Sausalito Floating Homes Tour

The 400 or so floating homes in the affluent suburb of Sausalito reflect a proud bohemian history that began well over a century ago. Artists, writers, musicians, beatniks, and hippies flocked here in search of an alternative lifestyle, and an art scene flourished in the 1940s and ‘50s in particular.

After the 1906 earthquake, many San Franciscans’ homes were destroyed, so some moved full-time to the waterside dwellings. While Sausalito’s tidal flats had long been a fertile dump heap for derelict barges and sailing ships that were abandoned or sold for scrap, it was World War II that really jump started the floating home community.