Visit a Cheerful Community of Floating Homes in Sausalito

San Francisco, California, has long been celebrated as a haven for writers, musicians, and artists in search of a creative community. When beatniks started to drift into Northern California in the 1940s, some of them crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and landed in Sausalito, where a community of bayside floating homes that they helped popularize continues to flourish.

Even before the beatniks started to arrive in the 1940s, Sausalito had a proud tradition of floating homes. Fishermen with Italian roots built floating shacks out of abandoned scrap. The fishermen of Sausalito often used pieces of larger abandoned ships to build their homes. The Italian community was proud of their heritage and even hosted an annual “Night in Venice” celebration that included an illuminated nighttime boat parade.

As the 20th century progressed, some of Sausalito’s affluent residents considered many of the town’s floating homes to be derelict eyesores. Members of the floating home community claimed that legendary artists such as writer Shel Silverstein, philosopher Alan Watts, and singer Otis Redding had some of their brightest ideas on the rickety docks of Sausalito’s floating home community.

After a California state agency tried to evict an entire neighborhood of floating home occupants from their abodes in the mid-1990s over safety concerns, the floating home community worked to spruce up their homes and build a sturdy dock. Today, a collection of brightly colored floating homes adorned with blooming flowers and paintings of moons, stars, and clouds rests placidly alongside canoes and small boats.

It is important to note that floating homes are not the same as houseboats. A houseboat is a functional boat with an engine that can sail away. A floating house is a stationary home that is built on pontoons that allow it to float, yet remain anchored in one place.

Visitors can take a walking tour of the neighborhood where the floating homes of Sausalito are located. Many of the residents are friendly and love to share the vibrant history of their neighborhood. Please be respectful and keep in mind that you’re in a residential area. Be mindful that a dock that seems communal may, in fact, be private property.

Viewing the floating homes of Sausalito is an excellent side trip if you’re visiting San Francisco and you cross the Golden Gate Bridge to view the magnificent trees of John Muir Woods. The floating homes of Sausalito are a shining example of Northern California’s bohemian heritage.