There's
only one cottage and the waiting list can be long. If it's booked, maybe
you'll be tempted to discover your own "Marsh Cottage." Although
along a main road just north of Point Reyes, when you step through the cottage
gate you enter a secluded, serene world. It's the perfect get-away when
you desire complete privacy.
The only evidence
of the artist-innkeeper is her paintings on the wall and the breakfast basket
that is spirited onto the porch. The fully equipped kitchen is great for
rustling up some scrambled eggs if you're if you're still hungry after you
polish off the granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, cheese, muffins, coffee and
tea.
The cottage
is a palette of peach, jade and white, warmed by the sun. A bed with a view,
fireplace, comfy chairs -- it's simple yet cozy. French doors open to a
deck that snuggles up to the cattails, lavender and rushes at the edge of
Tomales Bay.
We breakfasted
on the deck savoring our meal while identifying the numerous birds and waterfowl
that swooped and chattered nearby -- a bird watcher's heaven. P. O. Box
1121, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 415-669-7168, http://www.marshcottage.com.
Quiet and
comfortable: Marsh Cottage just north of Pt. Reyes near Tomales Bay offers
peaceful seclusion to visitors.
Saturday,
May 31, 1997
San Luis Obsibo
County Telegram-Tribune
My favorite spot is out on Tomales Bay, not far from Manka's: Marsh Cottage, so close to the water that sitting on its tiny front deck feels like being on a private houseboat. It's simply furnished by artist Wendy Schwartz, whose house and studio are next door, and whose pastoral paintings of cows and Point Reyes ranches hang inside. Marsh Cottage is the kind of place you'd love to rent for a couple of months so that you could finish - or start - your novel.
You don't have to be a local to appreciate the power of Point Reyes. After only a few days here, I share Schwartz's reverence for this stretch of Northern California. Back home in New York, I find that I have only to close my eyes and I am again combining Drakes Beach or floating on Tomales Bay or dining at Manka's. Occasionally I see myself on the deck at Marsh Cottage working on that novel.
