Our romantic little cottage is on 1/3 of an acre located directly on the Russian River. A short jaunt downstream takes you to the Sonoma Coast, where miles of shoreline and beaches have been preserved as state park. Following the river upstream takes you along the Russian River Valley wine trail--California's most diverse and beautiful wine region. Sonoma County, with its vast range of micro-climates, thirteen appellations and more vineyards than neighboring Napa County, is one of the world's premier wine regions.

Fully remodeled a few years ago, our cottage was designed to be a luxurious get-away destination year-round. The cottage is close enough to the coast to escape the summer heat wave further inland, yet the property is located in a micro-climate where the morning fog burns off and it is sunny and warm when it remains cold and foggy directly on the coast. Bring warm clothes for the evening--even in the middle of summer, the coast exerts a strong influence and it gets pretty cool once the sun goes down!

If you are feeling active, spectacular hiking and bicycling lies in all directions--trails meander both along the coast and through giant redwood forests. Canoeing, kayaking, sailing and swimming can be enjoyed from our private dock on the river right in our front yard. Ocean waves and gorgeous beaches await just a few minutes down the road and we can point you in the direction of the unmarked state beaches that only the locals know about. Afterwards, rinse off in the outdoor shower under the luxurious over-sized shower head.

If you are looking for pure relaxation, take a nap on the lounge chairs on the patio or simply sit and watch the pelicans and seals play in the river. The Jenner headlands, across the road from the back of our house, are extremely popular with both hawks and owls, so we keep binoculars handy. At night, light a fire in the fire pit on the patio and relax under the multitude of stars overhead.

San Francisco is an easy day trip from our house--in less than an hour and a half you can be over the Golden Gate Bridge. You can also take the ferry in to the city if you prefer--San Francisco Bay is absolutely stunning!

The main floor of the house has two bedrooms. The master bedroom contains a queen bed and the second bedroom (which is very small) has two twin beds. The couch in the living room folds out into a double bed. There is one bathroom on the main floor and a second full bath in the lower level of the house. You need to go outside and then back in to access the lower-level bathroom (very convenient when outside; not so convenient from upstairs) so we do not include this bathroom in the count of how many bathrooms the house has.

The fully-remodeled kitchen has granite counters, stainless appliances and a new wood floor. There is an antique drop-leaf mahogany table inside that seats six and a large, outdoor teak table that seats eight on the deck overlooking the river. Newly planted gardens, filled with evergreen perennials and flowers, are underway throughout the yard.

Although this is a second house for us, it is booked pretty much every weekend (either we are there or home exchangers are), so we have found that a simultaneous exchange usually works best. We do not rent this property out so it has remained in immaculate condition since its remodel. We have been delighted to find that other home exchangers treat the house with the same love and care that we do.

Children are welcome--we just ask that they take their shoes off at the door and eat and drink only at the table (and not on the upholstered chairs, couch or on the rugs). Note for parents of young children: there is no fence or gate between the patio or yard and the banks of the river.

The Russian River region is one of the best vacation spots in Sonoma County. Visitors come to enjoy the wineries, river, redwoods and coast in this glorious natural setting. Although some spots along the Russian River have a reputation for being loud (with too many rentals filled with too many people), Duncans Mills is a quiet town where you will hear nothing but crickets and frogs at night. We provide two kayaks and a canoe that you can launch from the dock in front of our house.

Our cottage is located less than a mile from the center of Duncans Mills, the most charming town along the Russian River. A restored historic town from the late 1800s, Duncans Mills now consists of upscale shops, antique stores, art galleries and a wine and cheese tasting shop.

Because everything in our house is new (rugs, furniture, etc.) we do not allow pets to come along on exchanges. However, we love animals (have owned dogs and cats in the past) and would be delighted to care for your animals if you prefer to leave them at home when you travel rather than board them.

Due to smoke allergies in our family, we have a strict no-smoking policy for our home and only wish to exchange with non-smokers.

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We are always interested in weekend exchanges in Northern California--try us! We just need a place that is great for kids that doesn't take forever to get to from our primary home in Sacramento.

We are open to considering anything--surprise us with an offer!

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We are two professionals (both with doctoral degrees and stable careers) who enjoy splitting our time between our home in the city and our vacation house on the river in the country. Our two children (born in 2005 and 2007) enjoy traveling as much as we do and they have been taught to be respectful of other people's homes.

We have had exceptionally good experiences with all of the home exchanges we have done so far (including many wonderful repeat exchanges) and have enjoyed the fellow exchangers we have met. We are delighted to be able to share our little bit of paradise in Sonoma County with others who enjoy traveling as well.

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