Año Nuevo State Park

Other than the elephant seals, the iconic image of Año Nuevo State Park is the abandoned lighthouse keeper’s house. The infamous fog of this area has historically caused tons of shipwrecks, so a lighthouse was erected in the late 19th century. In 1904, a house was constructed for the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouse wasn’t a particularly good one and didn’t last long and was replaced with an audible buoy that it still used today, and the house was abandoned in 1948 after two lighthouse keepers died boating to the island. Since then, elephant seals have colonized the house and the state has pretty much turned the house over to them. The house will be left for the seals until it falls down.

This was the first I saw of the lighthouse keeper’s house, from the visitor’s center while I waited for my guided hike to begin. It’s in the upper left quadrant of the photo:
island house

From a little closer:
lighthouse keepers house-2

Closer…
lighthouse keepers house

Even closer…
lighthouse keepers house which has been overrun by seals

And as close as we’re gonna get:
seal house

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