In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a small community of like-minded individuals came together in Bolinas, CA to build their very own driftwood homes on RCA Beach.

All the shelters have been strikingly unique and sometimes downright marvelous. With new constructing supplies washing up on the shore every single day, these mavericks constructed properties that have been deeply knowledgeable by probability finds and the whims of the climate. As so many locals know, constructions constructed upon the ocean’s coastlines are ephemeral by nature—these driftwood homes have been much more so. Consequently, there are only a few historic photographs documenting their short-lived tenure.

The Indigenous Coast Miwok individuals have been the primary within the historical past of handmade shelters to construct properties comprised of redwood timber and bark alongside these coastlines. In coastal Marin, the Coast Miwok have been the earliest builders of sustainable handmade shelters. Cosy homes have been fabricated from layers of tule mats over spherical bent department frames or slabs of redwood bark over conical frames.

Photographs: Driftwood Homes at RCA Seashore, 1970, C-Prints, Bolinas Museum Historical past Archives, 2000.43