Three and a half hours north of San Francisco lies Switzer Farm: a meticulously restored Victorian farmhouse, rolling meadows, and dramatic Pacific Ocean views.
This guide details what is included at Switzer Farm weddings, how the three-day buyout structure shapes a wedding weekend, and what kind of couple this spectacular place is genuinely right for.
What is Switzer Farm?
Switzer Farm sits on a bluff just north of the village of Westport, a former logging town on Highway 1 about twenty minutes north of Fort Bragg. The original property was established in 1884 as a working sheep and dairy ranch, and the centerpiece is the restored Victorian farmhouse from that period. The property includes seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a chef's kitchen, a library, and a series of common rooms that have been brought back to their late-19th-century condition with extraordinary care.
The owners, Gary and Michiko Weiss, bought the property in the early 2010s. Gary is a historic preservationist who had been collecting 19th-century gas lights, plumbing fixtures, books, and architectural elements for decades. In 2015 he left a thirty-two-year career in law to spend three years restoring Switzer Farm to its original 1884 condition. Every gas light is period-correct. The plumbing is restored. The architectural details are largely original or salvaged.
What sets Switzer Farm apart is how the house meets the land. The 22-acre property sits west of Highway 1, so once you arrive, nothing stands between you and the Pacific but the farm's own meadow and headlands. It's incredibly serene and majestic.
The Three-Day Buyout
This is the most important thing to understand about Switzer Farm: you don't rent it for a wedding day. You rent the entire property for three days and three nights, and during that time, no one else is there.
Pricing is $23,000 for 2026 and $25,000 for 2027 for groups up to 99 guests. That fee includes exclusive use of all 22 acres and lodging for 20+ guests across the seven-bedroom farmhouse and the garden cottage. The structure encourages a Friday-arrival, Sunday-departure weekend, with rehearsal dinner Friday, ceremony and reception Saturday, and a farewell brunch Sunday. Some couples expand this further by booking nearby Westport B&Bs and vacation rentals for additional guests, who can walk to the property from the village.
This pricing is for the venue and lodging only. Catering, bar, rentals, photography, florals, and planning are all additional. Realistic all-in budgets for a Switzer Farm weekend tend to land in the $80,000–$150,000 range depending on guest count and scope, with the mid-five-figures for the venue being a relatively small share of the total.
The Property: Where Things Actually Happen
The 22 acres include several distinct ceremony and reception sites, each with a different character.
The Ocean-View Veranda and Gardens wrap around the farmhouse and offer the most architecturally framed setting on the property. This is the spot for couples who want their ceremony or cocktail hour to be Victorian interior — the gas lights visible through the windows, the gardens spilling into the foreground, the ocean as the backdrop. It's also the most weather-protected of the ceremony sites, which matters more than couples typically expect.
The Headlands sit at the western edge of the property, directly above the Pacific. This is where couples go for the most dramatic ceremony .
The oceanfront meadow is the middle ground — wild grass rolling toward the bluff, easier to set up in than the headlands, more atmospheric than the veranda. Most photographers' favorite portrait location is somewhere along the transition between meadow and bluff.
The South Lawn is the property's most popular reception space. It's electrified, plumbed for caterers and bartenders, and large enough for tented dinner service for the full 99-guest capacity. This is where the dancing happens, where the long tables go, where the actual wedding-as-a-party takes place.
The Victorian Home is beautiful and filled with period details. The upstairs bedrooms, farmhouse kitchen, and living room all stand out. The house is also a beautiful backdrop on the outside, with a striking white exterior (how very bridal!).
Planning Logistics: What to Actually Know
Getting there
The drive to Switzer Farm is 3.5 hours from San Francisco via Highways 101 and 128, one of the most beautiful routes in California, with a final stretch along the Mendocino coast. Guests flying into SFO will need a rental car or shuttle. Download an offline map before you go: cell service on the North Coast is patchy, and while there's Wi-Fi at the farmhouse, plan for the weekend to be largely off the grid.
Capacity
The property accommodates up to 99 guests for events. Lodging on-site sleeps 20+ across the farmhouse and garden cottage. The village of Westport offers three B&Bs and a number of vacation rentals within walking distance, expanding total guest housing significantly without requiring anyone to drive.
Catering
Switzer Farm is a bring-your-own-vendor venue. Some couples bring catering up from the Bay Area; others work with established Mendocino-region caterers. The same is true for bar service, rentals, florals, and music. Allow extra travel time and lodging costs for vendors who don't live on the coast.
Weather
The Mendocino coast is significantly cooler than inland California year-round. Summer highs are typically 60–68°F at the coast even when it's 95°F in Healdsburg. Mornings and evenings are cold; daytime is variable. Tell your guests to pack layers, including warmer layers than they think they need. This is non-negotiable advice.
Best Months
September and October are the most reliable months at Switzer Farm — clearer skies, warmer days, fewer marine-layer issues. June through August are foggy and beautiful in their own way but require planning around it. Late spring (April–May) is wildflower season and stunning but unpredictable. Winter is closed for most weddings.
Who Switzer Farm Is Right For
Switzer Farm is right for couples who want their wedding to be a weekend and not a day. Who care about the texture and history of the place they get married in. Who would rather have 60 of their closest people than 200 acquaintances. Who don't mind asking guests to make a real journey, and who understand that the journey is part of what makes the wedding feel like a wedding. It's a place where guests stay, eat breakfast together, and walk the bluff before the ceremony. For the couple it's right for, there is nowhere else on the California coast quite like it.
Booking and Next Steps
Switzer Farm books directly through the venue's website. Most weekends book 12–18 months in advance, with peak fall dates often booking earlier than that. If you're considering Switzer Farm for 2027 or 2028, the time to inquire is now.
About the author
hi, i'm annalee, a wedding photographer based in san francisco.
Annalee documents love stories with honesty, warmth, and a photojournalistic eye. Blending film and digital, her work is timeless, colorful, and full of life. With a collaborative, thoughtful approach, she documents the day as it naturally unfolds, creating images that feel true to each couple's story. Based in San Francisco and always ready to travel, Annalee is here to tell your story, wherever it unfolds.
Switzer Farm wedding, Mendocino coast wedding, Northern California wedding venue, Westport California wedding, film wedding photographer, Mendocino wedding photographer