Salmon Creek Farm: Eco-Minded Community Among the Redwoods on the Mendocino Coast

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Salmon Creek Farm (@salmon_creek_farm) has made several quiet appearances on my Instagram feed lately. About the seventh time, when a friend DMed one of its rustic cabin kitchens, I clicked through to their site and didn’t resurface for several hours. (I’m far from the only one: Maggie Gyllenhaal is just one of its many celeb followers.)

Surrounded by towering redwoods, orchards, and organic vegetable and flower gardens, this place on the Mendocino Coast is home to Salmon Creek Farm Arts, a preservationist “land-based” nonprofit that offers space for artists to slow down and create. The lodgings: “seven self-sufficient, modest, homespun guest cabins reached by foot trails across 33 acres of south-facing coastal redwoods.”

The organization’s roots go back decades, to a commune called Salmon Creek Farm (SCF) started in 1971 by “a group of young people rejecting mainstream culture and looking for something else,” the site reports. (You can have a look through the archives, and photos from those early years, on the homepage.) The commune stopped being active in the 1980s, though, the New York Times reports, some original members still lived there as recently as a few years back, when the LA-based artist Fritz Haeg bought the place. Now reinvigorated, the nonprofit’s first season of artist stays will be in 2024 (apply for a spot here); meanwhile, the cabins are available as rentals to “help subsidize urgent repair, construction, and infrastructure projects ($100k for new roofs on all cabins! $40k for new water treatment system & storage tanks! $50k for Rainbow cabin renovation!).”

In addition to the rustic, handmade, and quintessentially Californian cabins, there’s also this to admire: Salmon Creek Farm is entirely vegetarian, works to cultivate the redwood ecosystem around it that was once chopped down, and endeavors to operate as a zero-waste, package-free, compost-driven community.

Join us for a look at some of the spaces—and just try not to be entranced.

Photography via Salmon Creek Farm.

The Commons and Land

salmon creek farm offers an opportunity for artists and community membersȁ 17 — Above: Salmon Creek Farm offers an opportunity for artists and community members—or, for now, anyone who stays there—”space to take a step back and the chance to live close to the land and to participate in its cycles,” according to the organization. The land is surrounded by redwood forest and “two acres of organic herb, flower, and vegetable gardens punctuated by compost piles, Hugel mounds, and terraced fruit trees,” according to SCF’s site. “What we don’t harvest or eat we let flower, dry up, set seed, and naturalize…making for gardens that become progressively wild through the season.”

impromptu yoga practice sometimes unfolds on the triangular &#8\2\20;dance 18 — Above: Impromptu yoga practice sometimes unfolds on the triangular “dance deck” in front of the communal outdoor kitchen.

the &#8\2\20;ok&#8\2\2\1;, as it&#8\2\17;s known, or outdoor kitche 19 — Above: The “OK”, as it’s known, or outdoor kitchen, is built into a ledge.

above: &#8\2\20;once on the land we put everyone on a whatsapp party line, 20 — Above: “Once on the land we put everyone on a WhatsApp party line, where guests can be directly in touch with each other to announce communal meals, invite each other over, ask for help with something, organize an event, say ‘hey I’m going to town in case anyone needs anything,’ etc.,” according to SCF’s site. “On Friday mornings we lead a comprehensive two-hour tour of the entire property, including visits to all cabins and a hike down to the creek. This also serves as a chance to meet the entire group and a critical/compulsory orientation to life on the land (outhouses, compost, etc)…followed by a potluck dinner that evening at the OK.”

there&#8\2\17;s also a cedar hot tub and &#8\2\20;woodland trails conne 21 — Above: There’s also a cedar hot tub and “woodland trails connecting cabins, eventually leading down to Salmon Creek at the bottom of the valley.”

much like remodelista favorite smithereen farm clear across the country (see pg 22 — Above: Much like Remodelista favorite Smithereen Farm clear across the country (see pg. 96-111 of our new book *Remodelista in Maine*), Salmon Creek Farm also offers bathing in beautiful places.

dining amongst the redwoods. 23 — Above: Dining amongst the redwoods.

Cedar Cabin

the entryway is painted tomato red, narrow peg rail included. 25 — Above: The entryway is painted tomato red, narrow peg rail included.

the cabin is ideal &#8\2\20;for a single, couple, or even three (close) fri 26 — Above: The cabin is ideal “for a single, couple, or even three (close) friends.”

among the cabin&#8\2\17;s charms: &#8\2\20;a beautifully vaulted irimoy 27 — Above: Among the cabin’s charms: “a beautifully vaulted irimoya hip and gable roof.”

the kitchen is filled with collected pottery and hand carved wooden bowls. 28 — Above: The kitchen is filled with collected pottery and hand-carved wooden bowls.

Orchard Cabin

the kitchen, with a live edge counter and layered rugs. 31 — Above: The kitchen, with a live-edge counter and layered rugs.

the cabin has &#8\2\20;four beds in four nooks and crannies&#8\2\2\1;, 32 — Above: The cabin has “four beds in four nooks and crannies”, plus a wood stove.

Dawn Cabin

dawn is tucked amongst the redwoods. it was built in \197\2 by community member 33 — Above: Dawn is tucked amongst the redwoods. It was built in 1972 by community member Leona Walden with a 1975 addition by Dawn Hofberg (hence the name).

inside is a long dining table (&#8\2\20;can host the whole commune!&#8\ 34 — Above: Inside is a long dining table (“can host the whole commune!” according to the SCF site).

the dining area in another light. 35 — Above: The dining area in another light.

shelves at right stock the cabin&#8\2\17;s assortment of ceramics and woode 36 — Above: Shelves at right stock the cabin’s assortment of ceramics and wooden wares. Just behind is the kitchen, painted yellow.

Above: Windowsills serve as storage for serveware, a Berkey water filter, and a family of plants.

the cabin sleeps one to four. 39 — Above: The cabin sleeps one to four.

Walden Cabin

each of the hand built cabins has a charming backstory: moonlight, for example, 40 — Above: Each of the hand-built cabins has a charming backstory: Moonlight, for example, not pictured, was “built in 1975 by communard Moonlight to woo Sharon, now his wife, making a space big enough for them to dance.” Walden, shown here, was “built in 1975 by Leona Walden with just hand tools and a chainsaw (while carrying a baby!).”

the entry, with hand carved handle. 41 — Above: The entry, with hand-carved handle.

the dining area features a built in table. 42 — Above: The dining area features a built-in table.

walden sleeps one to two, &#8\2\20;up a ladder to the nicest bedroom on the 43 — Above: Walden sleeps one to two, “up a ladder to the nicest bedroom on the land under a vaulted redwood ceiling.”

out back: &#8\2\20;an open air shower under the redwoods.&#8\2\2\1; 44 — Above: Out back: “an open-air shower under the redwoods.”

Salmon Cabin

the blue theme continues inside, with blue painted floors and a ladder leading 46 — Above: The blue theme continues inside, with blue-painted floors and a ladder leading to a sleeping loft.

and a blue taper candle on the table. 47 — Above: And a blue taper candle on the table.

salmon creek farm makes particular mention of its toilette facilities: &#8\ 48 — Above: Salmon Creek Farm makes particular mention of its toilette facilities: “Living here under the coastal redwoods is humbling, and SCF is an especially good spot to feel your small place in the big cycle of life on earth,” according to their site. “We turn human waste into rich soil, so you should be down with our humanure outhouses, featuring sawdust lined buckets which you empty into a nearby compost pile where, through miraculous alchemy, it is turned into black gold.”

And, they add, “We collect and treat our own spring water, which is gravity-fed to all of the cabins from the top of the ridge. We strive for zero waste, shop for minimal/no packaging, compost zealously, and for many reasons SCF is strictly vegetarian (fyi many carnivorous visitors have found it to be a helpful place to experiment with a fully plant-based diet for the first time).”

For much more on the project and information on stays, head to Salmon Creek Farm. You can also read about the place in the 2016 New York Times article “Communal Living, the 21st-Century Way.”

And for more in California, have a look at:

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