Belvedere is a residential incorporated city located on the San Francisco Bay in

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Consisting of two islands and a lagoon, it is connected to the

Tiburon Peninsula The Tiburon Peninsula (), or simply "the Tiburon" (''le Tiburon''), is a region of Haiti encompassing most of Haiti's southern coast. It starts roughly at the southernmost point of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border and extends westward near C ...

by two causeways. At the 2020 census, the population was 2,126. The per capita (per person) income of Belvedere residents in 2000 was $250,000, but currently the average income is $283,000, making it one of the highest-income cities in California and the eighth highest-income community in the United States (highest with a population of over 1,000 residents). Belvedere and Tiburon share a post office and the 94920 ZIP code.

Location

Belvedere is located at , about north of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Belvedere's two islands are

Belvedere Island Belvedere Island (formerly, El Potrero de la Punta del Tiburon, Kashow's Island, Peninsula Island, Promontory Island, and Still Island) is a rocky island in the San Francisco Bay in Marin County, California which was formerly separated by a mars ...

and Corinthian Island. Corinthian Island is shared with Tiburon. Belvedere Lagoon is situated between the two causeways (Beach Road and San Rafael Avenue) that connect Belvedere Island to the town of Tiburon. Belvedere has a total area of , of which is land and (78%) is water.

History

Belvedere incorporated as a city in 1896. Its first post office was opened in 1897. Belvedere's City Hall was originally a Presbyterian Church. It was moved to its present location on San Rafael Avenue in 1949. Actress

Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...

, who played Ethel on ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'', died in Belvedere in 1979 at the age of 70. In 2017, Belvedere became a twin city with Portofino, Italy.

Houses

Depending on where their homes are located, residents of Belvedere enjoy views of

, Angel Island,

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco and Richardson Bays, and

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...

. Houses on Belvedere and Corinthian Islands encompass a range of periods and architectural styles from Victorian to Mediterranean to post-and-beam "mid-century modern". Many are "cliff-hangers". Houses on the Belvedere Lagoon were designed by architects in the 1950s and 1960s. Houses on the lagoon have their own boat docks. Many of the homes on Belvedere and Corinthian Islands have docks with access to San Francisco Bay. A number of Belvedere homes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; e.g., the Valentine Rey House designed by

Willis Polk Willis Jefferson Polk (October 3, 1867 – September 10, 1924) was an American architect, best known for his work in San Francisco, California. For ten years, he was the West Coast representative of D.H. Burnham & Company. In 1915, Polk oversaw ...

and built in 1893. Notable designers of homes in Belvedere have included Joseph Esherick, Albert Farr, who designed the Belvedere Land Company building and cottages, Henry Gutterson, and Charles Warren Callister. New construction has become a contentious issue as residents have become frustrated with large projects that they believe are negatively affecting the character of the community. San Francisco Yacht Club House c 1894

Belvedere is a residential community. The nearby town of Tiburon provides services, shops and eateries. Two yacht clubs are located in Belvedere: the

San Francisco Yacht Club The San Francisco Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Belvedere, California, and the oldest on the Pacific Coast. They were formerly located in San Francisco. History Founded in 1869, the San Francisco Yacht Club is the oldest club on the Pa ...

and the Corinthian Yacht Club.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Belvedere had a population of 2,126. The population density was . The racial makeup of Belvedere was 87.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.9%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.0% from other races, and 7.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 5.1% of the population. The whole population lived in households. There were 898 households, out of which 30.8% included children under the age of 18, 58.8% were married-couple households, 3.5% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 26.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 11.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 27.4% of households were one person, and 19.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.37. There were 622

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(69.3% of all households). The age distribution was 21.5% under the age of 18, 4.9% aged 18 to 24, 11.2% aged 25 to 44, 28.8% aged 45 to 64, and 33.6% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 52.9years. For every 100 females, there were 85.4 males. There were 1,060 housing units at an average density of , of which 898 (84.7%) were occupied. Of these, 71.8% were owner-occupied, and 28.2% were occupied by renters.

Politics

As of January 2, 2018, Belvedere had 1,425 registered voters. Of these, 587 (41.2%) were registered as Democrats, while 416 (29.2%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. 371 (26.0%) declined to state. 51 were registered with other parties.

Twin City

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th centur ...

, Liguria, Italy

Education

Belvedere is in Reed Union School District and the

Tamalpais Union High School District The Tamalpais Union High School District or TUHSD provides high school education to students residing in ten elementary districts in central and southern Marin County, California and parts of West Marin. The headquarters are on the property of ...

.
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References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Marin County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1896 Populated coastal places in California