Sea Ranch: Where Architecture and the Environment Meld
As we celebrate Earth Day, we reflect on a unique community designed with environmental respect at the forefront. In the 1960s, architect and developer Al Boeke created Sea Ranch in Sonoma County. Boeke envisioned a revolutionary development of condominiums preserving the surrounding landscape while imposing as little environmental impact as possible. Sea Ranch's ten-mile span of sprawling meadows and rugged cliffs overlooking the Pacific coast provided an idyllic place for this vision.
Boeke cultivated an impressive team of well-respected Bay Area design community members, including architects Joseph Esherick, Donlyn Lyndon, Charles Moore, Richard Whitaker, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, and contractor Matt Sylvia. He brought on architectural photographer Morley Baer and graphic designer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon to market Sea Ranch.
Sea Ranch creators in front of Condominium #1. Left to right: Richard Whitaker, Donlyn Lyndon, Charles Moore, and William Turnbull, 1991. Photo by Jim Alinder
The planning began with Halprin taking a detailed examination of the ecological conditions of the area. Intense winds often swept through the fields, which informed the condominiums' materials and landscaping. The team built the structures alongside hedgerows of trees that protected them from the strong gusts—keeping parts of the coastal meadows intact and views of the Pacific unobstructed.
Masterplan of Sea Ranch
In the 1960s, condominiums were rare, and the ones at Sea Ranch were especially novel. Each unit used timber framing and unpainted redwood exteriors with a seamless mix of modern and agrarian vernacular design. The uniformly sloping roofs echoed the natural descent of the coastline. Lyndon emphasized that the team wanted the condos to reflect the relationship of rural buildings to the landscape not resemble barns exactly.
Sea Ranch Principles by Lawrence Halprin
Halprin iterated a set of principles to ensure the values for the 3,500-acre community were upheld, with “nature predominates” first. However, as time went on, the desired utopia was altered as people pushed for more public coastal access and land rights to build more houses. The recently added small, single-family homes honor the preexisting architectural design guidelines. As Sea Ranch continues to evolve, the original intentions and vision still permeate and lend inspiration for how the built world can aim to exist in harmony with the earth.
Photo by Leslie Williamson
