Construction is underway at the derelict Marshall Tavern, henceforth known as the Marshall Tavern Inn. The historic building has rotted away since it was closed in 1982, but owners Gary Dowd and Gerry Hardiman have started renovating the establishment.
Plans call for six rooms and a 4,000-square-foot deck over the water that will hold a concession on the far side, a kayak launch, two bicycle racks, two benches and a 5-by-20-foot floating dock. The business is scheduled to be up and running by the summer of 2025.
“It took a good six years, but we came up with a beautiful project. It’s a journey for sure and this right here is the most important thing,” Mr. Dowd said on a recent afternoon, pointing to a red stamp on blueprints that read “County of Marin Approval.”
After the building permit was approved in April 2022, crews started to prepare the property for construction but had to take a hiatus from Nov. 30 until May 15 due to fish spawning in the bay.
The bed-and-breakfast will feature three rooms upstairs and three downstairs, each with a separate entrance. One of the rooms will be A.D.A.-accessible, a second-story room will be a honeymoon suite and one room will be a larger live-in unit for the manager. Each guest room will be almost 700 square feet, with a propane fireplace, kitchenette and private deck that overlooks Tomales Bay. Mr. Dowd, a developer from Fairfax, said room pricing is still subject to change, but will likely cost a minimum of $500 a night.
The tavern, built in the early 1900s, has sat vacant for the last 41 years. In that time, numerous owners have made attempts to restore it but gave up amid the challenges of permitting and environmental compliance.
“It took them so many years, but they’re starting work and it’s amazing to see,” said George Clyde, a Marshall resident and member of the East Shore Planning Group. “The community generally favors the tavern being reconstructed rather than torn down.”
Mr. Dowd and Mr. Hardiman bought the property for $435,000 in 2017 from Daniel Altman and Avi Atid, who purchased it for $512,000 13 years earlier. The former owners were routinely waylaid by the permitting process and decided to sell the property when the project became too much of a challenge.
“Taking an old building and trying to save it is not an easy task,” Mr. Dowd said. “Each person that owned it over the past 40 years got a little closer with each thing they installed. But each person that bought it, I don’t think they had any clue of what it would really take.”
Treading from one creaky board to another, Mr. Dowd painted his vision for the business: a midcentury-style bar in the inn’s lobby to capture the zeitgeist of the tavern’s heyday, and local cuisine, perhaps with a Cajun twist, in the concession on the far side of the deck.
Looking at the structure, it’s hard to visualize, but Mr. Dowd has renovated a dozen homes across Marin, including two historic homes in Larkspur with Mr. Hardiman. But he said this one is its own beast, unlike any property he’s worked on.
“It’s the same footprint with a few modifications—I know all the weak spots in this building,” Mr. Dowd said. “If these walls could talk, you know?”
The building is 6,000 square feet of near rubble. The roof and siding have partially rotted away from decades of storms and saltwater, leaving cracks that slice through the cold interior with shards of light. Graffiti blemishes the exterior’s lower walls, but the historic windows, handmade signs and signature blue paint all preserve some part of the past—and will be included in the renovation, Mr. Dowd said.
The construction will likely cost around $3 million, with a third of that going to the rehabilitation of the retaining wall and the building’s foundation. One of the requirements from the California Coastal Commission is that the property be raised 3 feet to account for sea-level rise, work that Mr. Dowd said could take place this summer.
Improvements made by previous owners include a connection to the Marshall wastewater system, a well on Hog Island’s ranch, CEQA exemption and a coastal permit, the latter of which mandates a 24-hour public pier.
The East Shore Planning Group largely supports the current design, but it takes issue with the pier’s 24-hour access. Mr. Dowd said he tried his best to support the group’s wishes, but the coastal commission would not budge. “I’m in total support of limitations because to me it’s just a liability,” he said. “We wanted sunrise to sundown, but you have to pick your battles.”
In 2021, the planning group sent a letter to the commission outlining its arguments against a 24-hour pier: unwanted noise, a lack of a 24-hour restroom, disruption of privacy for nearby residents, safety and fire hazard concerns, and lighting that is inconsistent with the area’s dark sky initiative. Commission staff responded that it would need sufficient evidence of changed conditions, such as an uptick in fire department responses, police reports or other data that showed the pier was a risk to public safety.
“Even if Commission staff were to accept such a permit amendment application request, it is uncertain how such an amendment to reduce public access to the pier could be found Coastal Act consistent, and the Commission may deny such a request,” the commission wrote.