This Is Us

Honoring a rich legacy. Expanding the possibilities.

We are Christopher and Deanna Boettcher, the stewards of Mar Vista Farm + Cottages. After spending a combined 50+ years in hospitality and horticulture, we were seeking a way to slow down, to pursue greater meaning, to find a place that reflects our passions and values. This search for a special place we could share together led us to Mar Vista.

These days, a lot of people are searching for those things. It might even be why you’re reading this now. And our mission is to preserve the legacy of this beautiful setting, while making the experience even more meaningful for our guests.

Nuttah (noo-tah) our resident chicken herder

Nuttah the dog, on the meadow at Mar Vista

We don’t merely work here; we live here, right on site. We strive for sustainability, with a focus on staying engaged with both the environment and each other. When we found Mar Vista, we found our home. And we hope it feels like home to you too.

If you’d like to learn more about our vision for Mar Vista, talk about our experience so far, or share your own thoughts, we’d love for you to get in touch. We hope to see you soon.

Photo of the Mar Vista team standing outside the kids playhouse

Left to right first row:  Meché, Cab, Karla, Iran, Sitting: Deanna, Roya (not pictured).

 

Mar Vista
History

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the land around Mar Vista Farm + Cottages was part of the Pomo territory. We acknowledge and honor the indigenous people for their respectful treatment and preservation of this land they once inhabited.

During the second half of the 19th century, a small town was located in the vicinity. Known as Fish Rock, it helped supply the lumber that built San Francisco during the gold and silver booms. The town also manufactured bricks from local clay deposits; in fact, in the mid-1800s, the meadow where Mar Vista sits was owned by the “Cooperative Brick and Terra-cotta Association.” A chute operated from Fish Rock Point to load lumber and clay products on the “dog-hole schooners” (ships able to access small, shallow ports) that regularly visited up until 1914.

The town gradually disappeared as the lumber and brick business declined, but a general store continued to operate until 1925, when it moved to its present location in Anchor Bay.

Louis Kovacs, a Hungarian immigrant, discovered the area as a member of the YMCA Hiking Club, eventually purchasing the Mar Vista site in 1929 and establishing a chicken ranch.

Around 1936, Kovacs and Ramus Eschen Eriksen, a Danish immigrant, built several cottages—which they then rented out to sport fishermen who came to the area in search of salmon and steelhead. In the subsequent decades, the buildings were upgraded to accommodate vacationing families. Kovacs and Eriksen kept horses and cows along with chickens, maintained a small orchard, and raised their own veggies. They were locally famous for their beautiful flower garden.

In 1947, Kovacs made Eriksen co-owner of Mar Vista in recognition of the work that he had put into helping build the cottages.

After Kovacs and Eriksen, Mar Vista changed hands a few more times before Renata and Tom Dorn bought the property in 2000—creating the agriturismo concept that exists today. We are honored and grateful to follow in their footsteps as stewards of this special place.

Image of photos and brochures of Mar Vista throughout the decades of it's existence