In 1948, the Heaths, with friends Eral and Kenny Leek, bought the Dorothea, an old potato hauler that they called “the Barge,” for $2,850. Eral and Edith designed and built a duplex on the scow, with back-to-back fireplaces on the wall separating the two apartments. It floated on the Sausalito waterfront until, in 1951, the two couples moved the Barge to a waterfront acreage in nearby Tiburon. The Leeks and their children moved to Mill Valley in the late 1950s, and the Heaths continued to enjoy co-living over the next four decades, inviting various friends and family to stay for prolonged visits.
Edith Heath and Robert Royston, of the landscape architecture firm Eckbo, Royston & Williams, collaborated on the landscape design. From the start, the patios and deck featured Heath’s projects in clay, with ceramic screens, benches and tabletops and tiled ground. Likewise, Heath filled the home’s interior with one-of-a-kind and “seconds” Heathware. With its orientation to the outdoors and the organic development of its surrounding property, the Barge reflects the quintessential California lifestyle so aligned with Heathware.
We live over a bit of the Pacific at the edge of San Francisco bay… In August of '80 it will be thirty years of watching the waters lap the shore. In winter, the water is turbulent flotsam is dashed against the pilings on which our dwelling rests. Our dwelling, a river-scow for our ‘basement’… Above 2 somewhat luxurious spaces with 2 kitchens and w baths, hi fi system, hundreds of books—from the modern museum—and paintings, pots, hand-blown glass from Venice and California. Artifacts from around the world. American Indian rugs—as well as Mexican and Yugoslavian. A fireplace faced with Heath tile. Shelves filled with Heath dinnerware—dating from 1944 onwards—samplings of my creations over the years. (Edith Heath, handwritten note, c. 1980)