Little Mesa, Bolinas, CA

Little Mesa is the smaller of Bolinas's two raised flats, a modest rise right against the village in west Marin where houses look down over the middle of town rather than out to sea. Of the three Houseberry neighborhoods here, it puts you nearest the museum, the library and the beach below. The homes are a patchwork of small older houses and cottages, additions stacked up over decades and a few newer rebuilds, all on small lots along narrow lanes. Gardens run wild, fences lean and the salt air has given most wood a gray, lived-in finish. There is no single style, and the lanes feel like a village rather than a development. The beach is the daily outdoor stop, with steady waves for surfers. Mesa Park, just across the way, has a skatepark rebuilt to welcome beginners as well as experienced riders. A short drive brings you to Bolinas Lagoon Preserve, where harbor seals rest on the flats and herons and egrets work the shallows, and the national seashore boundary at the edge of town makes a trail day easy to start. Food is close enough to leave the car at home. Coast Cafe fills a pastry case in the morning and shifts to chili and seafood later. BoVida is the smoothie and acai bowl counter, and Smiley's Schooner Saloon, dating to 1851, keeps its stage busy on weekends. Gospel Flat Farm tends a vegetable stand with a pay box that never closes, a little over half a mile away. Bolinas People's Store handles daily groceries, and the library and Bolinas Museum are a couple of minutes on foot. With no full supermarket in town, the weekly shop happens off the peninsula, and the trip begins on Olema-Bolinas Road. Living this close to the village means summer visitors circle the lanes below looking for parking. Off season, Little Mesa quiets down to surf and wind.