Van der Ryn Eco-Refuge: Architecture in Nature

I am the elder son of Van der Ryn Eco-Refuge Owner/Architect, Sim Van der Ryn. I was ten years old when we built the Eco-Refuge as a family house. I later went on to graduate with a double major in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. After graduating I spent a year and a half in Japan before the University of Southern California to earn a professional graduate degree in Visual Anthropology. My USC graduate work involved intensive ethnographic research and filmmaking on the transnationalization of the Samoan Matai (chieftain) system between Los Angeles and the Samoan Islands, resulting in the film, A Chief in Two Worlds. After receiving the MAVA degree I worked for five years as an independent filmmaker, making many films, the most important of which was Tatau: What One Must Do. Then I went to work as an anthropological filmmaker and teacher at the College in American Samoa, where I also met my wife, Faaiuga, and became chief of her large extended family on the island of Savaii. While working for 18 years in American Samoa I also taught at and earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. My Ph.D. focussed on Samoan socio-spatial concepts and practices as manifested in their architecture and examined the relationship of the changing culture and the changing architecture over time. In 2015, after 18 years living outside the USA, my father invited me (together with my wife and our four children) to return to our family land in Inverness, which brought me to the position of hosting guests at the Van der Ryn Eco-Refuge. From the paradisical environment of the Samoan Islands to our little slice of heaven here in Inverness we welcome you with full hospitality to the Eco-Refuge to share in its creative legacy, its magical healing powers, and its peaceful beauty.

This property is an incredible, magical, inspiring place to hold family, friend, or corporate retreats, with lots of great gathering places both outside and inside, as well as many great amenities, including the hot tub spa without side shower, where you can gaze at the stars at night, the beautiful gardens and grounds, including the healing garden, and a yurt, a shared space, containing a gym, and a deck with a view to the Inverness Ridge. The house is unique in every respect, with every nook and cranny offering something new to marvel at, and an evolved work of art, with each room and space opening up to new wonders, decorated with the watercolor art of the architect/builder, Sim Van der Ryn, and many pleasing artistic objects. There is also a great library of books, especially many focused on ecology and architecture.

The five acres of which the Van der Ryn Eco-Refuge is a part is a unique property given that it comprises a fairly flat knoll on the side of a hill with a great variety of views, including those that overlook Tomales Bay to the East, and others of the Inverness ridge line to the West, depending on where you are on the property. The property also has open sunny areas as well as well shaded, forested areas, and is the host to both us becoming close to the nature while also becoming creative with it in terms of the gardens, orchards, and landscaping we are actively creating and maintaining. The house itself has a great, light, open and uplifting and flowing feel to it as one moves from floor to floor, it feels a bit like going up in a giant tree house. The many beautiful, hand-crafted, features expressing the love and creativity that has been poured into the house over many years make the house a magical transformative space to be in that is hard to describe. Just some of the special features people love include the redwood root arch, the thick J.B. Blunk carved redwood door, the carved wooden cypress sink in the middle bathroom, the handmade stain glass windows, the paintings on the ceiling by Tibetan Buddhist monks, the spiral staircase leading to the third floor, and the fact that there are two large gathering spaces within the house in addition to multiple gathering places on the outdoor areas on all sides of the house. I am proud and happy to share this very special peaceful, creative, and lovingly designed and built space with guests from both near and far and from all different backgrounds. While you are here please relax and enjoy the spaces this place we call the Van der Ryn Eco-Refuge, including our delicious, healthy, non-chlorinated tap water from our own well, as well as the fruits from our lemon, apple, and pear trees, and fresh herbs in the garden.