marin county

Our Marin, trail by trail

Patty moved to Marin in 1999 and Kalara in 2003, back when exploring meant unfolding a paper map. Kalara worked her way through Barry Spitz’s Tamalpais Trails with a yellow highlighter, marking every trail she hiked. She still has the book, and there’s very little yellow left to add. For her birthday a couple of years ago, she set out from Olema in West Marin and hiked all the way home to Mill Valley: 25 miles, almost entirely on trails, crossing just three roads.

Over the years, we’ve come to know Marin the way locals do: walking its trails with our dogs, riding our road bikes from the Bay to the coast, and swimming in the Bay and at pools from Archie Williams to the College of Marin. We know which farmers’ market has the best stone fruit and which little market in each town is worth a detour. Patty makes jams from fruit grown in her own garden and gathered from neighbors’ trees, and they’ve become something of a local legend.

Living here for decades teaches you things you won’t find on a map. In Marin, two houses on opposite sides of the same street can have entirely different lives. One catches the winter sun; the other slips into shadow by mid-afternoon. One has a gentle garden and an open view; the other sits on a steep slope, looking toward a neighbor. A single block can even change the school district. Give us an address, and chances are we already have a feel for the place before we step inside.

We’ve watched Marin’s towns evolve over the years, each holding on to its own character, and we’ve found our own ways into the life of the community. For Kalara, that has meant cycling: she co-founded Above Category, the cycling shop in Sausalito, and in 2024 brought the Above Category Invitational to town, a street fair that drew custom bike builders from around the world and a big turnout from the neighborhood. For Patty, it has meant the table: her broker’s opens have their own following, with agents coming to see the house and, quite often, to enjoy what she’s made.

Whether you’re moving here from the City or simply looking for a different corner of the county, we’d love to help you find the part of Marin that feels like home.