Mill Valley Couple Rebuilds Home at Site of 2006 Tragic Mudslide

An eye-catching Mill Valley home that was recently featured on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday real estate section was once in the news for very different reasons.

In April 2006, a seemingly relentless rainstorm that was battering the Bay Area resulted in tragedy for a Mill Valley family. A mudslide above the Bolsa Ave. home of Walter and Lisa Guthrie killed Walter Guthrie and destroyed their home, sending Lisa Guthrie into a years-long court battle with the City of Mill Valley and its insurance company over what caused the incident.

After nearly five-and-a-half years of litigation and appeals, insurers for the city paid a judgment of $3.7 million, plus fees and interest, to Lisa Guthrie and her daughter in November 2011.

Earlier in 2011, Guthrie had sold the property to the husband and wife team of architect Tim Rempel and designer Liz Miranda, whose Greenpads firm specializes in "innovative design and environmentally sensitive construction practices." 

The couple finished the reconstruction in early 2012 and have lived in it since then. During that time, they put the finishing touches on the home and recently put it on the market for $1,895,000.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on more than a half acre and has extensive natural light.

“The home is designed to really bring the outdoors into the indoors,” Miranda says. “You actually live in the environment and the landscapes – the house and its windows and walls are very integrated into the landscape.”

To that end, Miranda said some of the windows were shaped to fit a particular view “to see a tree at a particular angle,” for instance.

Miranda said that home is a tribute to the Guthries, who were both landscape designers.

“We really made the landscape sing, and I know when I first met Lisa, that was one of the things that made this a proper marriage,” she said.

For more info on the home, visit its website.