Fog, Wind and Afternoon Sun: Why the Little Differences in Marin Make a Big Difference

By Melissa DiVita, REALTOR®, Compass · DRE #01387955 · Fourth-generation Marin native, in real estate since 2003

If there’s one thing I wish every buyer knew before they fall in love with a house in Marin, it’s this: the little differences in location make a big difference. A few hundred feet, which way a house faces, which side of a hill it sits on. They can change how you actually live in a home every single day. I know because I’ve learned it the hard way, more than once.

“It’s like living in the clouds”

In 2010, I was recently married and pregnant with our first son. We were living in San Francisco, and like a lot of young families, we were starting to think about schools. Do we take our chances with the city’s school lottery? Do we plan on private school? Or do we move to Marin? We decided to move, and to rent first.

One day my husband called me, excited. He’d found a great house in Sausalito with reasonable rent. I met him there, and he was right: it was a great house. But it was also one of those rare, perfectly clear days, and I had to explain to him that this part of Sausalito is like living in the clouds. Most of the time it’s socked in with fog. I knew because one of my best friends from high school lived close by, and I’d spent a lot of time at her house. The house was lovely. The weather that day was not the weather you’d live with. We passed on it and rented in Tiburon instead.

The great house in the wind

Eight years later we bought a house in Paradise Cay in Tiburon. It was a great house. What we didn’t realize was that its orientation put it right in the path of the afternoon wind. Paradise Cay is famous for that wind, and the sailors and wing foilers love it. Sitting on your deck, not so much. We hated it. Three years later we sold.

Same neighborhood, a completely different experience

We still loved Paradise Cay, so we bought again there. Today we’re on what I think is the best street in the neighborhood, and the house gets the afternoon sun. It’s a totally different experience, and we love it.

Here’s the part that still amazes me. Right across the street, the houses get the morning sun instead. By the afternoon, their decks are cold. Same street, same views, same neighborhood, and a completely different way of living. These little things change your living experience a lot.

What I tell buyers now

Those three houses are why I walk every buyer through these questions before they write an offer:

• Visit more than once, at different times. Go at 8 a.m. and again at 4 p.m., and on a foggy day if you can. A sunny open house tells you very little.
• Know which way the house and the deck face. In much of Marin, where the afternoon sun lands decides whether you use your outdoor space.
• Check the afternoon wind. Especially near the water. Look at how the trees lean, and stand outside around 3 or 4 p.m. in spring and summer.
• Find the fog line. In Sausalito, Mill Valley and other southern Marin towns, a few blocks or a few hundred feet of elevation can be the difference between fog and sun.
• Ask the neighbors. They’ll tell you about the wind, the fog and the sun more honestly than any listing will.

This is the kind of thing you only learn by living here, and it’s a big part of why I do what I do. For the town-by-town picture, see my Marin microclimates guide, and my guides to Tiburon and Sausalito.

Quick answers

Is Sausalito foggy? Parts of it, yes. Up the hill in some neighborhoods, it’s socked in with fog much of the time, even when it’s sunny on the water below.

Is Paradise Cay in Tiburon windy? It can be. Paradise Cay is known for its afternoon wind, which sailors and wing foilers love. How much you feel it depends on the house’s orientation.

How do I check a Marin house for fog, wind and sun before buying? Visit at 8 a.m. and again at 4 p.m., on a foggy day if you can. Check which way the house and deck face, stand outside in the afternoon wind, find the fog line, and ask the neighbors.

Thinking about a move to Marin? Send me a note, and I’ll help you find the house, and the street, and the side of the street, that fits the way you want to live.