Gertrude Southworth (1862 - 1946)

Frank & Nellie Waterhouse bought Jose Jesus Briones dairy ranch and in 1882 created Brighton Avenue, subdivided the land, named it “Grande Vista” and began selling lots for people to build homes and summer houses. It was the first housing development and gated community in Marin. Most of the houses on Brighton Avenue were built by the early 1900s and most were constructed by William Pepper and sons or Louis Petar who was the captain of the schooner Owl.

The church in the foreground was originally constructed on Gospel Flats across from the schoolhouse. It was moved into town in 1898. There were no trees on Brighton Avenue, so Nellie planted cypress, including a hedge that edged their own home, above today’s Post Office. On the far right, before Terrace Avenue, you can see a dairy whose cows roamed Brighton Avenue’s meadows. In the upper left, the home of artist Jack Wisby and his wife sits on the edge of Little Mesa. In the lower left is the Bolinas Garage, built by Oliver Longley in 1909 as his blacksmith shop and residence.