If you’re looking for a colorful home, visit Claire Simeone and Greg Melcher’s houseboat, a vivid standout even on a dock filled with lots of color.
Simeone and Melcher bought the home in 2014 and began painting both interior and exterior until the once sort of blah houseboat had become a technicolor marvel.
The home is among 12 that will be open to visitors during the upcoming Floating Homes Tour in Sausalito. The tour, sponsored by the non-profit, volunteer Floating Homes Association, provides tour goers with ideas for their homes, and opens up possibilities for those unfamiliar with the boating life.
The couple came up for the name of their houseboat — “Paradocs” — after Simeone earned her doctorate. Her husband is a physician and the name just seemed self-evident.
The main level of the houseboat contains a great room that combines kitchen, dining and living space, and opens onto a waterside deck.
Stained glass windows adorn the stairway leading to the lower level and the master bedroom is found at the foot of the stairs. Most of the time, the room is wide open but when their grown children or company comes, two walls slide into place to provide some privacy.
The area also contains two small guest rooms accessed through a walk-through closet that also holds the washer and dryer.
The couple’s favorite feature of their houseboat, however, is the roof deck, accessed by an outside spiral staircase. The deck provides them with views of the floating house community, San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge and Angel Island.
Paradocs
Address: 40 Liberty
Owners: Claire Simeone and Greg Melcher
Square footage: 1,000
Number of Stories: 2 + roof deck
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.
Other homes
Check out the other homes featured on the tour:
- Floating on a dream
- “White Elephant” houseboat focuses on whimsy, eclectic art
- Houseboat is a salute to modern Danish art and Hawaiian wood
- 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
- Contractor takes his floating home ‘by storm’ to build his dream
- Transforming tiny floating home into a weekend getaway
