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Built in 1912, the working 64-foot tugboat—restored by the seminal counterculture almanac’s original editor and his wife, Ryan Phelan—was featured in a 2024 issue of Dwell.
Location: 13 S 40 Dock, Sausalito, California
Price: $1,800,000
Year Built: 1912
Renovation Dates: 1982, 2012
1982 Renovation Builder: Pete Retondo
Footprint: 583 square feet (1 bedroom, 1 bath)
From the Agent: "Mirene is a beautifully restored, working 64-foot tugboat built of wood in 1912. She is also an exquisitely appointed houseboat berthed in Sausalito. Her location, with its view of San Francisco, gives her easy access to cruise on the Bay. In 1982, an extensive renovation began by the San Francisco visionary polymath and creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, cofounder of the Well and the Long Now Foundation, Stewart Brand, and his wife, Ryan Phelan. With abundant Sausalito maritime talent, they brought Mirene back to life first as a respectable houseboat and then as a proper yacht cruising the Bay Area from Sausalito to the Sacramento Delta and out the Golden Gate. Mirene has a varnished wood interior, elegant functionality, and carefully organized interior space which epitomizes the passions of its owners—a gourmet kitchen for entertaining large contingents of neighbors, family, and illustrious guests, and a commodious library/salon to hang out in. This is a rare opportunity for an adventurer who yearns to live outside the box, who can thrive in compact environs and appreciates the richness, texture, and energy of a free-spirited lifestyle. It comes with a 15-foot Boston Whaler tender, an exceptionally large berth, and the option to purchase the small houseboat next door if privacy is desired."
Read more about the Mirene in our May/June 2024 print story.
Stewart Brand and Ryan Phelan stand of the deck of the Mirene.
Photo: Cayce Clifford
Reached by a step in its platform, the couple’s bed has a seafaring view. "A great blue heron and a black-crowned night heron sleep on the boat almost every night, and when I look out the window before dawn, I can see the two of them," says Ryan, who cofounded and directs the wildlife conservation nonprofit Revive & Restore. "Sometimes their beaks are facing right at each other."
Photo: Cayce Clifford
The boat was originally built as a schooner for transporting fish from deep-sea fishers into port. Too sturdily built and without much cargo space for fish, the Mirene instead found work ferrying people and goods, and working as a tugboat in the Pacific Northwest.
Photo by Ben Barghabany
See the full story on Dwell.com: "Whole Earth Catalog" Visionary Stewart Brand Is Selling His Legendary Houseboat for $1.8M
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Read More
By: Will Allstetter
Title: "Whole Earth Catalog" Visionary Stewart Brand Is Selling His Legendary Houseboat for $1.8M
Sourced From: www.dwell.com/article/mirene-tugboat-stewart-brand-ryan-phelan-sausalito-houseboat-bay-area-real-estate-8b0e4033
Published Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2025 18:11:28 GMT
