Our home is the two story gray structure just to the right of the forest and partially hidden by trees in this photo of Mad River Bluffs and mouth of the Mad River taken 13 October 2002. The Bluffs are part of an 80 acre parcel of spruce - alder forest, meadows, and wetlands acquired by the McKinleyville Land Trust in 2002 after a twelve year battle against development into 40 residences which would have required clear cutting all vegetation and consequent killing or displacement of all wildlife. 240 species of birds have been documented as living or visiting here; there are also harbor seals, otters, raccoons, possums, skunks, foxes and lesser mammals living at Mad River Bluffs. The Mad River is sourced from Ruth Lake in Trinity County and can have flows ranging from a few hundred to more than fifty thousand cubic feet per second depending on the season. At low tide in summer it is easily forded even by children but during or after a raging storm in winter no man or boat dares attempt a crossing.

The village of McKinleyville (southwestern portion visible here) has about one third the area but less than 2% of the population of San Francisco. We are five miles north of Arcata (home of Humboldt State University) and twelve miles north of Eureka (county seat and commercial fishing and major shipping harbor for Humboldt County, California). The population of McKinleyville has roughly doubled in the eighteen years we have been here to about 15,000.
 

Laurette with Bill, Marilyn and Gabe Bauriedel standing near the lip of the bluff in our front yard, late December 2001. The Bauriedels are long established in Humboldt County, though Bill and Marilyn live and work in Palo Alto.

Our house in February 2004 as viewed from the spot of the previous photo. The part in the foreground was built on one acre in 1963. Laurette and I added a two story structure in 1992, tripling the interior to over 3,000 square feet. I then built 1,500 square feet of deck for the two levels and a six foot solid wall separating us from the forest and the street. The house has three complete baths, two water heaters, two gas furnaces and a wood stove, a master bedroom suite and two guest bedrooms, a shop and tool room. There are six entrances to the home, including the two garage doors. Laurette's music room on the second floor is 650 square feet with cathedral ceiling. Laurette found the acoustics in her studio as good as she had experienced anywhere, no exceptions. She had five instruments here at one time: Italian and French harpsichords, clavichord, spinet, and a baby grand piano. My 375 square foot office/library suite with its own 125 square foot deck completes the second story.