Before her death in 1999,Margaret Bodfish established a trust so that her Orinda property and its'adobe home on Miner Road would be preserved as a public park. In the ensuing years, the Canyon Ranch Homeowner's Association, and the Orinda Parks and Recreation Foundation all worked together to protect the oak-covered property, but had not found a permanent solution before a vital deadline approached.
The Bodfish Trust specified that if the property did not become a park within four years, ownership would be transferred to UC Santa Cruz. Had that happened, it likely would have been auctioned off to a develper. At the 11th hour, when the land was just days from being transferred to the university, MHLT stepped in and took ownership instead - to preserve it as a public open space and a wildlife sanctuary.
In order to more effectively preserve and maintain this area, the Land Trust eventually sold the property to a private party and now permanently protects it with a conservation easement.
The Bodfish preserve remains open to the public, and those neighbors who fought so long to preserve this property are happy to share it with the wider community.
Carolyn Cullen (Foust) (1960)
Margaret Bodfish
Born April 20th, 1943.
Passed June 30th, 1999.
Before her death in 1999,Margaret Bodfish established a trust so that her Orinda property and its'adobe home on Miner Road would be preserved as a public park. In the ensuing years, the Canyon Ranch Homeowner's Association, and the Orinda Parks and Recreation Foundation all worked together to protect the oak-covered property, but had not found a permanent solution before a vital deadline approached.
The Bodfish Trust specified that if the property did not become a park within four years, ownership would be transferred to UC Santa Cruz. Had that happened, it likely would have been auctioned off to a develper. At the 11th hour, when the land was just days from being transferred to the university, MHLT stepped in and took ownership instead - to preserve it as a public open space and a wildlife sanctuary.
In order to more effectively preserve and maintain this area, the Land Trust eventually sold the property to a private party and now permanently protects it with a conservation easement.
The Bodfish preserve remains open to the public, and those neighbors who fought so long to preserve this property are happy to share it with the wider community.
Joan Robinson (Rhodes) (1960)
What a wonderful legacy.