Extensively Remodeled Marinwood Home

Unfurling peacefully below oak-studded Marin County hillsides, the residential San Rafael suburb of Marinwood harbors a Northern California secret. Right on the 101 freeway between Lucas Valley and the Smith Ranch Park & Ride, Marinwood is about 6.5 miles south of Novato and 23 miles north of San Francisco.
With plenty of room to roam, Marinwood homes are set just south of the rolling hills, coyote brush and winding nature trails of the 800-acre Marinwood Open Space, which melds contiguously with the 1,300-acre Lucas Valley Preserve. If you adventure far enough west, keeping an eye out for glimpses of golden eagles and nearby Mt, Tamalpais, you can see filmmaker George Lucas’ famous Skywalker Ranch, which is closed to the public but visible from the hills. In winter the hills are a lush emerald green, covered with blue, orange and yellow wildflowers in spring, and a wheaten gold by summertime.
Throughout the summer, you’ll find almost the whole neighborhood at the Marinwood Community Center, where a 25-yard seasonal outdoor pool features both lap-swimming lanes and a bright-blue kids’ castle with a double-flume waterslide. Next door at tree-shaded Marinwood Park, your favorite toddlers and older kids will enjoy the separate, sand-cushioned play areas, as well as walking paths, picnic areas and open lawns where you can enjoy weekly concerts in summer. Nearby are four public tennis courts where if you want a challenge, you’ll find some serious local competition.
Right in the neighborhood you’ll have the sleek, full-service Marinwood Market, which stocks up on hard-to-find gourmet items. South in Terra Linda you’ll find family-owned Scotty’s Market, Safeway and the Northgate mall, with Macy’s, HomeGoods and a public library. Just across the freeway in Smith Ranch, you can fuel up on cold brew and some vintage pinball at Red Whale Coffee; enjoy a homecooked breakfast or lunch (to dine in or take home) at old-school Smith Ranch Deli and Café; or tuck into a signature white-sauce mushroom pie at Mulberry Street Pizzeria. You’ll have two area Cinemark movie theaters to choose from, and just south is Kaiser’s San Rafael Medical Center, winner of Healthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Award for several years running.
Local kids can attend California Distinguished Schools like Lucas Valley Elementary School and Miller Creek Middle, both of which earn 9/10 from Great Schools for their students’ test scores; Terra Linda High earns an 8/10 for its students’ test scores and 9/10 for their college readiness. Area private options include the Marin Waldorf School (preschool through Grade 8), the only Waldorf institution in the county.
In the softly rolling hills of central Marin County, San Rafael’s peaceful, residential Marinwood community offers sought-after midcentury homes, commuter convenience and top-notch public schools amid thousands of acres of open space.