Summer Home Park, Forestville

The ad mentioned a cabin for rent in Summer Home Park. Not yet familiar with the Russian River area, my first impression was a trailer park filled with giant silver beer cans… and apparently at least one cabin. How wrong – Summer Home Park, founded in 1908, stretches along the Russian River and includes a summer only lodge, outdoor movie theater, and private beach accessible by a temporary bridge and dock. The cabins (1-7 bedrooms) are built alongside the river although the “park” includes a few canyon roads where there is no river view, but safe from the river’s flooding. This rental consisted of a two story cabin, two balconies, five bedrooms, across from the beach on stilts along the river’s edge. During the winter the park is virtually empty, most of these cabins are second homes and some owners have not returned for years. In the two years I lived there, my neighbor to my right came only once for two weeks one summer. The neighbor to my left never once came, although an Osprey visited their balcony on occasion.

Here’s a photo circa 1950’s[?] that shows the beach area located a little further up river from the lodge. I’ve circled the cabin where I lived for a couple years. All in all there has been little change, at least for this section of the river and Summer Home Park.

Update: The house is for sale. The asking price is $349,000 dollars — up a bit from the price of these homes/cabins when I lived there. Of course this has a river view and with some work the 3 additional bedrooms add to the potential ‘resort rental’ income through the spring and summer months. Too cold downstairs to legitimately advertise it as a 5 bedroom home (year round). At any rate it was a great couple years living above the river. No one around after Labor Day except the squirrels.