History
The nondenominational Sea Ranch Chapel and surrounding grounds were gifts of The Sea Ranch residents Robert and Betty Buffum. Upon completion in December of 1985, the chapel was dedicated in memory of Kirk Ditzler, navy aviator, zoologist, and artist. Pat and Lyle Ditzler, also Sea Ranch residents and dear friends of the Buffums, were intimately involved in the joyous design of the chapel.
The Sea Ranch Chapel Foundation was initiated for the continued care and maintenance of the chapel and grounds.
James Hubbell, artist and architectural designer, was the creative genius who assembled a team of professionals, gifted contractors, craftsmen, and artisans to realize his design and create the chapel with local natural materials.
The list of area artisans who built the chapel is impressive. A labor of love, the chapel took nine months to complete. Presented with a design model and sketches, Thamby Kumaran, who specialized in handcrafted structures, led the construction team.
The coordinating architect was Don Jacobs. Carpenters/builders Tim Carpenter, Brian Smith, Bruce Johnson, and Tim McMurtry were intimately involved with the one-of-a-kind construction. Dennis Roderick was the mason, and Timber Cove blacksmith Fritz Hagist fabricated the spire. Other professionals included Daniel Cole, structural engineer; Don McAdams and Brelji & Race, civil engineers; and Frank Berlogar, geotechnical soils engineer.
The Interior
Truly a gift to the visual and tactile senses, the chapel interior reflects the natural world as it integrates art, craft, and architecture. Sculptor and carpenter Bruce Johnson was the artist who created the redwood seats, carved post, and surrounding wall shelves that appear to grow from the floors and walls. The sensuous shelves reveal his talent for matching artful form to function. The plaster ceiling lined with a sculpted flower form hovers over the inner space. Drifting within the petals of the carved ceiling are embedded seashells and sea urchins from the local seashore.
The jewel-toned light from three stained glass windows, gifts from the Ditzler family, creates a soft tranquility throughout the chapel. Inlaid in the floor’s center, an Italian-inspired floral mosaic echoes the curvilinear lines of the flower form decorating the ceiling.
The stone used in the walls of the chapel interior are from the surrounding hillside and meadow. These stones also appear on the external wall, creating small flower beds linked to the structure.
The wrought iron prayer screen and metal chandelier were designed and created by the Hubbell Studio in Santa Inez, California. The custom metal fittings of stainless steel encasing the stained-glass window’s aesthetic forms were crafted by Fritz Hagist.
The Exterior
The courtyard entrance is paved with flagstone from Arizona, and rough, natural boulders form the foundation of the shell-like chapel anchoring it to the earth. The delicate clay fountain, with its soft sounds of running water, alludes to the form of upswept wings. Jewel-toned stained-glass windows capture the golden light surrounding the chapel and display a luminous wash of color from dawn to dusk.
Overhanging the entrance doors, the shingled roof shelters visitors and lends a private, calming entry. The exterior walls of the chapel shell are made of redwood siding, each board individually dried and molded in place. In keeping with the chapel’s sacred purpose, the bronze spire points to the sky and stars and reflects the windblown patterns seen in nature surrounding the site.
The windswept conical roof of the chapel is made of cedar shingles applied in a flowing pattern to conform to the roof’s unique shape. The floor foundation is a six-inch concrete slab with one-foot-thick walls filled with concrete blocks.
The custom teak doors with bronze handles and the courtyard fountain are the design and products of the Hubbell Studio.
Memorial Benches
The Sea Ranch Chapel Foundation installed two memorial benches on the chapel grounds in the spring of 2013. Purchased from gifts to the memorial fund, one bench was in honor of the Ditzler Family, the other in honor of John Stewart King.
The Ditzler Memorial Bench is located in the northwest corner of the chapel meadow. Patricia and Lyle Ditzler, parents of Kirk Ditzier to whom the chapel was dedicated in 1985, were involved with and supportive of the chapel from its inception.
The John Stewart King Memorial Bench is located near the entrance to the chapel. In 2001, a landscape fund was established through an estate gift from John Stewart King, a landscape planner and longtime admirer of the chapel. In the 1960s, Mr. King served as a fish and game warden along this area of the coast, where he observed the development of The Sea Ranch and the chapel. His fund has contributed to the installation of watering systems that sustain the chapel grounds.
Donations to the King Memorial Landscaping Fund are warmly welcomed.
Stone artist Arthur Horvath of Mt. Shasta, California, crafted the two benches from Shasta Peridotite, a type of granite sourced from river-tumbled boulders in the northern California mountains. The benches were graciously installed by Nelson Crane Service.
The Landscape
Siting the chapel was a significant first step in its landscape development, according to landscape architect, George Wickstead. Native trees, shrubs, and grasses were planted in an informal pattern to help create a gateway to the chapel entry plaza. All plantings are related to the native landscape of redwoods, tanbark oaks, firs, Bishop Pine, and madrone. Azaleas and rhododendrons flower and thrive on the shaded hillsides in springtime, complements to the meadow poppies and wild Douglas Iris. One of the wonderful benefits of locating the chapel on the edge of The Sea Ranch Commons is the abundance of wildlife. You might see deer, rabbit, fox, squirrel, or any number of different species of birds during your visit.
Builders and Contributors
Among the many wonderful people who have contributed to building and maintaining The Sea Ranch Chapel are the following men and women, founders followed by others listed in alphabetical order:
Betty Buffum, Founder of the Sea Ranch Chapel
Robert Buffum, Founder of the Sea Ranch Chapel
Lyle Ditzler, Founder of the Sea Ranch Chapel Foundation
Pat Ditzler, Founder of the Sea Ranch Chapel Foundation
Frank Berlogar, Geotechnical Soils Engineer
Ron Bolander, Photographer
Tim Carpenter, Carpenter
Daniel Cole, Structural Engineer
Will Cooper, Carpenter
Jeff Dalrymple, Stained Glass Artist
Star DeHaven, Stained Glass Artist
Kurt Ditzler, Artist
Jerry Erickson, Artist and Craftsman
Duane Gordon, Artist
Fritz Hagist, Blacksmith
James Hubbell, Designer and Artist
Don Jacobs, Coordinating Architect
Bruce Johnson, Sculptor, Artisan, and Master Craftsman
Paul Kozal, Photographer
Thamby Kumaran, Construction Supervisor
Tim McMurtry, Carpenter
Dennis Roderick, Carpenter
David Sheets, Artist
Peter Sidell, Photographer
Brian Smith, Carpenter
Gordon Smith, Carpenter
Craig Tooley, Photographer
George Wickstead, Landscape Architect
Former Chapel Board Members
Trudy Armer
Donna Blum
Doug Blum
Cynthia Chilton
Gary Chilton
Floyd Cotton
Linda Cotton
Star DeHaven
Anita Henry
Buck Henry
Bruce Leibrock
Linda Powers
Robert Powers
Marcia Nybakken
Randy Owings
Judy Pfeifer
Richard Pfeifer
Beverly Sloane
Current Volunteers
Loren Adrian
Barbara Gomes
Marilyn Green
Anne O’Donnell
“Perk” Perkins
Website and Social Media
A very special thank you to Lynn Bailey, our
original webmaster, for his years of dedicated care
and management of the chapel website.
Current Team:
Connie King, Web Design/Editing
Sophia Mitchell, Social Media
Michael Wills, Web Developer