Floating homes rarely leave their permanent moorings, but one houseboat featured on Sausalito’s upcoming Floating Homes Tour is a portal to faraway places.
The Sept. 14 tour, which is sponsored by the Floating Homes Association, a non-profit volunteer organization that represents homes at five Sausalito marinas, offers a sneak peek at life on houseboats moored in this scenic quarter of San Francisco Bay.
This particular floating home, owned by Ted and Malia Rudolf, ripples with visions of the Netherlands and Hawaii. The home is painted in the style of Danish abstract painter and theoretician Piet Mondrian, based on a color scheme by well-known interior designer and fellow houseboat owner Gayle Van Dyke.
The entry way contains a modern and whimsical lighting installation made by Quasar of the Netherlands.
Other art on display in the home includes works by patients at Napa State Hospital, where Malia once worked. A large painting is by Uruguayan artist Alejandro Rubio, who is affiliated with the San Francisco MOMA artists gallery. Two large couches are the work of modern furniture maker Adrian Pearsall.
Ted’s collection of Hawaiian koa wood is used in dramatic features throughout the house. The kitchen has custom birds-eye maple and koa cabinets and a unique lighting system that features red Venetian glass. And an entire wall of the living room is a koa wood bookshelf, tucked alongside a built-in reading nook.
On the lower level is a small bedroom with a captain’s bed and custom wood cabinetry, bookshelf and bed stand. The master suite is done with Asian flair, showing off a custom-made bed frame, shoji screens and custom wood cabinetry.
The back deck, which Ted and Malia refer to as their outdoor living room, has a retractable awning to for hot afternoons, and a stainless steel and glass railing. The lower dock is dedicated to play, with floats, boats and kayaks for guests.
Rudolf home
Address: 44 Issaquah Dock
Owners: Ted and Malia Rudolf
Square Footage: 1,600
Number of Stories: 2
Tickets: Prepaid registration is $50 per person; $55 on tour day
Time: 11 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Sept. 14
Location: Tour events are anchored at the Kappas Marina Green, 100 Gate Six Road, Sausalito, where there will be live entertainment, food and refreshments for sale, and artists and authors from the community offering their creations for sale. The tour is a fund raiser for the association and also benefits other local non-profits, including Sausalito Village and the Friends of the Marin City Library.
Other homes
Check out the other homes featured on the tour:
- Floating on a dream
- “White Elephant” houseboat focuses on whimsy, eclectic art
- 4-story ‘Dragon Boat’ houseboat will be open to visitors
- Tiny houseboat makes a big statement
- Romance is only part of this houseboat’s attraction
- Floating museum celebrates Denmark, old San Francisco and Jimmy Carter
- Landlubber transforms houseboat and himself
- Summer always in season on this Sausalito houseboat
- Colorful floating home suits a ‘pair of docs’
- Contractor takes his floating home ‘by storm’ to build his dream
- Transforming tiny floating home into a weekend getaway
