Underdog Estate

Perched on two hillside acres in San Rafael, Underdog Estate is a five-floor cedar-clad house built for gathering. A view-facing sauna and cold plunge on the deck, a saltwater pool below, aerial silks in the great room, and a panorama that runs from Mount Tamalpais and the Marin Headlands to the Richmond and Bay bridges. Thirty minutes from San Francisco, and a few minutes from downtown San Rafael.

View from inside the wood sauna out across the treetops to a golden sunset sky

Sauna & Fountain Patio

Sunset over Mt Tam, from inside the sauna

A wide multi-use deck anchored by a dominating granite rock fountain and an outdoor shower. The panoramic-view sauna frames the sunset over Mount Tamalpais through its picture window, and beside it a high-end filtered cold plunge holds at a bracing 42 degrees.

The house and pool at night, lit in shifting pink and amber programmable light

Pool & Hot Tub

A saltwater pool with the whole valley below

A heated saltwater pool, forty feet by twenty, and a hot tub for six or more, both wide open to the view. The path between them passes a living wall of more than a hundred plants and a custom fountain. After dark, the whole hillside lights up.

The great room under a vaulted fir ceiling with red aerial silks and a stone fireplace

Indoors

Five floors, and room to roam

Fifty-five hundred square feet across five floors: three bedrooms, six baths, and the rest given over to gathering. A great room under a vaulted fir ceiling with aerial silks and a stone fireplace, a library they call the Jungle Room, and a foyer crowned by a stained-glass skylight above a 1910 player piano. The lowest floor is the Den: part movie room, part bar, part cabana, since it sits closest to the pool and right above the hot tub, with a wet bar, an elevated couch, and a 105-inch projection screen.

The restored 1953 elevator with its folding metal gate and dragon-patterned walls

And More

A player piano, an antique elevator, and gardens everywhere

The whole house and grounds run on programmable Philips Hue lighting and Sonos sound, so an evening can turn any color you like. A 1910 pneumatic player piano, fully restored, still reads its paper rolls — lyrics included, for old-time karaoke. A 1953 accordion-gate elevator reaches four of the five floors. And everywhere, gardens: fruit trees, flowering vines, and wisteria through the spring and summer.

A look around

The estate, room by room

A wood-paneled foyer with an antique upright piano under an ornate stained-glass skylight — The foyer, beneath the stained-glass skylight

A great room with a vaulted fir ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows over the valley — The great room opens to the view

A bright geometric stairwell wrapped in angled windows with a blown-glass pendant light — The window-lined stairwell

A double-height library with a stone fireplace, tall bookshelves, and hanging aerial silks — The Jungle Room library

A curved wooden staircase descending past tall windows with a view of the bay — Stairs toward the bay

An octagonal cedar entry tower with a stained-glass front door and an arched trellis — The entrance portico

A tiled deck with chairs and a daybed cushion looking out over the bay at dusk — Evenings on the deck

A spacious bedroom with a fireplace, mirrored wall, and windows onto the hills — A bedroom with its own fireplace

A deep tub in a glass-walled alcove with a panoramic view of the valley — A soaking tub set into the view

A large travertine bathroom with a glass walk-in shower and a double vanity — Travertine bath

A bedroom with large windows framing the surrounding hills and an en-suite spa area — Waking up to the hills

Sliding glass doors framing the deck and the bay beyond at golden hour — The view, framed

Gatherings

We host gatherings on the hill

Live music, dance parties, spa days, workshops and salons. We send out invitations to great gatherings now and then. Add your name and we will be in touch.

Join the list

Contact

Come say hello

hello@underdog.estate +1 (973) 937-8283 San Rafael, California