One of the leading lights of the development of The Sea Ranch on the northern Sonoma County Coast was Lawrence Halrprin (1916-2009).

A ten mile stretch of coast (formally a sheep ranch) was purchased with the intention of building a community that did not fight against its location but became part of it. The placement of houses and the design of the architecture was intended to mimic the shape of the hills, meadows, and tree lines of the location.

Halprin was hired on to develop the master plan for The Sea Ranch. This was a tall task to develop a new cultural utopia, even a blueprint for all future development. This was a chance to create a new architectural language that could be translated to other locations.

I connect with the works of Halprin in many ways.

I love the way the land becomes the centerpiece of The Sea Ranch. I can’t wait to sketch it, again!

I also love to look at the sketches of Halprin. He thought in sketches of pencil, ink, and watercolor. Halprin captured the landscape in his sketches. He spent a lot of time at Sea Ranch and he had a house here.

The Sea Ranch is a touchstone that I return to for inspiration, quiet, and sustenance. I love being here and sketching here.

When my father died I retreated to the Sea Ranch Lodge to have some quiet time and write my comments for his celebration of life ceremony.

For the feature sketch I attempted a mild, if not failed, caricature of Halprin donning a barn-sided suit. In the background is his studio at The Sea Ranch where he worked while he was on his land at The Sea Ranch.

The above sketch of the house next to my Sea Ranch rental demonstrates some of the Sea Ranch principles in design. The sloped roof, facing into the wind provides a wind-break on the lee-side of the structure (to the right). The house is also sided in natural vertical wood, reflecting the barn influences of some of the first structures on the land. There is also the influence of nearby Fort Ross and it’s chapel.

What is not reflected in the Utopian plans of Sea Ranch was the view from my front room. The original design called for open views across a common meadow to the ocean. From my wall of windows I could see a golf links, a road, a line of house and finally, just beyond the houses, the Pacific Ocean.

Like the name implies, Utopias don’t always live up to their founder’s vision.

And there are always more people with more money than sense to come along and screw it up!