The Russian River Valley from Healdsburg to Guerneville is scenic, fertile,and wildly diverse. The region is famed for grapes, particularly Pinot Noir grown in the fog shrouded benchlands just above the valley floor. The same fog that produces cool summer temperatures favorable to the slow ripening of wine grapes is essential to the growth of the other well known crop of this area, redwood trees. The redwoods drink from the moisture laden air that defines their range along the coast.

This neighborhood is as diverse architecturally as it is agriculturally. For many residents, wine is as much a lifestyle as an agricultural commodity. Farming can be handled by specialists and the serious business of eating and drinking can take place in elaborate kitchens and patios. One man's Tuscan estate might butt up against a rustic, Ahwanee-like paean to wood. This architecturally rich stretch of the river extends as far south as the Wohler Bridge connecting Westside and Eastside Roads. Farther west, the architecture is more native California farmhouse, modest bungalow, and rustic cabin.

The Russian River Valley gets semi-urban at Forestville. The summer cabins built in the thirties and forties have been upgraded, for the most part, but many retain a built-quick aura and often lack the amenities like insulation and weather stripping that convert a cabin to a year round dwelling. Still, they are occupied and the tenants make due with the aid of wood burning stoves in the winter and wide open windows for the cooling breezes in the summer. The lowest lying stretches of these cabins are in danger of seasonal flooding. The stilts that have raised them above the 100 year flood plain create some architectural (and structural) awkwardness that is only made worse by the dozens of steps that must be navigated for thousands of days to prevent the five days of flooding per decade that might actually do some damage. For those who live here, however, "the river" is worth the trials and tribulations.

Sitting high above this river-centric community life are the big properties filled with redwoods, fir, bay, and madrones. An average parcel once you're a mile or two from River Road might be 160 acres or more. This bank of big parcels extends north past Sweetwater Springs for miles and miles towards Lake Sonoma and west for miles to the thousands of acres of Armstrong Woods State Park and the Austin Creek State Reserve.

Many of these large Russian River parcels are land only with no improvements. Some house estates of their own, and an estate in these hills can be a very private affair. Private roads, gates, and taciturn neighbors can make these properties true retreats from the everyday bustle of life. In fact, the famed Bohemian Encampment, a summer camp for people who attend in their private jets, takes place just a few miles farther down the river outside Monte Rio.

If you're looking for a scenic getaway about an hour and a half north of San Francisco, the Russian River Valley offers a wide range of options and life styles including vineyard estates, wineries, river front cabins, and forested mini-parks.