Editor's Welcome

I ARRIVED IN San Francisco more than three decades ago traveling up spectacular Highway 1 from Los Angeles, but it wasn’t until a few days later, when I squeezed into a red convertible with friends and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, that I felt that I had finally set eyes on Northern California.

Pristine Marin County, different from its famous built-up counterpart in obvious ways, was and is a microcosm of the moody stretch of coastline from the Bay Area up to the Oregon border. Its maiden mountain Tamalpais, cliffs and headlands, redwood groves, sun-browned hills, beaches, and morning fog that when seen from one of the islands dotting the bay actually seems to cascade from hillsides into the water, are all ineffably of a piece.

The unifying landscape and the warmer weather that brought Victorian pioneers to vacation in Marin have given birth to a robust outdoors culture. It includes Zen gardens and artful hippie enclaves in Stinson Beach, Bolinas and Point Reyes and in houseboats in Sausalito. Sailors, surfers, the first mountain bikers, hikers and even captains of industry, who are all seduced by the views, sometimes retire amid farms, orchards and vineyards that stretch up to Napa and Sonoma counties. They dabble with unexpected new lives; tech moguls become cattle farmers, olive oil producers, cheese makers, beer brewers and honey mead makers. They come from everywhere, and some even live in tree houses.

During a recent stay in Sausalito, I watched a cross section of hundreds of Marinites and their neighbors around the Bay gathered at a joyful holiday party hosted by a beloved local Indian restaurant. It is their audacious, throwback, pastoral Marin and their unique contemporary homes that stretch from wine country to the northern shores of San Francisco that we’ll bring to you in Marin At Home magazine.

In this exciting premiere issue, along with sybaritic pointers from well-known residents in Mill Valley, Belvedere, Larkspur and Tiburon, we bring you to what lies hidden in Stinson, San Anselmo, Kentfield, Fairfax, Napa and San Francisco. Enjoy.

ZAHID SARDAR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MARIN AT HOME

EMAIL: [email protected]

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Zahid Sardar

Zahid Sardar brings an extensive range of design interests and keen knowledge of Bay Area design culture to SPACES magazine. He is a San Francisco editor, curator and author specializing in global architecture, interiors, landscape and industrial design. His work has appeared in numerous design publications as well as the San Francisco Chronicle for which he served as an influential design editor for 22 years. Sardar serves on the San Francisco Decorator Showcase design advisory board.