Once hippie, now hip, Sea Ranch rocks on

SEA RANCH

Sonoma County

From birth in 1965, Sea Ranch, 110 miles north of San Francisco near Gualala, has been a utopian experiment: top-drawer architects building low-key homes -- and a 20-room lodge -- in harmony with a 10-mile stretch of rugged Northern California coast. Fences, lawns and ostentation are basically banned (although the chapel, shown above, is pretty wild), allowing the landscape to prevail. About 1,800 homes stand in the 3,500-acre community. Hike, bike, ride a horse, play the resort’s links-style golf course or kayak on the Gualala River.

Info: Rooms at the 20-unit Sea Ranch Lodge -- which don’t come with pool and tennis-court access -- run $169 to $395 nightly ([800] 732-7262, www.searanchlodge.com). Six agencies handle rental houses, at rates of about $170 to $715 nightly (taxes and cleaning fees included, two-night minimum): Rams Head Realty & Rentals, (800) 785-3455; Coasting Home, (800) 773-8648; Ocean View Properties, (707) 884-3538; Sea Ranch Escape Vacation Home Rentals, (888) 732-7262; Sea Ranch Vacation Rentals, (800) 643-8899; and Beach Rentals, (707) 884-4235.