In the peak of the 1970s music scene, Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane called this 1920s beach house in Marin County, 13 miles northwest of San Francisco, home. It has a rock ‘n’ roll legacy.
This week, the mansion that spans over 4,000 square feet will be listed for $14.99 million. It is situated on a quarter of an acre and has about 400 feet of beach frontage.
One of only two properties directly on the beach, the house has been owned by Mark Talucci, chairman and co-founder of the Sak Group, a producer of hand-crafted bags, and his wife Keri, the brand’s chief sustainability officer, since 1998. Marc Pincus, the founder of social gaming company Zynga, owns the other, according to Talucci.
The home’s colorful history is entangled with that of Bolinas itself. During the 1920s, the oceanside property was a gathering place for wealthy visitors from San Francisco, who would arrive by ship. It functioned as a bathhouse, then a tea house, a hotel, a dance hall and finally a casino before being traded as a private property, Talucci explained.
The unincorporated township, which has a population of about 1,600, has since evolved into a boho/surfer haven for artists, musicians and other creatives because of its privacy, connection to nature and rugged coastal landscape. Over the past decade, tech-disruptor billionaires have been buying here for the same reasons, said Kara Warrin of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty, who is handling the listing with colleague and husband, Paul Warrin.
“Bolinas is known for being exclusive and reclusive in that it’s only accessible via unmarked roads, so before the days of GPS, locals would tear down signs on the state route to keep outsiders from finding it,” Kara Warrin said.
According to the listing, a gated arched-stone entry opens onto a large motor court, a two-car garage and an expansive patio and deck surrounding the pool.
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Inside, on the main level, picture windows frame the panoramic views, and glass doors open onto a full-length deck overlooking the beach and shore break. The open floor plan consists of living and dining areas bridged by a chef’s kitchen—all with painted-white vaulted ceilings and the original Douglas fir floors, which Talucci said he preserved.
“The home has the classic elements of a Northern California beach house, with the wood shingles on the outside and exposed beams and shiplap paneling on the interior,” Kara Warrin said.
The primary suite on the main level includes an outdoor shower and a private patio; two en-suite bedrooms are on the lower level, each with direct ocean views and one with access to a private deck.
Also on the lower level is a large recreational room with a built-in wet bar, a wall of oversized windows with horizon views and French doors leading to a spacious lower patio and lawn.
An upstairs loft can serve as a studio or home office.
Additional highlights include a wood-burning fireplace in the family room, a lower-level sauna, an outdoor fire pit lounge and a Zen garden.
Then there are the spectacular views. “Bolinas Beach is unusual in that it faces south rather than west, which always confuses people,” Talucci said, adding that this orientation protects the area from the prevailing northeasterly storms.
Looking out over the beach, you see Stinson Beach and even Twin Peaks in San Francisco on the left; to the right is the Bolinas coastline, with endless ocean views in between.
At high tide, the water rests against the seawall. “You can fish off the deck if you want,” Talucci said. “I’ve traveled all over the world and never seen another home like it. Selling it is the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”
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