Avid wanderers and vacation rental guests graduated to becoming hosts! We have been at the receiving end of the generous hospitality of many VR hosts and thought it was time to return the favor. Cottontail - our home at The Sea Ranch, is so named because of our fascination for rabbits and hares, and the roles they played in blossoming our love for each other. We have nurtured Cottontail to be a reprieve/haven for us to retreat from our otherwise busy lives and to pursue our passion for good food and wine in the company of family and friends. Though we live and work in the Bay Area, the Sea Ranch is where our hearts and souls live or at least ache to go back to. We are delighted to be bringing to our guests, the same joy and bliss that Cottontail brings to us.

​We are an easy going pair who love traveling and meeting interesting people around the world. We go great lengths to enjoy good food and wine, and our kitchen is host to a lot of our attempts to replicate the same stimulus to our senses. In addition to gastronomic pursuits, our trips indulge our desire to spend time with our friends, get soaked in rich cultures or simply enjoy nature above water - hiking or underwater - scuba diving.

The Cottontail was constructed at the iconic Sea Ranch in 1991 by its first owners. We first learned of The Sea Ranch during one of our many attempts to get away from the din of the city and indulging our taste for wine and our love for the coastal landscape. Our realtor Sean Gaynor Rousseau entertained our hum and haw as we viewed over 40 listings over 9 months. When he showed us this house, he prefaced it with "I have a feeling you might not like this house, but I want you to see it anyway".

The original owners had modeled the house in an 80's aesthetic with beige and salmon ceramic tiles, lots of carpet, a sunken jacuzzi in the master bath and a quirky kitchen layout. Sean had nicknamed it the "nipple house" since the original owners had gone overboard these globe bulbs that ran along the length of the two beams in the current dining room and along the sky lights. Later we learned, his nickname was inspired by the famous billboard signs for Carol Doda on Broadway in San Francisco. Once we got past the quirky lighting and the dated aesthetic, we began to appreciate the strong bones, the open layout and the many possibilities. After having walked through the house, Sean took us for a short walk along the bluff trail and turned onto the Salal trail through a shady grove along a creek to reveal what we call "a place for contemplation in nature". As we traced our steps back to the bluff trail, we crossed over the wooden bridge onto what serves as a private beach during low tides. A few months later, Cottontail was ours!

Of course we had to transform the Cottontail into the image of our dreams! Below are the before and after pictures for your enjoyment.