the years, decided to build my own beauty brand,” says Yannotti Foland. “In an already cluttered space, I drew inspiration from my recently simpli fied and all-around healthier lifestyle.”

DIVINE DUO IN B. MEMORABLE, $46

CREASE BRUSH #4, $30; EYE/LIP LINER #5, $28

FLAWLESS FINISH FOUNDATION IN B. ORIGINAL, $48

PALETTE

The Sausalito Office

YOUR HOME SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOU. WE’RE HERE TO LISTEN.

Your home is a reflection of you. Ferguson’s product experts are here to listen to every detail of your vision, and we’ll work alongside you and your designer, builder or remodeler to bring it to life. Schedule a one-on-one consultation with us today.

Fan Fare

collection.

PAMELA SHER IS the founder and director of the Hand Fan Museum, the only one of its kind in the United States, located right off ealdsburg’s square on its eponymous avenue. As one might expect, a hand fan is a handheld air mover that was much more popular before the advent of air-conditioning. In 2003 Sher showcased around 1,200 fans in a 200-square-foot space, but has since expanded her reach by moving 500-or-so of the collectibles from all across the globe to a bigger space next door at the h2hotel, a property she and her husband, Merritt, are partners in.

KASIA PAWLOWSKA

COLLECTOR Pamela Sher COLLECTION Fans

YEARS COLLECTING At least 20

HOW MANY PIECES? More than 1,000

WHY? It’s a long story, but the pursuit combined my two greatest interests, art and history. I am a former art and history teacher. This collection has gone on to become the core collection of the Hand Fan Museum.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST PIECE? A 19thcentury Viennese advertising fan with a pug on it. We were pug owners at the time.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THE FANS? In junk and antique stores, from other collectors and at auction. Drouot, an auction house in Paris, has special auctions just for fans. The museum’s collection has also grown from donations.

HAVE YOU COME ACROSS OTHER HAND FAN COLLECTORS? A nyone with an interest in hand fans can join a local group like the East Bay Fan Guild, which meets in Oakland. There are also larger groups like the Fan Association

of North America that meets annually. The European group, Fan Circle International, is based in the U.K. Incidentally, a new fan company created to produce modern folding fans is just starting up here in Marin; it is called Pleat.

FAVORITE? That is like asking who your favorite child is, but a trompe l’oeil fan where mice appear to eat the fan itself, a 19th-century German ivory fan with carved lily of the valley relief, and a 19th-century large French satin leaf fan with painted roses are some of my favorites.

HIGHEST-PRICED ITEM More than $10,000

LOWEST-PRICED ITEM Free

You can keep cool in style with this world-class

Lee Domanico

BY JIM WOOD PHOTOS BY TIM PORTER

MANY SAID IT couldn’t be done.

Six years ago, the health care giant Sutter Health prematurely released Marin General Hospital from a management contract following years of political turmoil. Thus the relatively small hospital, as compared to San Francisco über-institutions such as UCSF and California Paci fic Medical Center, was free to fend for itself. At the time, many thought forced to fend for itself was the more appropriate term.

The CEO of Marin Healthcare District has led Marin General Hospital from times of turmoil to a triumphant groundbreaking of a new $550 million facility.

In an age of massive health care operations and collaborations, how could a stand-alone, independently run hospital hope to compete? Health care giant Kaiser Permanente already had a Marin enrollment estimated at 40 percent of the county’s 255,000 residents. And MGH had allegedly just seen $100 million disappear

from its cash reserves when the management contract was terminated. Furthermore, the hospital was hardly known for high morale among its doctors and nurses. And if staff spirits were low, some surveys indicated customer satisfaction was even lower. As if all that wasn’t enough, Marin General, owned by the state-established nonprofit Marin Healthcare District, was required by law to be seismically retrofitted within a few years, at a cost that reached into the millions of dollars.

Enter Mill Valley’s Lee Domanico, then 57, with a B.A. in industrial engineering from University of Michigan, a master’s degree in the same field from Stanford and, perhaps more important, 30 years of experience in the rugged business of hospital administration. By 2013, after less than four years of leading the health care district, Domanico and his staff had given county residents (save for the areas not in the district: Novato and portions of West Marin) such confidence they convincingly approved a $394 million bond issue to finance MGH’s needed improvements and seismic retrofit. Obviously, staff and patient outlooks had markedly improved.

So we’re all on the same page, what will the project entail and what is the construction sequence? Here’s how it will work: a 455-space parking structure for our staff s already under construction. This will free up ground parking for patients and visitors and provide a footprint for our new structure. The architecturally

iconic west wing building was constructed in the 1980s, so it is seismically sound and will remain, but will be remodeled to accommodate 57 private rooms, with an option to expand to 79 beds if needed. What we call the “east central building,” built in the ’60s and not earthquake safe, will be taken down and replaced with a 266,000-square-foot structure that will be attached to the west wing and have 115 private rooms. We’re calling that project “MGH 2.0.” This construction should be completed in 2020.

Is that the scope of the project? Not quite. A 100,000-square-foot medical services building and an accompanying 435-space parking structure have been approved and planned for, but will not be built until sometime after 2020, when the fi rst phase of construction is completed.

Will the hospital remain open during construction? Absolutely. Of course there will be construction noise, but every effort will be made to keep it to a minimum. We will utilize the west wing while the replacement hospital, or MGH 2.0, is under construction, then use the new building while the west wing is being remodeled. As I said, we expect this fi rst phase to take four years.

Domanico and his staff had given county residents such confidence they convincingly approved a $394 million bond issue to finance MGH’s needed improvements and seismic retrofit.

A garden view is featured in the new 115-room Marin General Hospital being built by LBL Architects.

Will completion of the first phase result in a larger Marin General Hospital? It will be about the same square footage, around 350,000 square feet, and the same number of beds, 194, but the new rooms will almost all be private, with either a Mount Tam or a garden view.

In 2013, Marin voters approved a $394 million bond issue to construct an earthquake-safe, virtually new hospital. However, the entire project, not including the medical services building and its parking garage, is estimated to cost $550 million. Where will the missing $156 million come from? We’ve already started a “Friends and Family” capital campaign that to date has raised about $20 million. So we’re confident personal donors and foundation grants will eventually fill that gap. Oper ating as an independent hospital means having as small a debt load as is possible.

The renderings of MGH 2.0 are very impressive. Considering health care’s constantly rising costs, possibly too impressive. Will the new MGH be a “health care palace”? By intention we are not building a health care palace. However, we are constructing buildings that will exude con fidence, that will be comfortable, healing environments. We are building

The new rooms will almost all be private, with either a Mount Tam or a garden view.

to the Kaiser cost model; our square foot cost is comparable to the new Kaiser hospital in Oakland. We know this because we are using the same contractor and we’ve had two other estimates to ensure that our costs are reasonable. We are not wasting money, but we will give the community a very good hospital.

Who is the architect? It is LBL Architects, based in Los Angeles. They are also doing the new $2 billion Stanford hospital. Our hospital is being designed to be a healing environment. By that I mean one with access to nature; one that is quiet; one that, as we say, “brings the outside inside.” There will be large solariums in the corners of the buildings for patients and visitors to use.

Regarding a new Stanford hospital, California Pacific Medical Center is also building a new facility. How will MGH compete? What will be MGH’s niche? For what we do, we need to provide the same level of sophisticated, highly complex care as you could get anywhere in the Bay Area. We need to provide a level of service for the patient that you might fi nd at a larger hospital.

Reportedly, your salary is at the $1 milliona-year mark, among the highest for hospital administrators in California. Would you comment on that? Also, do you plan to stick around once a new MGH is in place? That salary figure includes a bonus, which is about 45 percent of my compensation. The bonus is based on safety, quality of service, growth, the new hospital and fundraising. So it’s a balanced scorecard. And the chances of maximizing the bonus are maybe 10 percent. So it’s not easy. My salary is reviewed by a board committee, which in turn hires compensation consultants, who give the board an opinion on my compensation being reasonable, being fair and meeting IRS standards for a not-for-profit organization. Compensation, like many things, is based on what the market will pay for certain skills and talents. I’d rather be paid like a college football coach, but I’m not a college coach, I’m a hospital CEO — so I get paid like other hospital CEOs. As for remaining on the job, my goal is to get the new hospital finished. That’s the current plan; we’ll see what happens after that. m

Home Sweet SECOND HOME

Whether it’s Tahoe, Maui or wine country, these Marinites all love retreating to their getaway place.

BY ANN WYCOFF

Maui Magic

OWNERS

Maria and Tony Crossley of Corte Madera

LOCATION

Wailea Beach, Maui

SETTING

An oceanfront penthouse at the 11-acre private resort Wailea Beach Villas overlooking a crescent beach of golden sand

DISTANCE FROM MARIN

5 hours by plane

LAYOUT

2,500-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath with wraparound lanai

WHY HERE In 2001, the Crossley family decided to forgo their annual tradition of a chilly Christmas in England and headed to Maui, unsure if they would like warm weather over the holidays. “It ended up being the best thing ever,” Maria says with a laugh. After falling in love with the area and staying at Grand Wailea for several years, they bought a Wailea Beach Villas penthouse unit next door, based on a drawing. Maria, her husband, Tony, and their two kids have been enjoying the beach, scuba diving, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, biking and hiking lifestyle on Maui ever since.

DESIGN “What sold us was the fact it was a corner unit with a large wraparound lanai with amazing views of the ocean and Haleakala,” Maria says. “I still gasp when I enter the front door and see the ocean view beyond the living area. We love the open contemporary design and high ceilings. The floor-to-ceiling windows slide back into the wall on either side, creating a beautiful open space. It’s really light and bright.”

DETAILS Maria, who owned the English sweater retail shop The Clever Shepherd in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square for many years, took on the challenge of interior design, shipping high-end contemporary furniture from McGuire and other showrooms in San Francisco. “Beautifu l fi nishes include solid mahogany doors, travertine floors in the common area, granite in bathrooms and kitchen, and top-notch kitchen appliances from brands like Thermador, Bosch and Gaggenau and two Subzero refrigerators.”

FAVORITE ELEMENTS “The property has an adult pool right on the oceanfront, so you can sit and read and watch the whales and people come and go,” Maria says. “Also, you can walk to everything — beaches, restaurants, shopping; sometimes we go for days without ever getting in a car.”

ADDED BONUS The purchase of their penthouse included membership to the Grand Wailea Resort and use of the pool facilities, gym and spa. And since the property is in the Destination Residences Hawaii rental pool, they can rent it out when they are not using it.

PERFECT DAY “What’s nice about Wailea is the coastal path,” Maria says. “We sometimes joke, ‘Are we going to go left or right today?’ We wander down for breakfast at 5 Palms or head to Secret Beach. We kayak and paddleboard right out front of our place, as the beach is really safe, with no strong undertow. We like to go to Andaz for appetizers and cocktails at sunset, Monkey Pod for mango mai tais and Spago at the Four Seasons for dinner. That’s the beauty of it. It’s all right there.”

Into the Woods

WHY HERE The Hoenigman family bought this stunning property three years ago and finished remodeling it in summer 2015. “It has everything we want in a year-round vacation home,” Amanda says. “Skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking, biking, boating and beaches in the summer. And it’s so easy to get here from Belvedere. It’s a wonderful place to spend time with multiple generations of family and friends.” Homewood not only has great access to the lake for summertime activities but also has its own small but fun ski resort.

DESIGN The four-story mountain home has something for everyone, including a grandparent suite on the bottom floor, family game room, gorgeous master suite, guest rooms and a playroom and bunk room for the kids. Amanda describes the interior as industrial rustic: “We have reclaimed ceilings and wood elements, along with a lot of metalwork and cut pipe hardware.” The Hoenigmans worked closely with San Francisco firm Artistic Designs for Living, and artist Jim Misner lent his creative touch in the lightning department. “He found old materials to make unique light fi xtures like an upside-down antique ski gurney for the dining room, minnow baskets in the kitchen and magnifying lenses in the game room,” Amanda says.

DETAILS “My favorite thing is the guesthouse’s truss roof,” says Vince. “I really wanted to build a true timber-framed building with big wood beams and no nails, but it’s hard to do with earthquake codes and

heavy snow loads. We were able to build it with massive wood trusses so the true structure is exposed. It feels like a bell tower up in the loft when you’re looking through the framework, and it has great views of the aspen trees.”

FAVORITE ELEMENTS “I love the painting of the four stars in the game room by Blair Bradshaw,” Amanda says. “And the old ski lift, which we converted into a bench that sits on the deck of the main house and overlooks the creek.”

ADDED BONUS “Our property abuts the Homewood Ski Resort so it’s ski-in, ski-out,” says Vince. “And the national forest is our backyard, so no one can build behind us. It’s totally secluded yet just two blocks from the lake.” Amanda adds, “Homewood is a down-to-earth, tight-knit community. We love all the neighbors. We won the lottery on this spot.”

PERFECT DAY “It’s nice to begin the day on the boat and then hike the Rubicon Trail, which starts along the water, so there are beautiful lake views from the moment you take you r fi rst step,” Amanda says. “Later, we’ll head to the beach and go kayaking or stand-up paddling, and then walk to the West Shore Cafe, where we can sit on the deck and enjoy great food and beautiful views. Back at the house it’s fun to roast marshmallows over the fi re pit and make s’mores and just hang out with the family.”

OWNER

Tracy McLaughlin of Ross LOCATION

St. Helena, Napa Valley

SETTING

A private estate on the Napa Valley floor surrounded by acres of vineyards and sweeping mountain views

DISTANCE FROM MARIN

1 hour and 20 minutes

LAYOUT

5,500-square-foot, four-bedroom main house and two-bedroom detached guesthouse with living room and kitchen, all on a level acre with its own chardonnay grapes

Wine Country Wonder

WHY HERE McLaughin, a Ross native and present-day resident, has owned second homes in both Aspen and Lake Tahoe, but concluded that with her three children’s busy schedules and lives, “it’s very hard to mobilize our family when a plane ride or longer car drive is involved.” She adds, “I bought a place that I knew my three children could easily drive to and bring their friends. The setting, warmer weather and agricultural aspect of the valley are so different from Marin, yet so easily accessible by car, which makes for an ideal second home location.”

DESIGN As a top real estate agent in Marin County, McLaughlin has seen every style of house imaginable and knew immediately this was the place for her and her children. “It’s the best layout I have seen for new construction in this type of environment,” she says. “The site placement, scale, simple architecture, floor plan, and perfectly executed indoor/outdoor living are really hard for most developers to get right.” The house was developed by Millie Froeb of Tiburon, with Kari Cusack, also from Tiburon, designing the interiors. Landscaping was done by Michael Yandle. “I see so many houses in all price ranges, and this house and property just spoke to me,” McLaughlin adds. “It was designed for cooking and entertaining — basically for the celebration of family and friends. It’s the first home that I have owned where the kitchen taps me on the shoulder and really inspires me to cook.”

DETAILS “The heart of the house is a grand scale, with 18-foot ceilings and tall walls of glass that recede into the walls, literally bringing the outdoors in,” McLaughlin says. “When you walk inside, you look straight out over the pool and into the vineyards and surrounding mountain ranges. It’s just spectacular. Millie kept it very simple inside, selecting classic, timeless materials with a modern application. Your eyes are not pulled by the house interior but by this incredible setting. Each bathroom is en suite, giving me the ability to have six couples stay for a weekend with their own sense of space and privacy. It’s also a very recreational space with a pool, spa, bocce court and the unique experience of walking out into your own vineyards with a glass of wine.”

FAVORITE ELEMENTS “There’s a very limited number of properties in this area. I love the borrowed landscape that I get to enjoy. Duckhorn Vineyards is just down the lane. And the charming Wine Country Inn is right next door. There’s also a sense of authentic country ‘funk,’ as you’l l fi nd an old red cabin where someone has lived for 45 years next to a beautiful vineyard estate. I like that there’s some diversity and like the eclectic nature of the neighborhood. It’s an agricultural community that truly blends the old with the new.”

ADDED BONUS “We just planted chardonnay grapes. I know zero about the wine business, but thought that it would be fun to learn something new. I’ll leave it to the children to come up with a creative name.”

PERFECT DAY “Some of the fi nest restaurants and wineries are right in St. Helena and we can walk into town for dinner. An ideal evening starts with a glass of champagne at Auberge for sunset; then we head over for dinner at Press, a local favorite.”

OakStories

A Bay Area man connects with these mighty biological wonders and ponders their future.

BY BILL MARKEN • PHOTOS BY JACK WOLFORD

Oaks tell stories.

Where di fferent species choose to live can tell you how hot or cool an area is, or how wet or dry, or what lies underneath. A close look at the leaves can clue you in to the wild creatures that munch on them and depend on the trees. And, of course, the presence — or absence — of oak trees usually reflects the impact of humans on a place.

The story that oaks tell about the impact of humans in California is mostly a sad one. Natural landscapes dominated by oak trees once covered more than a third of the state. Starting around 1850, clearing trees for agriculture and grazing decimated vast oak lands, and a century later the subdivision boom in flamed a trend that has never really ceased. Biologists now estimate that more than a third of California’s original 10 to 12 million acres of oak woodlands have been lost since settlement, and only about 4 percent of the remaining woodlands are protected. When oaks are lost, so are many of the wild creatures and other plant life that are part of the oak’s rich natural web — among the most biodiverse of the state’s ecosystems.

The Santa Clara Valley where I grew up, in what today is called Silicon Valley, was one of those places where the original oaks were mostly bulldozed away for orchards or tract homes or, later, buildings for the high-tech industry. But even as a kid, I got a sense of how much the early settlers venerated the rolling hills of golden grass studded with sturdy live oaks and the vast plains with huge, gnarly valley oaks spaced far apart like in a park. There were roads called Oak Glen and Fallen Oak. There was Oak Dell Park. There was Encinal School (encina in Spanish refers to an evergreen oak). My high school was Live Oak, and the school paper was the Oak Leaf, the yearbook La Encina, and the team nickname was inevitable — I guess we took the local oak-ness so much for granted that there was no shame in wearing a basketball jersey with Acorn emblazoned on it.

Maybe out of nostalgia or searching for a lost past, I have been checking out oak landscapes — preserved and restored — throughout California for the past few years. For instance, at Grinding Rock State Park in the Sierra foothills, magni ficent valley oaks, some of them on their last legs, give a powerful sense of the ancient landscape as well as its depressing decline; stone outcroppings, the size of a house, peppered with thousands of mortar holes, still attest to the native tribe’s dependence on acorns as a staple of their diet. At Cosumnes River Preserve, south of Sacramento, you can walk through a near-jungle river habitat of oaks thick with lacy lichen and chattering birdlife, and then into a grassy savanna of valley oaks rising “like a Gothic cathedral on rich floodplain,” in the words of botanist/author Bruce Pavlik. In the open hills above Stanford University, I admire the ongoing tree-planting of volunteers restoring the pre-settlement landscape of rolling oak grasslands nearly destroyed by cattle grazing and browsing by deer enjoying a recent population boom.

But in this search for original oak landscapes I had overlooked Marin County. When I was a kid, Marin seemed far away, and I never visited there until my college years. My impression then: Marin was greener, more pastoral, more natural, more protected than any place I had seen elsewhere in the Bay Area. Today, with Marin just an hour away during non-commute time, that impression of enlightened environmentalism still holds up, and Marinites tell me they thank the visionary conservationists who fought so hard to save the coast, West Marin and other local natural treasures.

Oaks don’t dominate vast landscapes in Marin as they do elsewhere. They have inspired few if any place names in the county — compared with the dozens of cities named for oaks throughout California, including Thousand Oaks, Oakland, Oakdale, Encino, and on and on. In Marin, the California bay and the redwoods dominate the landscape.

Actually, though, you can’t go far in Marin County without seeing one type of oak or another. Marin claims 10 native oak species (about half are low-growing shrubs), according to the 1949 classic Marin Flora, by John Thomas Howell. I encountered five of the tree types in a sort of wonderland of oaks: Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve, just offHighway 101, at the north edge of Novato. The preserve’s fi ne old trees are as majestic as any I’ve seen, and the oak

landscapes look so natural that it’s easy to picture the original inhabitants thriving there — grizzlies, mountain lions, native Americans. (I should add that in lowland California, almost no area is actually natural. In particular, most of the grasses we now see were introduced from Europe by early Spanish and Mexican settlers. These fast-growing annual grasses crowded out the native perennial grasses.)

And at Mount Burdell, I also found David Herlocker, who well knows the stories that oaks tell and can tell a few of his own. An entomologist by training, Herlocker has been an interpretative naturalist with the county for 16 years, and among his duties, he leads walks that explore the area’s natural features.

On a summer Tuesday, Herlocker showed me the highlights of a four-hour “all about oaks tour” that he leads each fall (October 11 this year; details at marincountyparks.org/ events). The tour is timed for fall’s abundance of acorns, which Herlocker considers endlessly fascinating clues to oak identi fication and behavior — they’re the wellspring of life for oaks and all the living creatures that depend on them.

We start at the preserve’s San Andreas Drive gate. Temperatures are predicted to reach into the 90s, and the

hikers, bird-watchers, joggers and mountain bikers are out early. Herlocker says, “The beauty of Mount Burdell is its diversity of plant and animal life.” With 1,627 acres and a peak elevation of 1,558 feet, the preserve includes habitats similar to those you might fi nd ranging from the cool coast to warm Sonoma — woodlands, grasslands, savannas, even Marin’s best example of a vernal pool. Oaks of di fferent species dominate many of these habitats.

I ask, “What did this area look like before California was settled by Europeans?” Herlocker says, “Pretty much the same. Big oaks, open spaces, but di fferent grasses, of course. In the valley bottoms nearby, the oaks were cleared and orchards went in. But the hills here were mostly left alone.” He points out that changes are taking place now. “There aren’t as many young oaks. Recruitment, as it’s called, or regeneration is low. No one is exactly sure why. Maybe there are too many browsing deer now that the lions and bears that used to prey on them are gone.”

Our fi rst stop, just beyond the entry gate, is in front of a coast live oak, with deep green evergreen leaves draping to the ground so densely that you can barely see the thick

trunk and branches. Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) is the second-most abundant tree in Marin, behind the California bay. Herlocker immediately checks for acorns forming. “Not many. Acorns are mysterious. Some years there are many, other times hardly any.” When acorns form in unusual abundance, it’s called masting, and there are no foolproof predictors of the phenomenon.

In the interest of time, we drive up the main trail, a rutted dirt road. Herlocker drives slowly, creeping past the bird-watchers to keep down the dust. We pass large oaks and bay trees, shading a lush undergrowth of honeysuckle, hazelnut and poison oak.

At the top of a ridge, one of my California favorite scenes unfurls: golden grass — yes, that pesky Euro-import — and well-spaced oaks. It’s a wide-screen effect like you’d see in one of those classic 1950s black-and-white Westerns. This is an oak savanna, defi ned as a grassland with a scattering of trees, elementally simple in the number of components.

At the top of the hill, we reach the trees, get a closer look, and see that the habitat is far from simple. It is full of life and variety. This is the oak’s domain — actually

Photo spreads: The oaks and landscape of Mount Burdell. Left: Marin County Parks interpretive naturalist David Herlocker examines a tree.

the domain of multiple oak species. There’s the coast live oak, the valley oak (deciduous, tall, sculptural, sweeping branches, checkerboard trunk), and even a few black oaks (deciduous, with bright, shiny, big leaves). Joining in are bay trees, in the watercourses, and buckeyes, their leaves turning brown well ahead of fall, which is a defensive shutdown strategy against the dry conditions.

Herlocker points out examples of the oaks’ web of life. The mature trees have many cavities that birds and insects use. An oriole nest hangs like a loose sack from a branch in a valley oak; the bird wove it from fibers shredded from a tarp. In mid-story, Herlocker would say, “I hear a lazuli bunting” — or an oak titmouse or ashthroated flycatcher. We never see the birds.

Herlocker leads the way to a massive valley oak and says, “This tree was around when the Civil War started.” He estimates that it’s 300 years old, with a diameter of five to six feet. It’s struggling now. Recently a limb as large as most trees split off, but even lying on the ground, it maintains a lifeline to the trunk. Despite its terminal condition, the tree is full of life. A close look reveals hundreds of holes drilled into the trunk by acorn woodpeckers. This is their “granary tree,” where the birds store acorns in their own personal pantry. There are also hundreds of smaller holes, which Herlocker says were formed by wood-boring beetles as they left the trunk.

Nearby we see another part of life: ghostly, sun-bleached remains of victims of sudden oak death. The pathogen was discovered in Marin County (“ground zero”) in the mid-1990s and has spread through forests of Northern and Central California, killing more than a million trees. Herlocker says the current drought has slowed the spread of the disease, which is worse in wet years. He puts it in perspective: “A healthy forest is a mosaic of species, living and dead.”

To get to our final stop, we bump along the trail for another half mile to Hidden Lake, actually a vernal pool, one of those temporary ponds that fi lls up in winter and spring and usually dries up in summer. In early summer it was totally dry, but its bottom was lined with an assortment of plants specifically adapted to the quirky boom-or-bust conditions.

Here in the preserve’s drier eastern half is a crossroads of diverse natural habitats. Herlocker attributes it to “Marin’s scrambled climates” — di ff erent microclimates and soil conditions close together. The trees are scrambled too. Edging the pool are fi ve di ff erent species of oak that have found the right conditions: live oaks, a particularly “stately” valley oak and three less prevalent types. Blue oak ( Quercus douglasii ) is deciduous, with small, bluish leaves that absorb less heat, which allows

the tree to grow in hotter, drier places. Black oak prefers shaded protected spots. Oregon oak ( Quercus garryana) prefers, well, Oregon. Near the southern edge of its range, Herlocker calls attention to its shiny, dark green leaves and the “intricacy of the branching.”

“Oaks are promiscuous,” is how Herlocker explains the interesting phenomenon going on here that most of us would otherwise miss. In this botanical melting pot, the proximity of diverse habitats encourages cross-pollination (wind scatters the pollen) and the creation of hybrids — such as an oak offspring, sprouting from an acorn, that looks a bit like both its parents, say, blue oak and valley oak.

Leaving the pool area, we almost step on a two-inch oak seedling fighting for space in the grass. It’s a hybrid. Even Herlocker can’t identify exactly what it is or its parentage. Whatever it is, this seedling tells a story of the determination of oaks in the face of development, pathogens, drought. I can’t help but think that they’ll be around when most everything else is long gone. m

Nearby we see another part of life: ghostly, sun-bleached remains of victims of sudden oak death.

Sustainably SONOMA

AND PHOTOS BY ROBERT HOLMES

Winegrowers and producers are experimenting with sustainability, organics and biodynamics — but will buyers notice?

STORY

IN MARCH, A class action lawsuit was fi led in California alleging that many lower-priced California wines contain dangerously high levels of arsenic. Fear not: this sort of allegation is as ubiquitous as quinoa and kale in any Marin restaurant. While it is a well-known spouse exterminator of crime headlines and lore, arsenic is a naturally occurring element and trace amounts are contained in most agricultural products. The amounts cited in the lawsuit are well below accepted limits for most of the world including the U.S., the EU, Canada and Japan. Nevertheless, whether or not the suit has any merit, it raises some interesting questions about the wine industry.

My first harvest in California was at the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1980, and for most of my longtime experience as a wine and travel writer, the words sustainability, organic or biodynamic never came up. Only in the past few years have they become part of everyday conversation. I first heard of biodynamics seven years ago while working on a book about pinot noir.

Educating the Consumer

Here in Marin, we obsess about the source of our food and how exactly said food is grown or cultivated. These days, few are the farms that are not certified sustainable or organic, but what about wine? That goes into our bodies too, in some cases with great regularity and in signi ficant quantities, but who questions the source? “A very small percentage of customers ask about how the wine is made,” says Magid Nazari, owner of Ludwig’s Fine Wine & Spirits in San Anselmo. “People are buying solely based on how the wine tastes.”

This lack of public knowledge hasn’t stopped the wine industry from taking steps to improve their practices. Sonoma County Winegrowers have a goal of 100 percent certi fied sustainable vineyards in the county by January 2019. Sonoma may be the fi rst in North America with this aim, but Sustainable Wine New Zealand is the world leader in the wine sustainability movement, with e fforts dating back to 1994, and claims to now have 95 percent compliance. It’s achieved

These days, few are the farms that are not certified sustainable or organic, but what about wine? That goes into our bodies too.

Sonoma County Winegrowers have a goal for 100 percent certified sustainable vineyards in the county by January 2019.

this goal in part by using a big carrot to encourage sustainability certi fication: without it, wineries cannot enter wine competitions. And no medals equals fewer sales.

Without a similar carrot, will Sonoma be able to achieve similar results, and does it really matter? It certainly does for Jean-Charles Boisset, the proprietor of the Boisset Collection, with wineries in both Sonoma and Napa. “Of course we are behind this initiative 100 percent,”  he says. “We believe that sustainable farming practices help us to achieve a better expression of terroir as we strive to promote biological diversity within our vineyard ecosystems rather than attempting to limit it.”

Sustainable Winegrowing

Sustainability is an agricultural buzzword, though the average consumer may have trouble understanding what it really means. So many organizations are issuing credentials — Fish Friendly Farming, National Organic Program, Demeter USA, SIP, CSWA — that the term is confusing even to those in the business. As Sonoma Winegrowers president Karissa Kruse says, “Sustainability is complicated, but the results are simple. We are doing the right thing for the environment, for people and for our businesses, in both growing grapes and making wine in Sonoma County.”

The term should apply to any consumables business that expects to be around a long time, notably the wine industry, given that a vine takes at least three years to produce enough fruit to make decent wine and many smaller producers are multigenerational family businesses.

Paul Dolan, the godfather of sustainable winegrowing in California, compares a vineyard to a living organism that “has a circulation system, which is the water flowing from the mountains into the soil and the vines, and a respiration system that is the wind and air circulating around the leaves and clusters.” This holistic approach is the cornerstone of sustainable farming, complemented by responsible treatment of employees, neighbors and community.

Still, as one New Zealand winemaker says, “I cannot be green if I’m in the red.” A popular misconception holds that all vintners and grape growers are either wealthy landowners, only a notch below hedge fund managers on the economic scale, or else part of huge conglomerates. Well, there are a few hedge fund managers making wine out there along with a few big corporations, but in Sonoma County, 80 percent of all vineyards are under 100 acres and 40 percent are smaller than 20 acres. Not exactly big business. They are often run by small farmers trying to make a decent living who nevertheless embrace the whole sustainability concept. Their raison d’être is passion, not profit.

Going Organic

Beyond sustainable, some wineries are certified organic (an even bigger buzzword) and/or biodynamic, for which certification criteria are rigorous. For instance, while certified sustainable vineyards are technically still allowed to use agrichemicals such as Roundup (a bone of contention for some wineries), organic certification prohibits agrichemical use.

Many vineyards today are producing organically certified fruit, and even more wineries are promoting their wines as made from organic fruit. Yet once the grapes pass through the winery doors, how the fruit is treated and vinified is at the sole discretion of the winemaker. Organic in the vineyard is not the same as organic in the bottle: between wines made from organic fruit and wines made organically, there is a big difference.

More than a few Marin restaurants have “organic” offerings on their wine lists, and the designation is almost always incorrect. Even if a wine is made from organic grapes, any number of nonorganic substances may be added; for a wine to be labeled organic — that is, with the USDA organic label — the nature and amount of these additives must be strictly controlled. The sul fite level, for instance, must be less than 20 parts per million. Note: anyone who has tasted wine made with little to no sul fites will usually avoid it in the future. And it certainly doesn’t age well.

The Biodynamic Buzz

Biodynamics follows the organic philosophy and runs with it, forbidding not only use of agrichemicals but also any other external substances — what’s known as farming in

a closed system. Only compost and special, somewhat outlandish preparations are applied to the earth and the vines; work is determined by phases of the moon. Horses are sometimes used to work the vineyards and farm animals are an integral element in the holistic system.

Biodynamics, based on the ideas of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, subscribes to the concept of life energy and the earth as living entity. It has become an easy target to poke fun at: a field preparation involving fi lling a cow horn with cow manure, burying it in the ground in the autumn, leaving it to decompose during winter and recovering it for use in the spring is one practice even some biodynamic producers question. But the approach has its advocates: Jean-Charles Boisset, of Raymond Vineyards in Napa and DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma, is a fl ag-bearer for it, and biodynamic exhibits at both wineries provide a fascinating look at this century-old farming method.

One of the more interesting developments in the past few months was the purchase of Benziger Family Winery.

The Benzigers have taken great pride in their biodynamic, organic and sustainable farming. At the Glen Ellen winery, visitors can take a 45-minute biodynamic tour through the vineyards, winery and insectary, where plants are grown that attract beneficial bugs to kill organisms harmful to the vineyards. So it was somewhat shocking when The Wine Group of Livermore, producer of Two Buck Chuck and several of the wines named in the arsenic lawsuit, bought the endeavor: a less likely pairing is hard to imagine. Nevertheless, it appears that The Wine Group intends to continue the Benzigers’ legacy and up its own stake in the sustainability game, which can only be a good thing for the industry as a whole.

Whether or not sustainable production results in better-tasting wine, it does at least support better treatment of vineyard workers, long-term care for the land, and the making of wine that captures a sense of place.

But why not try an empirical test? Drink a bottle of sustainably produced wine one night and nonsustainable the next. Which one leaves the bigger hangover? m

India, Africa, Europe

Great Escapes

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South India & Sri Lanka

JANUARY 3-18, 2016

There is no more richly layered culture in South Asia than India, and languid South India remains a mysterious outpost and a bastion of ancient Hindu and Buddhist enclaves. See them with experts who have led trips for SFMOMA and the Museum of Craft and Design. Stay in the last palace of the nabobs of Hyderabad, experience the temples of Chennai, the lost kingdom of Vijayanagar in Hampi, shop the streets of legendary Cochin, and drift along Kerala backwaters in a houseboat. And, within the fabled lushness of the neighboring isle of Serendip (Sri Lanka), discover riches that ancient Romans longed to see. Limited space. 10-14 maximum. Sign up now.

For cost and all details email today:

Zahid Sardar Art & Architecture Tours (ZSAT) in San Francisco • zysardar@gmail.com

Travel in style to exotic cultures and destinations, in bespoke groups with renowned editor, author and curator Zahid Sardar

Destinations

THE LATEST LOCAL TRAVEL DEALS AND GETAWAYS PLUS JOURNEYS AROUND THE GLOBE

BY MIMI TOWLE

Enjoy sunset from your own private patio at the Ritz-Carlton.

DESTINATION: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

DISTANCE FROM MARIN: 40 miles south

EVERY YEAR AROUND this time, Half Moon Bay is flooded with pumpkin hunters from around the Bay Area who are also looking for a great place to stay. With that in mind, we take a look at the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, which has been called a “slice of Scotland on the Northern California coast” by Forbes Travel Guide. While the place is best known for its two golf courses, sunset-serenading kilted bagpipe player and award-winning spa, the white sand beach below the property is a hidden gem — easily accessed and, depending on the tide, great for a scenic walk. ritzcartlon.com

TANK OF GAS

HIGHLIGHTS If superlatives are your thing, the resort is now home to the most expensive cigar in the world. This stellar stogie, made by Kaizad Hansotia, founder of Gurkha Cigars, in 1996, is infused with a full shot of 40-year-old Louis XIII Remy Martin. For just $2,000, you can take home a replica.

EATS For a feel-good meal of sustainable seafood and organic farm-to-table fare, book a table for two at the fine dining res taurant Novia. Hawaii-born and -trained chef Kevin Tanaka offers oysters from Point Reyes, hamachi from Honolulu and Alaskan halibut paired with bounty from nearby farms. This month he cel ebrates the golden gourd (aka pumpkin) in soups, ravioli fill ings, curries and more.

DETAILS Good news for those just wanting to escape for the day: two of the big gest draws have joined forces for the $300 “Spa Golf Day” package, which includes a round of golf and an hour spa treatment with glass of champagne. Or enjoy the wintry weather with a “Fire and Wine” package, which includes a guest room wit h a fi re pit on the terrace, s’more kit and bottle of select wine, all starting at $910 per night.

While gazing out from the rooftop infinity pool at Hotel El Ganzo or enjoying a drink at Casa Del Mar’s swim-up bar, you wouldn’t guess that just a year ago Hurricane Odile devastated Los Cabos — but that’s exactly what happened. The 18-mile stretch between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo has proved resilient, though, with most resorts and hotels (like the two aforementioned ones) back to full operation. So whether your vacation requirements include special golf outings or signature spa treatments, your needs will be covered here. casadelmar.com.mx, elganzo.com KASIA PAWLOWSKA

LOS CABOS COMEBACK

Join the Cast

For loca l fly fi shermen, this California summer has been challenging at best. Low to no water means limite d fi sh to catch. However, with increased direc t fl ights to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, there is still a way to set your lure. For those looking to learn a few new casting skills, Snake River Sporting Club has partnered with Orvis to launch a series of fl y-fi shing schools that wrap up this month. It is Orvis ’ fi rst school in Wyoming and takes advantage of the club’s six miles of private access to the world-famous Snake River. T he program includes a balance of classroom instruction, casting instruction, video analysis and on-water guidance. snakeriversportingclub.com M.T.

A FINE SENSE OF PLACE

Winners of the 2015 World Legacy Awards have been announced and a Marin establishment claims a spot.

CONTINUED EFFORTS IN HAITI

Last summer, 15 volunteers from Marin County traveled to Jacmel, Haiti, to help build homes, bring donated resources and teach kids how to swim. Leading the group were Lisa Rueff, making her 17th service-oriented trip to Haiti since the earthquake in 2010, and Victoria Cressman, who builds homes in Haiti through her foundation Tents to Shanti. The group visited and assisted three foundations, including Jacmel Children's Center, which Rueff funded and helped build. Throughout the week, the group learned about Haitian culture and how to communicate efficiently through hand signals and facial expressions. While in Jacmel, volunteers participated in many activities, including repairing a mosaic mural created by kids at the Art Creation Foundation for Children, painting a new home for kids funded by Cressman’s organization and spending quality time with orphans at the Jacmel Children’s Center. “I took a Polaroid camera to Haiti, and when I gave the kids, and some of the adults, pictures of themselves to keep, their faces lit up,” says Stone Shepard, a seventh grader at Mill Valley Middle School. “Something so simple brought them so much joy — and made me feel great too.” yogaventures.com SABRINA BAKER

Cavallo Point Lodge was honored with the “Sense of Place” award for its revival of Fort Baker from run-down military barracks to a LEED Gold–certified hotel. The awards, a collaboration between the National Geographic Society and ITB Berlin, celebrate organizations and destinations that embody positive changes in the travel industry and encourage people to care about the world. For more on the scope of the awards, here are some numbers. nationalgeographic.com/ worldlegacyawards K.P.

OWNER TO MAKER

What’s the best deal you’ve ever gotten? The kind where you get something for a steal and see it appreciate as much as tenfold or more? Whatever it was, it wasn’t as good as the luck

Jack Tognetti had when he purchased Los Carneros farmland in the 1960s. This Napa Valley region was largely overlooked because of its colder temperatures, but it turns out the forsaken land was actually perfect for something — growing chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. So for more than 30 years Tognetti grew and sold grapes to an array of fine wineries from his Aloise Francisco Vineyard, until 2012, when his son Robert founded the Tognetti Family Winery on-site. The family has started making a chardonnay that’s produced on a limited basis each year and is releasing its first Napa cabernet in 2016. And with winemaker Keith Hock on board, a sparkling blanc de blanc is also in the works. tognettiwines.com K.P

In With the New

1 Bernardus Lodge and Spa

Some might say just sipping chardonnay poolside is enough of an adventure for any wine lover staying at this recently renovated treasure in Carmel Valley. Under new ownership, the property has undergone a four-month multimillion-dollar transformation that included a few small enhancements to the awardwinning restaurant Lucia. A range of culinary and cardio activities are on offer and a $65 passport is good for one $10 flight at nine tasting rooms. Rooms start at $475, bernarduslodge.com.

2 Toll House Hotel

Sister property to Tiburon Tavern and Casa Madrona, the Toll House Hotel, just off he idyllic town square in Los Gatos, has been renovated with a rebranding of the on-site restaurant as Verge Restaurant and Lounge. A “Sips and Saddles” package offers breakfast for two, a scenic horseback ride and a picnic with wine tasting. With a small-town vibe evocative of Marin, Los Gatos features award-winning restaurants, high-end boutiques and access to nearby wineries. Rooms start at $254, tollhousehotel.com.

3 Hyatt Carmel Highlands

A longtime foodie destination featuring jaw-dropping views at the award-winning Paci fic’s Edge Restaurant, the Hyatt Carmel Highlands is always a crowd pleaser. The revamped property offers a daylong winery tour with private guide that covers the entire winemaking process, with information about Salinas Valley agriculture, and ends with a picnic lunch. Rooms start at $399, highlandsinn.hyatt.com.

•

HARVEST INN’S OCTOBER GETAWAY

This 78-rooom luxury property is offering a gourmet getaway with Silver Oak and Twomey wineries throughout the month, including private tastings and chef-created customized meals at Charlie Palmer’s Harvest Table. Two-night minimum, starting at $763. harvestinn.com M.T.

Heading south on Highway 101, you’ll find three recently renovated wine-related spots worth stopping for. M.T.

inspired choices for wine country experiences

Experience Wine Country as it’s meant to be experienced. Find the right deal and make this getaway your best!

Healdsburg. Nestled around a century-old town plaza, surrounded by 5-star restaurants, stylish boutiques, art galleries and tasting rooms…local hospitality meets San Francisco chic in this charming Sonoma wine country town. Start your journey at healdsburg.com

The Hess Collection on Mount Veeder features a trio of passions under one roof, with daily wine tastings, cheese, charcuterie and chocolate pairings and The Hess Art Collection, a world-class contemporary art museum. 707.255.1144, Napa, hesscollection.com

MacPhail Tasting Lounge@The Barlow is a unique new twist on wine tasting, in an artistic setting in the heart of Sebastopol’s Barlow complex. Come explore unique Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast. 707.824.8400, Sebastopol, macphailwines.com

St. Francis Wines are recognized globally for outstanding quality. Come explore their Certified Sustainable, family-owned Winery and sip their hand-crafted fruit forward wines from the superior mountain and valley vineyards in Sonoma County’s best appellations. 888.675.Wine, Santa Rosa, StFrancisWinery.com

Sonoma Country Antiques has been traveling to Europe for over three decades, hand selecting one of a kind antiques and accessories to enhance today’s interiors. Explore and be inspired by their elegantly designed showrooms. Bring the beauty and grace of classic style into your home. Open Daily. 707.938.8315, Sonoma, SonomaCountryAntiques.com

PITCAIRN ISLAND

Travel back in time through the history of this small, raucous island.

BY KASIA PAWLOWSKA • PHOTO COLLECTION BY TONY PROBST

View of Adamstown from Christian’s cave. The locations were named after two of the most important men in the island’s history, John Adams and Fletcher Christian.

PITCAIRN ISLAND. THE name alone may not ring any bells, but perhaps the HMS Bounty will.

Fletcher Christian’s 1789 uprising against Lieutenant William Bligh on that vessel inspired Charles Nordhoff ’s and James Norman Hall’s 1932 novel Mutiny on the Bounty, several movies, and even a musical. Marlon Brando played Christian in the 1962 fi lm, and the star-studded cast of 1984’s The Bounty featured Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh, Daniel Day Lewis as John Fryer, Laurence Olivier as Admiral Hood, Liam Neeson as seaman Charles Churchill and a young Mel Gibson as Christian.

The remote volcanic island, located about 1,350 miles southeast of Tahiti, was named after British midshipman Robert Pitcairn, who was the first person to spot it on July 2, 1767. Two decades later, after overthrowing Bligh, Christian sailed to Tahiti, where 16 out of the 25 sailors and mutineers decided to stay. The remaining eight crewmen, their Tahitian women, several Tahitian men, and Christian

sailed forth before settling on Pitcairn on January 23, 1790. The island’s location had been charted inaccurately, making it an attractive hideaway option, and a British ship searched for the rogue crew for three months to no avail. The mutineers who stayed on Tahiti didn’t fare as well — they were captured and brought back to England, and some were later hanged. The Pitcairn settlers weren’t discovered until 1808, but by that time they were only survived by mutineer John Adams. The majority were killed by either each other or the Tahitians who accompanied them; Adams wasn’t prosecuted and the descendants of the original group continue to live on the island.

Tony Probst is an avid maritime collector and owner of San Rafael’s Audio Video Integration. His interest in the Bounty and Pitcairn Island dates back to age 7, when he and his family left England for a 14-year sailing

trip around the world. For entertainment, his father provided him with two books: Mutiny on the Bounty and Men Against the Sea. The stories resonated with young Probst, and though the family didn’t make it to Pitcairn, he decided that one day he would. In January 2010, he made his first visit. In a series of subsequent trips, Probst formed bonds with inhabitants of the island, gaining unprecedented access to artifacts, family stories and other uncommon information about the world’s most isolated place. The ties he developed were so deep, in fact, that he’s been entrusted with Christian family relics throughout the years. His photographs document these visits.

The earliest photo of Pitcairn Island in 1916 and one almost 100 years later in 2012.

• A never-before-published 1898 photo of Thursday

October Christian II, grandson of Fletcher Christian and son of Thursday October Christian I. Fletcher Christian didn’t want his son to bear an English name, hence this unusual one based on his birth date. There was a snag, however. The Bounty crossed the International Date Line, meaning Thursday’s name should have been Friday, which is the way he is identified on a

• (Left) A longboat called the Barge in 1946. Pitcairn relies on shipping for survival, as everything not produced on the island comes by sea and is then brought ashore. The residents built their own wood boats up until 1983 and the last was retired in 1995. (Right) There are currently two aluminum boats being used that were built to the islanders’ specifications in New Zealand, named Tub and Moss. The island population peaked at 233 back in 1937 and now hovers at around 50.

• Thursday October Christian II, estimated to be around 90 in this photo, in front of his house in 1899. The diminutive isle (two by one mile) is the only Pitcairn Island of the four with fresh water. Despite modernization, electricity is limited in present-day Pitcairn and provided by diesel generators.

Pitcairn Island stamp.

• (Top) Christian’s cave. It is said that this is where the lead mutineer watched for approaching ships and hid from the other settlers when he needed to. (Right) The Landing and Bounty Bay — where the HMS Bounty lies — from the Small Edge. The mutineers burned and sank the ship (there was no other place to hide it) and founded a village. John Adams was the last surviving settler; he converted the women and children to Christianity. They lived this way for 24 years before being rediscovered by the British, who allowed the community to continue.

• Bounty Bay and the large pinnacle outcropping known as Ships Landing Point. In 1838, Pitcairn became the first British colonial island in the Pacific and is now the only staunch reminder of the Royal Navy’s reign in that region. The water around Pitcairn, among the cleanest in the world, is about 70 feet deep in this photo.

• The Gods formation as seen from the sea. In March of this year the British government announced plans to create the world’s largest fully protected marine reserve around the Pitcairn Islands — an area that is roughly 3.5 times the size of the United Kingdom (322,138 square miles). The reserve is home to more than 1,000 species of marine mammals, seabirds and fish.

• St. Paul’s Pool is a great place to learn to swim. This pristine tidal pool located on the eastern side of the island is a gorgeous natural attraction teeming with marine life. The National Geographic reporters who visited the island in 2012 dubbed the swimming hole their favorite.

• Down Rope, a cliff on the southeast edge of the island, with ancient Polynesian petroglyphs carved in its face. Stone gods, earth ovens and other artifacts found in the area point to Polynesian settlement.

Out & About

Calendar

MUSIC

THEATER

THRU OCT 3 Oh No, There’s Men on the Land Written and performed by Karen Ripley, this show takes attendees on a comic journey through her mishaps, adventures and self-discovery in 1970s Berkeley. The Marsh (Berkeley).

415.282.3055, themarsh.org

THRU OCT 3 Stereotypo:

Rants and

The Marsh (Berkeley). 415.282.3055, themarsh.org

2015–16 season. Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley). 415.388.5208, marintheatre.org

going off o war. San Francisco Playhouse (SF). 415.677.9596, sfplayhouse.org

OCT 2–NOV 1 Life Is a Dream Cutting Ball Theater opens its season with Pedro Calderón’s Life Is a Dream. First published in 1635, the play tells the story of Polish prince Segismundo, who after a brief bought of freedom is recaptured by his tyrannical father and is convinced his time away was only a dream. Cutting Ball Theater (SF). 415.525.1205, cuttingball.com

OCT 28–NOV 15 Sail Away High seas comedy Sail Away comes to 42nd Street Moon. Laugh along as a cruise director falls into an a ffair with one of her passengers on the Mediterranean. The Eureka Theatre (SF). 415.255.8207, 42ndstmoon.org

DANCE

two world premieres, including a piece by the ballet’s choreographerin-residence Amy Seiwert. Palace of Fine Arts (SF). 415.912.1899, smuinballet.org

OCT 1–10 Needles to Thread: Dancing Along These Lines in Continuum Alley Third in a trilogy of aerial dances centering on urban poverty, Needles to Thread shines a light on the women of San Francisco’s garment industry through the medium of aerial dance. Continuum Alley (SF). flyawayproductions.com

OCT 9–11 Umusuna: Memories Before History Experience feelings of balance and imbalance as the surface of the stage moves amid cascades of sand and bodies that reference the movement of the cosmos. YBCA (SF). 415.978.2700, ybca.org

Ramblings

at the

DMV In this solo show, Don Reed takes on nine characters who experience various instances of stereotyping based on race, class, gender and more, all at the DMV.

THRU OCT 4 The Oldest Boy Sarah Ruhl’s The Oldest Boy, about a woman who is visited by two Tibetan Buddhist monks who believe her son may be a reincarnated lama, opens MTC’s

THRU NOV 7 Dogfight: A Love Story Eddie, a young marine, gets more than he bargained for when two buddies bet him to play a cruel trick on a girl on their last night before

THRU OCT 11 Poetics of Space Joe Goode Performance Group and Z Space present choreographer Joe Goode’s latest venture, performed in a series of “rooms” within the annex that audiences are invited to wander through, creating their own experience. Joe Goode Annex (SF). 866.811.4111, zspace.org

OCT 1–4 Dance Series One Smuin Ballet kicks off ts 22nd season with

OCT 17–18 San Francisco Trolley Dances Follow Muni’s T-Line from Mission Bay to the Bayview for the 12th annual season of Epiphany Productions’ Trolley Dances, a site-speci fic performance inspired by the physical environment, architecture and history of the area. Various locations (SF). epiphanydance.org

OCT 22–25 Your Story Was This ODC Theater and Liss Fain present Your Story Was This, a unique installation

THEATER / COMEDY / MUSIC / GALLERIES / MUSEUMS / EVENTS / FILM EDITED BY CALIN VAN PARIS

OCT 17–18 Treasure Island Music Festival The annual festival is back as artists like The National, Deadmau5, Viceroy (pictured) and more converge on Treasure Island for a weekend of grooving supplemented by artwork, food, drink and more. Treasure Island (SF). treasureislandfestival.com

inspired by two short poems penned by Marin local Jane Hirsh field. ODC Theater (SF). 415.863.9834, odcdance.org

COMEDY

OCT 1 Three Blonde Moms Stephanie Bloom, Joanie Fagan and Beaumont Bacon share their unique experiences and comedic takes on motherhood. Throckmorton Theatre (Mill Valley). 415.383.9600, throck mortontheatre.org

MUSIC

OCT 2 Drew Harrison: In the Spirit of Lennon Drew Harrison, who is responsible for John Lennon’s vocals in Beatles tribute band the Sun Kings, performs an intimate and emotional array of Lennon’s unforgettable work. Fenix (San Rafael). 415.813.5600, fenix live.com

OCT 2 Joey Alexander 12-year-old jazz sensation Joey Alexander of Bali comes to Marin to showcase his mastery of the piano, with classics like “My Favorite Things” and “Over the Rainbow,” in addition to his own compositions. Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium (San Rafael). 415.473.6400, marincenter.org

OCT 2–3 Dark Star Orchestra The renowned Grateful Dead tribute band has been performing to acclaim for nearly 15 years with a group of seven musicians recreating concert set lists from the Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring.

Regency Ballroom (SF). theregencyball room.com

OCT 2–4 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass The 15th version of the free festival is back with a wide variety of music. Golden Gate Park (SF). hardly strictlybluegrass.com

OCT 3 Marin Symphony Waterfront Pops This unique show presents more than two dozen Beatles songs performed exactly how they were recorded — hear “Penny Lane” with a live trumpet section, “Yesterday” with an acoustic guitar and string quartet and more. Lagoon Park (San Rafael). 415.479.8100, marinsymphony.org

OCT 7 Howard Jones Soloist Howard Jones shares behind-thescenes stories and reveals the inspiration behind the songs in this rare acoustic show, highlighting favorites from his more than 30-year career. Sweetwater Music Hall (Mill Valley). 415.388.110, sweet watermusichall.com

OCT 10 Krishna Das In hi s fi nal West Coast performance before an extended sabbatical, Krishna Das, who has been called yoga’s “rock star,” layers traditional Hindu kirtan with accessible melodies and modern instrumentation. Dominican College (San Rafael). 415.457.4440, dominican.edu

OCT 10 Paula West San Francisco’s Paula West brings an evening of smooth jazz to San Rafael, performing a range of songs from memorable jazz

SPOTLIGHT

Rounding Third

Modern Renaissance man and fan favorite brings his show to Marin.

WHETHER HE’S COACHING Giants baseball, playing it, or appearing on television talking about the game, most agree that Tim Flannery does it all with poise. He also operates a nonprofit that uses his other love — music — to help kids in need. And he’s sung the national anthem with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. But Flan — as his fans know him — has been touring with his band across the country for years. He and the Lunatic Fringe will be gracing HopMonk Tavern’s stage on October 11 as a part of the KC Turner cookout concert series. Check the venue website for more details. h opmonk.com/novato

KASIA PAWLOWSKA

go. I always carried a guitar with me in my 33 years on the road in the baseball business, and writing songs saved me out there. I have 13 records out, but this one is different and I’m very excited to have folks hear it, as well as our shows.

standards to American songbook to rock.

Osher Marin JCC (San Rafael). 415.444.8000, marinjcc.org

OCT 11 Joe Warner Jazz pianist Joe Warner is joined by bassist Zach Ostroff or an evening of memorable music. Old St. Hilary’s Landmark (Tiburon). 415.435.1853, land markssociety.com

OCT 11 The Tenors The quartet’s signature blend of classical and contemporary pop is showcased live as they perform Under One Sky, a 13-track album featuring a mix of originals alongside familiar favorites. Palace of Fine Arts Theatre (SF). 415.563.6504, palace offi nearts.org

OCT 22 Journey The local band fronts REDF’s annual benefit to help create jobs and employment opportunities for people facing the greatest barriers to work. The War field (SF). 415.345.0900, thewar fieldtheatre.com

415.383.9600, throck mortontheatre.org

GALLERIES

MARIN

Art Works Downtown Fire and Water A juried exhibition showcasing artwork utilizing innovative techniques, materials, subject matter or concepts relating to fire, ater or both, through November 13. 1337 Fourth St, San Rafael. 415.451.8119, artworksdowntown.org

Claudia Chapline Gallery and Sculpture Garden Works by Claudia Chapline, Jim Garmhausen, Etta Deikman and more. 3445 Shoreline Hwy, Stinson Beach. 415.868.2308, cchapline.com

di Rosa Robert Kinmont Works by conceptual sculptor Robert Kinmont, who explores the interdependency between humanity and nature, October 31–January 24. Walker. 5200 Carneros Hwy, Napa. 707.226.5991, dirosaart.org

It seems that your music career spans almost as long as your baseball one. Could you tell us a bit about how you were able to reconcile these two passions? I always had music and baseball in my life in our home growing up. My uncle Hal Smith was a homerun hero in game seven of the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates; he also was a singer-songwriter. I never knew a choice had to be made; for me it’s like water or air — I can’t choose between one or another. I need them both. That’s how I felt with baseball and music.

What excites you the most about your newest album, Three Ring Circus ? It documents my time in the Bay Area, the influences, the history of three world titles, the beauty, the pain when I knew it was time to let the game

You’re a man who’s worn many hats — and you continue to do so. How are you liking your new job at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area? I love it. I love the stories I have from the years; I love to tell them. It also brings me back to a city I love.

Congratulations on your charity officially becoming a nonprofit organization. What is the Love Harder Project all about? We raised $200,000 for Bryan Stow the last few years and funded other things dear to my heart, so we thought by having this nonprofit we could do more. Our mission is to use music (every cent of record sales goes to help others) to bring awareness and to raise money to help children in anti-bullying, staying away from violence and enriching their lives.

OCT 25 Archetti with Debra Nagy The San Francisco Early Music Society kicks off ts season with Archetti Baroque String Ensemble, joined by guest oboist Debra Nagy, to celebrate the most revered composers of the early 18th century. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (San Francisco). sfems.org

OCT 25–26 With You in Mind Left Coast Chamber Ensemble takes audiences to the intersection of composer and muse with its new show. Throckmorton Theatre (Mill Valley).

Marin Civic Center

Visionary Marin An outside venue show celebrating 88 years of Marin Society of Artists members’ works, through January. 30

Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross. 415.454.9561, marinsocietyof artists.org

O’Hanlon Center for the Arts 4 Elements: Photography A juried exhibition, October 1–22. 616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley. 415.388.4331, ohanloncenter.org

Robert Allen Fine Art

Nature Abstracted: Abstract Works on

Canvas, Panel and Paper Group exhibition, October 8–November 30. 301 Caledonia St, Sausalito. 415.331.2800, robertallenfineart.co

Robert Green Fine Arts

Between Two Worlds Work by Charlotte Bernstrom. 154 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley. 415.381.8776, rgfineart.com

Roberta English Art by Cheung Lee, Mayumi Oda, Li Huayi, Ju Ming and Toko Shinoda. 1615 Bridgeway, Sausalito. 415.331.2975, robertaenglish.com

Rock Hill Gallery

Watercolors by Clem McCarthy, October 12–November 25. 145 Rock Hill Drive, Tiburon. 415.435.9108, ccctiburon.net

Seager Gray Gallery

Memories From the Back Lot Oil and mixedmedia paintings by Inez Storer, October 6–November 8. 108 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley. 415.384.8288, seagergray.com

Smith Andersen North Sculpture by Russ Ellis and Joseph Bacon, through October 17. 20 Greenfield ve, San Anselmo. 415.455.9733, smithandersen north.com

The Blissful Gallery

Oils, watercolors and prints by painter Emmeline Craig. 3415 Shoreline Hwy, Stinson Beach, 415.868.2787, emmelinecraig.com

Zener Schon Contemporary Art

Contemporary works by Eric Zener, Paige Smith, JD Wilson and more. 23 Sunnyside Ave, 415.738.8505, zener schongallery.com

SAN FRANCISCO

ArtHaus The Fiction of Reality New paintings by Maxine Solomon, through October. 411 Brannan St, 415.977.0223, arthaus-sf.com

Caldwell Snyder Gallery Working Fictions

Works by Brad Howe through October 10. 341 Sutter St, 415.392.2299, caldwellsnyder.com

Fouladi Projects At Mount Meru Paintings by Laine Justice, through October 30. 1803 Market St, 415.621.2535, fouladi projects.com

George Lawson Gallery

Frescoes Works by Sara Bright, through October 10. 315 Potrero Ave, 415.703.4400, georgelawson gallery.com

John Berggruen Gallery

An exhibit celebrating the gallery’s 45 anniversary. 228 Grant Ave, 415.781.4629, berggruen.com

Pier 24 Photography

Art from the Pilara Foundation collection. Pier 24, 415.512.7424, pier24.org

Rena Bransten Projects Works by June Kaneko, through October 31. 1639 Market St, 415.982.3292, rena branstengallery.com

MUSEUMS

MARIN

Bay Area Discovery Museum Healthyville Explore nutrition , fitness and the human body in this interactive exhibit, through October (Sausalito). 415.339.3900, baykidsmuseum.org

Bolinas Museum Getting Here From

There An exhibition of photographs tracing the fascinating history of traveling to the unique community of Bolinas, through January 3 (Bolinas). 415.868.0330, bolinasmuseum.org

Marin Museum of the American Indian The First Ambassadors A look at long-forgotten Native American history told through rare lithographs depicting courageous and distinguished tribal leaders (Novato). 415.897.4064, marinindian.com

Marin Museum of Contemporary Art Emerging Artists of the Bay Area A juried exhibition featuring local works, through October 4

(Novato). 415.506.0137, marinmoca.org

Tiburon Railroad and Ferry Depot Museum

Learn the history of the NPRR terminus that occupied all of downtown Tiburon from 1884 to 1968; through October (Tiburon). 415.435.1853, landmarkssociety.com

BAY AREA Asian Art Museum

Woven Luxuries Indian, Persian and Turkish velvets from a private New York City collection, through November 1 (SF). 415.581.3711, asianart.org

Conservatory of Flowers Stranded! Tropical Island Survival Visitors “wash up” on an uncharted shore to learn about plant-based

island survival, through October 18 (SF). 415.831.2090, conser vatoryofflowers.org

Contemporary Jewish Museum Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait A personal and intimate exhibition centering on the Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter, through November 1 (SF). 415.655.7800, thecjm.org

de Young Richard Diebenkorn Prints: Celebrating an Acquisition The museum celebrates its latest signi ficant acquisition of Diebenkorn prints, through October 4 (SF). 415.750.3600, deyoung.famsf.org

Exploratorium Ongoing interactive exhibits exploring science, art and human perception (SF). 415.397.5673, exploratorium.edu

Legion of Honor Luminous Worlds: British Works on Paper, 1760–1900, through November 29 (SF). 415.750.3600, legionofhonor.org

Museum of Craft and Design Without Camouflage: Dafna Kaffeman and Silvia Levenson An exhibit featuring the works of the artists, who both combine glass wit h fiber and other materials to make social and political statements, through September 13 (SF). 415.773.0303, sfmcd.org

Oakland Museum of California Michelle Dizon: Drifting Islands The artist explores memory, loss and experiences of displacement, through November 8 (Oakland). 510.318.8400, museumca.orgs

San Francisco Botanical Garden Mesoamerican Cloud Forest Bloom Stroll through cloud forest plant communities typical from southern Mexico to Panama and throughout Central America (SF). 415.661.1316, sfb otanicalgarden.org

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Kara Women Speak Works by fi ne art photographer, videographer and sound artist Jane Baldwin, centering on the people

of Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley and Kenya’s Lake Turkana, through December 6 (Sonoma). svma.org

The Walt Disney Family Museum Disney and Dali: Architects of Imagination Works depicting the trajectory of an unlikely creative alliance, through January 3 (SF). 415.345.6800, waltdisney.org

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Lightswarm Designed by experimental architecture fi rm Future Cities Lab, a dazzling wall installation of 430 modules utilizes sensors and LED lights to create an ever-changing light show, through October 31 (SF). 415.978.2787, ybca.org

EVENTS

THRU OCT 4 The $100,000 Tiburon Challenger This exciting week of men’s tennis is the only pro tournament held in the Bay Area this year. Peninsula Club (Tiburon). tiburon challenger.com

OCT 3 Get Out and Play Day Head to Corte Madera for a day of free family fun, including yoga classes, a pop-up skate park, treadmill tests, chair massages, a kids’ corner and much more. Town Center (Corte Madera). 415.924.2961, shop towncenter.com

OCT 3 River Awards

Gala Cruise to Forestville to honor the

people, businesses and farms that are leading the Russian River to a more climate-resilient future. Enjoy a locally sourced dinner, live music, local beer and wine and live and silent auctions. Shone Farm (Forestville). 707.433.1958, river awardsgala.com

OCT 4 Sea Lion Soiree

Join the Marine Mammal Center as it celebrates 40 years of veterinary, scienti fic and educational achievements with youth activities, cocktails, a family-style dinner and sunset s’mores. Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito). 415.289.7331, sealionsoiree.com

OCT 7 International Walk and Bike to School Day Join Marin County Parks and fellow environmentalists the world over by getting the kids to school sans cars. Various locations (Bay Area). marincountyparks.org

OCT 7 TNDC Celebrity Pool Toss TNDC’s 23rd annual pool toss is the city’s coolest pool party, boasting an array of wet and wild fun as the crowd bids on the chance to toss local celebrities into the pool — all while raising money for the children and families of the Tenderloin. Phoenix Hotel (SF). 415.358.3906, tndc.org

OCT 8 Fort Ross FunRaiser Enjoy a great night of fun, fairies,

fortunes and delectable treats under the Golden Gate Bridge. Fairy tale theater and circus acts lend a whimsical element to the evening, which focuses on California’s natural history with all proceeds benefitting Fort Ross Park. Bay Area Discovery Museum (Sausalito). 212.257.6448, fortross foundation.org

OCT 10 Novato Sunrise Oktoberfest Throw on your lederhosen and enjoy traditional German music, great food and fun in honor of the beer-centric holiday. Greek Orthodox Church (Novato). 415.385.2922, novato sunriserotary.org

OCT 17 Creole United Festival Groove to the

rhythm and experience the tastes of Louisiana at the Creole United Festival, featuring zydeco music, an assortment of traditional culinary favorites and beer and wine. Dunphy Park (Sausalito). 510.331.5575, creole unitedfestival.com

OCT 17 Denim and Diamonds Sip on cocktails and dust off our cowboy boots at Marin Charitable’s annual fundraiser to support the county’s at-risk youth. Pacheco Family Winery (Novato). marincharitable.org

OCT 17 di Party di Rosa The gallery’s 14th annual benefit auction features a sit-down dinner along with live and silent bidding, with

all proceeds benefiting di Rosa’s unique programs. di Rosa (Napa). 707.226.5991, dirosaart.org

OCT 18 MALT Day at the Pumpkin Patch Pick an organic pumpkin, taste local cider, beer and treats and let the kids go crazy with crafts. Proceeds will help MALT’s work to protect Marin’s farms and ranches. Nicasio Valley Farms pumpkin patch (Nicasio). 415.663.1158, malt.org

OCT 22–25 The San Francisco Fall Antiques Show Themed “Time After Time: Bringing the Past Present,” this year’s antique fair centers on the lasting quality of beautiful pieces and the time that goes into creating

“My inner kid seldom stopped grinning.” The New York Times

them. Fort Mason (SF). 415.989.9019, sffas.org

OCT 25 Headlands Fall Open House Meet the current artists, view works in progress, attend performances and readings and enjoy a house-made lunch in the mess hall. Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito). 415.331.2787, headlands.org

OCT 25 RUN10 FEED10

Participate in a 10K foot race benefiting the FEED foundation — run 10 miles, and 10 meals will be provided to those who are hungry in local and surrounding communities. Crissy Field (SF). run10feed10.com

FILM

OCT 3–7 Il Trovatore Soprano Anna Netrebko stars as Lenora, the Verdi heroine who sacri fices her life for the love of a gypsy troubadour. Experience the drama of the Metropolitan Opera from the comfort of your Larkspur theater seat. The Lark Theater (Larkspur). 415.924.5111, larktheater.net

OCT 8–18 Mill Valley Film Festival Back for its 38th year, the internationally acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival welcomes more than 20 0 fi lmmakers representing more than 50 countries to Marin County as it screens a variety of new cinema,

with spotlights, Q&As and galas interspersed throughout. Various locations (Marin County). 415.383.5256, mv ff.com

NATURE WALKS & TALKS

OCT 6 Frank Gehry The renowned architect, best known for his postmodern designs and use of unusual materials, joins Paul Goldberger, author of Building Art, for an exploration of Gehry’s life and career. Nourse Theater (SF). 415.392.4400, city arts.net

OCT 11 Pardon My Dust with Claire Keane Former visual development animator at Disney Animation Studios and current independent illustrator

Claire Keane shares tips and tricks to create illustrations using the magical and messy medium of chalk pastels. The Walt Disney Family Museum (SF). 415.345.6800, waltdisney.org

OCT 13 Desirée Holman with Derek Conrad Murray Interdisciplinary artist Desirée Holman is joined by art and visual culture critic and theorist Derek Conrad Murray for a conversational evening. Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito). 415.331.2787, headlands.org

OCT 17 Family Adventures Begin with a short walk to a Miwok Village, followed by a hike on the Loop

Trail, which winds through a forest of native trees. Olompall State Historic Park (Novato). 415.456.7283, wildcarebayarea.org

OCT 22 Elvis Costello English singer/songwriter Elvis Costello began performing in the early 1970s and has enjoyed a career spanning more than 40 years. Here, Costello talks music with Dan Stone, editor-inchief of Radio Silence Nourse Theater (SF). 415.392.4400, city arts.net

OCT 27 Marin Moonshiners Hike and Picnic Join hike leader John Benus. Mount Tam (Mill Valley). 415.331.0100, meetup. com/moonshinershike

OCT 28 Diana Nyad

One of the world’s greatest long-distance swimmers motivates audiences to follow their dreams. At the age of 64, Nyad successfully completed a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium (San Rafael). 650.340.7004, speakerseries.net

OCT 29 Jim Wood

Marin Magazine senior writer and adventure junkie Jim Wood discusses his new memoir, What a Trip!, which highlights his numerous journeys and the lessons learned along the way. Point Reyes Books (Point Reyes). 415.663.1542, ptreyesbooks.com

"When women feel informed, connected and inspired to make a difference, we can change the world."

Grab your girlfriends and join us for our 2015/2016 season of education, inspiration and fun!

EVENING SERIES

Entrepreneurs Passionate About Healthy Living — Oct 27, 2015

Christin Powell | Chief Product Innovator, EVER Skincare. Co-founded Juice Beauty. Helping women feel and look beautiful through products that work and are good for you.

Pamela Marcus | Co-founder, LifeFactory. Passionate about healthy, environmentally friendly products for families.

Pamela Giusto-Sorrells | President, Pamela’s Products. Pioneer in natural and gluten-free foods for over 25 years.

The Savor Secret: Surprising Ways to Get What You Want Out of Life — Jan 26, 2016

Angela Jia Kim | Founder & CEO of The Savor Lifestyle Brands - Savor Spa, Om Aroma & Co. and Savor the Success, a women entrepreneur network. Her Savor Schools and productivity tools help thousands of women manifest their dreams while savoring lives they love.

The New Face of American Education: Cultivating Creative, Entrepreneurial and Global Talents — Feb 23, 2016

Yong Zhao, Ph.D. | World-renowned thought leader and scholar, educational expert and award-winning author of 20 books including "World Class Learners" and "Catching Up or Leading The Way.” Named one of the 10 most influential people in educational technology.

Women Empowering Change: Using Your Talents for Good — May 3, 2016

Jennifer Dulski | President & COO of Change.org, the world’s largest social change platform with more than 100 million users in 196 countries. Successful entrepreneur and businesswoman integral to the growth of both Yahoo! and Google. First female entrepreneur to sell a company to Google and hailed as an "instigator of change" by Forbes.

Brilliant, dynamic speakers, inspiring conversations, elegant & gourmet receptions in the company of remarkable women LUNCH & LEARN SERIES

6:30 - 9:00pm at the Mill Valley Community Center - Heavy appetizers, dessert, wine, book signings, raffle and more

Join us for our more intimate sessions focusing on Health & Wellness

Nutrition for a Healthy, Vibrant, Beautiful You — Nov 19, 2015 Integrative Health: Treating Your Mind, Body & Soul — Apr 7, 2016

11:30am - 1:30pm at Piatti Restaurant, Mill Valley

FILM SCREENING FUNDRAISERS

Most Likely To Succeed — an award-winning documentary

Community building educational events to support our local schools

"The 21st century is going to be all about building, creating and innovating. This remarkable film shows a path of how we can empower all of our children to do that.” - Sal Khan, Khan Academy

Sep 28, 2015 - Sinaloa Middle School Gym, Novato (to benefit SCHOOL FUEL)

Oct 1, 2015 - Park School Auditorium, Mill Valley (to benefit KIDDO!)

Nov 5, 2015 - Drake High School Theatre, San Anselmo (to benefit YES)

Jenny FOUNDER OF SPEAK TO ME

Premier Sponsor Series Sponsor

MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

Marin Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to the 38th

MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

On the Scene

SNAPSHOTS FROM SPECIAL EVENTS IN MARIN AND SAN FRANCISCO EDITED BY DANIEL JEWETT

MO DELONG (ART FESTIVAL); DAWN STRANNE (MARINSCAPES); LARRY NIENKARK (OPEN STUDIOS)

Ty Hansen, Lindsay Webb and Kathleen Lipinski

• MARINSCAPES FINE ART EXHIBIT AND BENEFIT Buckelew Programs raised more than $254,000 at its 27th annual event held June 25 at the historic Escalle Winery.

• MARIN OPEN STUDIOS PREVIEW GALA Marin Open Studios kicked off its annual event with a preview gala at Bon Air Center.

Kay Carlson, Peggy Haas and Bob Amos

• SAUSALITO ART FESTIVAL The open-air waterfront art festival was back for its 63rd year over the labor day weekend featuring more than 260 international artists and music from bands like Jefferson Starship.

Dan and Parsons Schalit, Eric and Heather Eberhardt and Vincenzo Melchiorre

Elyse Tesman, Brittany Viani and Julianne Walsh

David Mann, Larry Lautzker and David Adams

•

SUMMER SOLSTICE FUNDRAISING

EVENT Marin Community Clinics’ annual event held at the Art and Garden Center on June 24 raised more than $90,000 to benefit Marin’s low-income residents.

• BENEFIT ART AUCTION

Headlands Center for the Arts held its biggest fundraiser of the year June 3 at Fort Mason featuring food, entertainment, cocktails and live and silent auctions.

Susan Swig, Annie Montgomery and Kate Harbin Clammer

Lara Deam, Chris Ospital and Chris Deam

Carolina Perez, Linda Tavaszi, Jason Beer and Maria Benitez

Barbara Dunn, Cindy Greenberg and Toni Brayer

From humble Marin County “garagistes” to proud producers of elegant Pinot Noir

Balboa Cafe | Bungalow 44 | El Paseo Farm Shop | Left Bank | Picco Marche aux Fleurs | Poggio | Sushi Ran Woodlands Market

Private Tastings by Appointment in Marin County HaleMaryWine.com

In the famed Sonoma County wine country. Local hospitality meets San Francisco chic. Bakeries, bistros, tasting rooms and 5-star restaurants.

Stylish boutiques, art galleries and antique shops. Picnic baskets brimming with local farmers’ market delicacies.

Taste the wine country the way Northern Californians do. And like everyone who visits, you’ll fall head over Healdsburg. www.healdsburg.com

A World of Opportunities

We offer a unique opportunity for young children to learn about and share cultural and linguistic perspectives, to grow as curious and motivated learners, to become fluent French speakers and scholars, and to thrive as tomorrow’s global citizens.

SAUSALITO CAMPUS Preschool to 5th grade

lelycee.org

the Campaign for Educational Equity

in the bay area

We are sending more than 1,000 students to or back to college this fall, thanks to our generous donors and volunteers. Our students are from low-income backgrounds, and most will be the first in their families to graduate from college.

We believe that every student deserves the opportunity to succeed in college.

JOIN US. LEARN MORE. 10000degrees.org

Creating college graduates who change the world

cabinetry

Lamperti Contracting & Design | San Rafael | lampertikitchens.com custom

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Photo by Jennifer Skinner

A Room With a View

Hilltop 1892 invites Marin residents to enjoy a modern menu at a

HILLTOP 1892’S NAME has literal origins: in 1892, Daniel Hayden completed construction of his hilltop home. Later owners of the building, experimenting with serving food there in the 1930s, mutated between various eatery iterations — restaurant, coffee shop, cafe — until settling on the California country menu that draws crowds today. In the kitchen of the historic estate is chef Todd Davies, who began his culinary career at the River Cafe in New York after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Davies soon found a home in the Bay Area, doing stints as a chef and restaurant owner in places like San Francisco and Palo Alto and eventually crossing the bridge to become a partner and executive chef at the Lark Creek Inn in 1996. And as we food-lovers know, once you come to Marin County, it’s difficult to leave. “Being a chef in Marin means having access to some of the best-quality products in the world — from the myriad cheeses made in Northern California to beautiful produce to locally caught fish and locally raised meat. It is truly great to be a chef here,” Davies says. Here, he shares a recipe for a sweet and savory appetizer ideal for your next dinner party. hilltop1892.com

CALIN VAN PARIS

Roasted Pears With Prosciutto

SERVES 6

Ingredients

3 pears, ripe but firm

3 ounces Point Reyes Farmstead blue cheese

½ cup walnuts

L cup dried cherries

½ cup Seka Hills Elderberry balsamic vinegar

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

12 thin slices of prosciutto

1 cup baby arugula

Microgreens for garnish

To Prepare

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. 2 Peel pears and cut in half, removing cores with a melon baller. Slice off the very bottom of the halved pears and lay halves in a roasting pan. 3 Combine blue cheese, walnuts and dried cherries in a small bowl. Mound the mixture over each pear half, filling the core holes. 4 In the same small bowl, combine the vinegars, water and brown sugar, stirring until sugar is mostly dissolved. Pour mixture over pears and place in oven. 5 Baste the pears every 5 minutes until tender, around 20–30 minutes. Remove pears from oven and place halves on six separate plates. 6 Combine the cooking liquid in the bottom of the pan with olive oil and lemon juice to create a vinaigrette. 7 Lay two slices of prosciutto on each plate. 8 Toss baby arugula with vinaigrette. 9 Garnish plates with arugula and microgreens, drizzle entire dish with remaining vinaigrette and serve.

historic estate.

Barrel

Deals on Meals

Enjoy local restaurants and save 30 percent on meals. Check out the participating restaurants in our “Deals on Meals” section and experience big savings. Spend only $35 for a dining certificate worth $50. Simply go to marinmagazine.com/dineout to purchase a dining certificate from a restaurant in this section and we will mail it to you. Try a new restaurant or purchase a certificate for an old favorite. A perfect gift for any occasion. Limited supply each month. Dine local

Barrel House Tavern 660 Bridgeway 415.729.9593 Sausalito, CA barrelhousetavern.com

Serving Marin for over 25 years with delicious Szechwan, Mandarin cuisine. Always fresh food and friendly service, nice decor, and easy parking. Also offer delivery to Southern Marin, and private parties for any occasion.

Feng Nian 2650 Bridgeway 415.331.5300 Sausalito, CA fengnian.com

Comforts Cafe

335 San Anselmo Ave 415.454.9840 San Anselmo, CA comfortscafe.com

Dining in? Try one of the great recipes in Organic Marin. Produced by Marin Magazine, this seasonal cookbook celebrates the organic farmers of Marin County and over 40 delicious recipes from local restaurants. Go to marinmagazine.com/organicmarin

House Tavern, nestled in historic downtown Sausalito offers a northern California vibe, attentive hospitality, and a locally sourced seasonal menu. Overlooking the Bay with breathtaking views, Barrel House Tavern is a lively destination fit for an intimate dinner for two, or a celebratory venue for large groups.

PHOTO: LEE RUE, INTELITE-DESIGN.COM

Grilly’s serves up fresh, healthy and fast Mexican food to Marin. Everything is made from scratch daily-from the marinated and grilled meats, the fire roasted salsas, our world famous chicken taco salad to the housemade agua frescas. A great line up of vegan and gluten free items.

L’Appart Resto serves a French-inspired seasonal menu. We also offer a $35 prix fixe option daily and live music on the patio every Thursday. L’Appart is available for private events. Open for lunch Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and dinner 7 nights a week.

Grilly’s Mill Valley

Grilly’s Fairfax 493 Miller Ave One Bolinas Ave 415.381.3278 415.457.6171

L’Appart Resto 636 San Anselmo Ave 415.256.9884 San Anselmo, CA lappartresto.com

Serving Lunch, Dinner and Weekend Breakfast. RangeCafe Bar and Grill, located on the course at Peacock Gap Golf Club, offers a delicious array of dining options to satisfy the whole family. All items are freshly prepared and served in a relaxed and inviting environment.

RangeCafe Bar and Grill 333 Biscayne Drive 415.454.6450 San Rafael, CA rangecafe.net bar and grill

Visit the Seafood Peddler for the freshest seafood Marin has to offer, shipped in daily from the east coast to West! Enjoy the view indoors or enjoy our beautiful flower lined patio. Come enjoy our daily Happy Hour (including weekends) from 4:00 to 7:00PM.

Seafood Peddler 303 Johnson Street 415.332.1492 Sausalito, CA seafoodpeddler.com

The Speakeasy is a casual neighborhood sports bar with delicious affordable food, 10 beers on tap and a great wine list. Open 7-days per week for lunch and dinner including a classic weekend brunch. Famous for the “Speakeasy Burger” and crunchy fried chicken. Dine-in, take-out and delivery available from open until close.

The Speakeasy 504 Alameda Del Prado 415.883.7793 Novato, CA TheSpeakeasyNovato.com

Perched on the Sausalito waterfront, the renowned Trident honors its original founding philosophy, showcasing quality organic and sustainablyprodued local fare. Whether seated indoors or on one of our two decks, spectacular bay views make dining here a feast for all the senses.

The Trident - Best Deck Dining 558 Bridgeway 415.331.3232 Sausalito, CA thetrident.net

MARIN ADVERTISERS SPEAK UP

ad lib

Patrick Kelly, owner of European Wax Center

European Wax Center was founded a decade ago on the belief that all of us deserve beautiful, gorgeous skin, attained not by concealing who we are, but by having the courage and confidence to reveal our natural, beautiful self. In fact, our belief is so strong that we treat all first-time guests to a complimentary wax.

What is your competitive edge?

The entire European Wax Center organization is laser focused on providing the very best skin care and hair removal services in the nation. That is all we do, so we have to do it better than anyone else.

Tony Probst, owner of Audio Video Integration

Audio Video Integration fills the needs of our clients by designing and installing technology and equipment for home and garden automation, surveillance, high-fidelity audio systems, media systems and customdesigned home theaters. Our professional team will create easy-to-use systems for your home or business that exceed your expectations and improve the quality of your life.

What is your competitive edge?

We strive to grow, learn and evolve, to present the modern technology that our clients demand.

What makes your work worthwhile?

We develop a connection with each of our customers and look forward to the opportunity to make someone’s life a little brighter. Music and movies can make for a sweet escape from a busy day.

What product or service that you offer is your favorite?

To see the first tear of happiness after the demo of a client’s new system is so rewarding. Having loyal customers for life is important to AVi. Our customers know we are immediately available for anything — including Internet problems.

Briefly describe your business philosophy.

It is my intent to ensure each and every guest is provided the very best customer service experience that my team can offer.

What (or who) were you going to be when you grew up?

I’m not entirely willing to accept that I’ve grown up, but I seem to remember as a child wanting to fly planes. I did spend several years flying around in Marine Corps helicopters, but never quite became a pilot.

What makes you excel at what you do?

I like success. To me success is taking on new challenges and overcoming the obstacles you never thought existed. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and every day provides new opportunities and challenges.

What makes your work worthwhile?

Truthfully, the very best part is the opportunity to work with such a fantastic team of young women (Jasmine Davis, pictured) and one young man. I am constantly impressed by their professionalism, the pride they take in their work and the energy they bring to their job.

EUROPEAN WAX CENTER, 5000 NORTHGATE DRIVE, SUITE 125, SAN RAFAEL, 415.479.7700, WAXCENTER.COM

Your thoughts regarding working with family?

A family business offers a unique arena to pass down knowledge and cultivate attributes of the next generation. I’m blessed to have my three sons working in the store, managing the administrative office, professionally installing equipment in customers’ homes and performing vital programming duties. We cherish working together every day and respect the importance of family and grandbabies.

AUDIO VIDEO INTEGRATION, 647 FRANCISCO BOULEVARD E., SAN RAFAEL, 415.526.0070, AVIMARIN.COM

Sales and Rentals

Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Building A San Francisco, CA 94123 415-441-4777

sfmoma.org/visit/artists_gallery Email for an appointment: artistsgallery@sfmoma.org

Gallery Hours

Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Richard Taylor

FROM TOURS AND MAKEOVERS TO DECORATIVE DETAILS AND REALTOR INSIGHTS

BY LAURA HILGERS • PHOTOS BY TIM PORTER

WHEN OLDER MARIN residents say they’re buying a house for accessibility reasons, a few images pop into mind: walk-in bathtubs, extra handrails and an utter lack of style. Francesca Peck, a retired psychotherapist, begs to differ.

Peck’s Kent field home is the defi nition of style, fi lled with an eclectic mix of modern art, antique metal objects and colorful furniture. And yes, it’s all on one floor.

That was one of Peck’s “musts” when she moved here from her four-level home in Sausalito. She had bought the Sausalito house on a whim, after many years in Kent field — a decision she regretted during a 3 a.m. windstorm one night, when she had to walk down four levels (after a hip replacement) to check something banging against the fence. “I walked upstairs,” she says, “and said, ‘This is not going to work, long-term.’ ”

So Peck and her realtor, Stephanie Ahlberg, began looking for a one-level house with a pool (which she depends on for her health) and a

warmer climate. When Peck saw this home online, she thought it was perfect.

Still, Peck, a serial renovator, could not resist making a few changes, even though the house was essentially done. She repainted the entire place, remodeled the master bath and worked to warm up the modern home. A striped Gervasoni couch and chair, as well as a brown deep shag rug, now furnish the living room. Antique metal ice-fishing lures sit in a bowl on the large square table. A pillow that says “Be Nice or Leave” rests against the couch.

The family room is equally fun. In the fireplace, Peck has placed a metal “nest,” filled with square, circular and cylindrical fireplace forms. Above it, she’s hung a modern painting by Pamela Smilow that echoes the “grellow” (green/yellow) leather Italian chairs nearby. And over the room’s dining table — ringed by mismatched chairs — she’s put an industrial metal lamp originally from a school gymnasium in Poland. “Cesca,” says Ahlberg, “has the most wonderful taste of any client I’ve ever had.”

That’s especially apparent in the backyard, which Peck overhauled. She ripped out the grass and expanded the steps to more easily reach the 45-foot pool. In the process, she created a stunning minimalist concrete deck, edged by a gabion — a metal cage filled with construction rocks — that functions as a simple art piece.

Peck did make concessions to age, but nothing that reeks of AARP. After moving in, she realized that she could not use the finger channels that open the kitchen cabinets. So she’s replacing them with handles, most likely from Miele, maker of her oven. They’ll be stylish. Of course. m

THE DETAILS

WHERE SHE PURCHASED The Laurel Grove area of Kent field

WHAT SHE BOUGHT A contemporary three-bedroom home

LISTING AGENT Sarah Kowalczyk and Lotte Moore, McGuire Real Estate

SELLING AGENT Stephanie Ahlberg, Hill & Co.

STATS Price per square foot for homes in the neighborhood: $893

Autumn Accents

Bring the wonder of fall inside with these seasonal items.

BY PJ BREMIER

AS SUMMER FADES and the calendar gently transitions to a cooler season, our collective focus also shifts. G one are the carefree lazy days in the sun; ahead are holiday gatherings and winter fun. This fall, as you pack away the warm-weather memories, surround yourself with peaceful remind-

1 Branch Hurricane, $30 each, Z Gallerie (Berkeley), 510.525.7591, zgallerie.com 2 Courtly Striped Pumpkin in polyresin by MacKenzie-Childs at David M. Brian (Greenbrae), $175 large, $60 medium, 415.464.0344, davidmbrian.com 3 Autumn Leaves Are Falling pillow, $29.95, Pier 1 Imports (San Rafael or Novato), 415.256.9853 or 415.897.4460, pier1.com 4 Gingko Branch (24-by-35-inch) mirror in a dark copper finish, $725, other sizes and colors available at BlindSpot Mirrors, 415.482.6082, blindspotmirrors.net

5 Handcrafted arrangement of Cream Roses with Berries, $159, Ethan Allen (Corte Madera), 415.924.8507, ethanalleninc.com

uncompromising extraordinary

Exquisite Vineyard Estate in Sonoma County

Located in the coveted Russian River and Sonoma Coast AVAs is this pinnacle of Wine Country Living! Artisanal luxury abounds in the 9000± square feet, main villa, featuring 4 master suites 6.5 bathrooms, an exercise room, theater room, Dali lithograph-inlaid gallery, and gourmand’s kitchen. A pool, spa, cabana, and expansive outdoor cooking. Temp-controlled 2000+/- bottle wine library and cave. Also includes 2 casitas and 2500± square foot vacation rental. 21+/acres of vineyard planted to pinot noir and chardonnay. www.7390starr.com

offered at $8,500,000

Lysbeth Wiggins (707) 529-5087

Contemporary 4BR/6BA home sits on two parcels. Luxurious master suite with breathtaking panoramic views. Relax and enjoy the San Francisco skyline from this masterpiece just minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge. Designed by prominent San Francisco architects, Porter & Steinwedell. The gardens were custom designed by the renowned landscape architect Fred Warnecke. Other features include 2700 bottle wine cellar, gym, secluded patio, terrace, 4 car garage+ detached home with kitchen & half bath. www.54LowerCrescent.com offered at $4,999,999

JuLia bernardini (415) 225-0468

Custom private estate in the prestigious George Ranch community with astounding views of the entire Sonoma Valley and Bay. This retreat features 4BR/4BA, a gourmet kitchen, travertine entry, hardwood floors, great room with an entertainer’s bar and rich white cedar ceilings, formal living area and 3 fireplaces. The large French doors lead to expansive decks, an exquisite outdoor kitchen, a show case pool and spa surrounded by waterfalls and impeccable grounds. This sprawling approximately 3.29± acres has everything you could want! www.GeorgeRanchEstate.com

offered at $3,495,000

KendaLL Pinheiro (707) 695-0889

Exclusive Monterey Development

Located in Clint Eastwood’s exclusive development of Tehama and Monterra. Ultimate Rodger Mills developed single-level corner-lot home site estate, La Brisa at Paseo Vista. Timeless architectural villa design and function with abundant outdoor space, including a partially wooded garden with greenhouse, garden bocce ball game court, garden patio, garden sea-view terrace, and outdoor fireplaces in the main courtyard and veranda. Chef’s kitchen. 4BR/4.5BA.

offered at $2,880,000

ernest basoco (415) 689-1101

Pacific Heights Style Residence in Sausalito

Wine Country Resort Living at its Best!

EXQUISITE NEW CONSTRUCTION, EXTRAORDINARY DESIGN

This one of a kind enchanting home will take your breath away. Flowing, open plan, high ceilings, abundant light & pretty views. This home captures a unique sense of old world charm and character coupled with today’s modern technology and amenities. Four gracious bedrooms, three and one-half baths; include an au pair or in-law suite, gourmet kitchen and a large flat yard. Top rated Schools, Easy Access to 101, Strawberry, downtowns Mill Valley & San Francisco. offered at $2,699,000

ROSE CAPURRO (415) 690-6762

EXQUISITE GREENBRAE TURN-KEY REMODEL

Brand new remodel taken down to the studs & brought back with remarkable quality & detail. This exquisite home boasts an open floor plan that seamlessly transitions to the sprawling yard complete with hot tub, pool, & Mt. Tam views. Luxurious Master Suite & bath, three additional bedrooms, two full baths, chef’s kitchen, dining room, & living room on main level. Bed & bath downstairs w/separate entrance could be used as a home office, au pair quarters, or in-law suite. Virtually everything new inside and out. Truly turn-key!

HOMEWOOD MOUNTAIN HOME

West shore Lake Tahoe, lakeside home with 3 bedrooms 3 full baths and 2 1/2 baths with beach and pier access on large estate lot. Classic covered courtyard and stone walkway to the entrance of a custom home. Custom built wood cased windows, hardwood floors; hydronic heat, natural gas and propane are some of the features of this home. Ideal private fenced backyard for entertaining, additional studio above oversized 2 car garage. offered at $1,995,000

PAM ADAMSON MAIDA (707) 494-9895

Kimberly Strub 415.218.4255 kstrub@cbnorcal.com CalBRE #01402651

CIMAS AVENUE, MILL

Mill Valley living at its finest. Featuring spectacular views, a level play area and tranquil privacy, this updated home blends contemporary design with warmth and functionality. Beautiful indoor/outdoor living, wonderful natural light, possible in-law and separate areas for work and play make this home tops! www.14MonteCimas.com

Elizabeth Kilgore

415.517.1577 egk415@mac.com CalBRE #01441531

16 PLACE MOULIN, TIBURON Offered at $3,600,000

Sophisticated, Mediterraneanstyle home at end of a cul-desac with sweeping views from Mt Tamalpais to the East Bay. Main level has formal living and dining rooms, stylish kitchen/ family room. Lower level has four spacious en-suite bedrooms. 16placemoulin.cbrb.com

Stephanie Rice

415.516.7423 stephanie.rice@camoves.com CalBRE #01052067

I needed a place to stop and smell the roses.

Paragon started over a decade ago with a focus on what we know best: San Francisco, Marin and the Bay Area.

We’re just like you, part of a community, and know a home isn’t merely a place to live, but a place where one creates a life. We are committed to your interests and to serving the community with a sense of joy and accomplishment. 300 DRAKES LANDING RD., ST.120 GREENBRAE, CA 94904 415-805-2900 PARAGON-RE.COM

WE’RE LOCAL, WE’RE GLOBAL

We’re Luxury

Since our beginning as a tiny Bay Area startup, we have grown to the #1 independent real estate brokerage in California The 5th largest residential firm in the Unied States for the fourth consecutive year, with over $10.8 billion in closed sales volume in 2014.* We reach over 70 million potential buyers and investors in 30 countries. Through our partnership with Luxury Portfolio, we represent more $1M+ homes than any luxury network, including Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Coldwell Banker Previews.

A mere 15 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge, your resort in paradise awaits you. Completed in 2007 and built green, this one level gated Tuscan inspired estate is perfectly sited on a 1.6 ± acre private knoll that enjoys all day sun. Complete with a swimming pool,

yard, separate pool house with guest quarters, 3 car garage and lushly landscaped gardens. This residence o ers 6000 ± square feet of living space

grounds

amazing

235 Calle del Mar. Just steps to town and the beach, this property is serenely private with stunning views of the ocean and Mt. Tam. A perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of life over the hill. The Sherfey Group 3605 Shoreline Hwy, Stinson Beach, CA 94970 SherfeyGroup @ deckerbullocksir.com o ce | 415.868.0288 mobile | 415.531.885 0 C.J. Nakagawa 415.407.2151 cj@ sir.com

Stunning Mueller Nicholls-designed

with Calacatta

marble

staff, two pantries, Sub-Zero and Miele appliances, large center isle and sunny breakfast area with folding wall expanse and adjacent balcony overlooking the ever-changing, living mural of two yacht harbors, Corinthian and Angel Islands, the San Francisco Bay and Raccoon Strait. Large, luxurious master suite on upper level, with fireplace, Lady’s dressing/sitting room with its own balcony, sunroom and breakfast bar; the Gentleman’s dressing area/den with deck; beautiful Calacatta Oro marble bath with his and her heated-floor sections, connected by the large steam shower. Lady’s bath equipped with the wall-mounted, electrified makeup mirror and free-standing Waterworks tub. Top floor guest suite with two bedrooms, two fireplaces, bath, sitting area and large, view-side balcony. Lower level with two separate living spaces – the au pair with bath and private deck, and the one-bedroom in-law space with bath and view-side deck.

SOLD

150

15

a haven of tranquility enhance this gorgeous setting. 15OakAve.com, $2,675,000

2480 Mar East, Tiburon. This 3 bed, 2.5 bath plus private guesthouse architectural treasure is perched right on the water’s edge and smoothly integrates indoor and outdoor living with elegance. Fresh breezes and generous natural light produce an ambiance of total tranquility. Catch glimpses of frolicking seals and waterfowl while enjoying the sweeping views. $2,725,000, 2480MarEast.com

5 Barner Lane, Tiburon. This stunning, +/- 5,200 sq ft, 4 bed/4 bath home, has a panoramic San Francisco bay view. The 1 acre site includes lavender fields, rose and dahlia gardens, a splash pool, and fabulous view site for a guest cottage. Built with the highest standards, it combines modern amenities and traditional design elements. Close to Marin’s finest independent schools. $5,850,000, 5Barnerlane.com

San Rafael Avenue, Belvedere Lagoon. Situated on the beautiful south facing wide expanse of the Lagoon, this 4 bed 3 bath home has views across the water of Angel Island and Mount Tam. This custom built 3750 sq ft steel and glass home is perfect for indoor/outdoor living and entertaining. Just minutes to shops, restaurants and ferry connection to San Francisco. $3,995,000

Oak Ave, Belvedere. Blessed by the abundance of natural beauty, this remodeled 3 bed, 3.5 bath home offers a sense of private enjoyment. The ideal location close to the village, ferry, shopping, and schools, offers framed panoramas of the lagoon and the Tiburon hills. Decks, patios, yard, hot tub and

164 Crescent Ave, Sausalito. Secure behind a private gated entrance, this 4 bed 3 bath residence provides a fabulous arrangement of indoor/outdoor living and dining areas that take advantage of the stunning views of San Francisco and the bay through floor to ceiling windows. Just minutes to the Golden Gate Bridge. 164Crescent.com, $3,250,000

Work in Progress

else is known about this panoramic photo of the Bay Area?

BY JIM WOOD

OTHER THAN THE year being 1934 or soon after, the actual date this aerial photograph was taken is unknown (a few sources contend it was really taken in April 1935). What seems to be reasonably agreed on is that the Golden Gate Bridge’s Marin, or north, tower — on which construction had commenced November 7, 1933 — was completed by either June 28 or sometime in November of 1934.

As for the battleships heading out

to sea, that is definitely part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Meanwhile, on Angel Island, in the center of this photo, the Angel Island Immigration Center, opened on the island’s backside in 1910 to process Asian immigrants, would remain open until 1940. In all, it processed more than a million immigrants prior to their entering America, leading it to be labeled “the Ellis Island of the West.” If other facts are known regarding this photograph, please email them to pov@marinmagazine.com. m

What

As for the battleships heading out to sea, that is definitely part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.