Grace Slick’s California Love-Era Beach House

The queen of San Francisco’s music scene in the city’s love-and-hippy days of the 1960s and ‘70s, Grace Slick sang some of the era’s iconic songs, including “White Rabbit,” “Somebody to Love,” “We Built This City” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” The former model for I. Magnin, Grace switched careers in the mid ‘60s when she became the lead singer-and-star for Jefferson Airplane and then for Jefferson Starship. She sang on CBS’s The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, performed at Monterey and Altamont Music Festivals, and woke up the Woodstock crowd at 6 a.m. ("Now you're going to hear some morning-maniac music"), followed by her amplified renditions of “Somebody To Love” and “White Rabbit.” Except for rare occasions, Grace retired from performing in the early ‘90s, telling VH1 that “All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire.” Since she retired, Grace has been writing and painting. Her art is displayed in some of the best galleries in the United States and sells for up to $10,000.

In 1970, Grace didn’t venture far from her San Francisco music roots when she bought a four-bedroom beach home in the small oceanfront town of Bolinas – about 15 miles north of San Francisco. Grace’s former beach house is for sale at $12.995 million.

Offering big beach and ocean views from Stinson Beach to San Francisco, 400 feet of beachfront, and the seclusion of a small beach town, the 1920’s-era home was once a hotel, dance hall, and casino that has been totally revamped and updated but still retains the classic beach house feeling. The gated home with over 4,000 square feet on 0.7 acres includes four bedrooms and four baths, living room, game room, wood floors, a chef’s kitchen, white exposed beams, wood shingles, a fireplace, wrap-around ocean views, and a large family room, which, according to the listing, was the location of “the practice stage where members of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and other legendary musicians crafted songs and jammed late into the evening.”

Outside the home is a wonderful, artsy entrance gate, a guitar-shaped swimming pool that Grace designed in the 1970s, manicured grounds, beautiful trees, a hot tub, and an outdoor shower and patio. There are an abundance of decks, balconies, terraces and patios to watch the waves, the surfers, and the colorful sunsets.

Bolinas is one of those special towns you sometimes find near major metropolitan centers that feel much different than the big city. Towns that seem somewhat stuck in the past, which make them a wonderful place to live or visit. Bolinas is the oldest town in the coastal part of Marin County, but not well known to most San Francisco visitors or even longtime San Franciscans. Which could be due to Bolinas locals, who have been known to remove road signs with highway directions to their town. In addition to its vivid scenery, big beaches and surf, Bolinas offers plenty of things to do: visit the local galleries, check out the free Bolinas Art Museum, people watching, colorful homes and unique restaurants.

The home is listed with Kara Warrin and Paul Warrin of Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty. Photo credit: Tom Rohrer, Open Homes Photography.