My plein air group had a lovely day painting at the Lyford House in Tiburon. Since we had a workshop leader doing a demo that day I brought my sketchbook instead of plein air gear, knowing I wouldn’t have time to do a full painting.
I focused mostly on the drawing, trying to capture this very complicated Victorian home. The Lyford House was built in 1876 as the main residence of a nearby dairy farm. It was barged over to its present site, an Audubon Sanctuary, in 1957 after conservationists saved it from being torn down.
The site is surrounded by some of the most expensive real estate in the country, with an average price of $3.5 million but with many homes for sale in the $18 million to $35 million range. I wish I could have visited the lavish Mediterranean-style villa next door that I was spying on through the bushes.
Jana Bouc, Artist 