Marincello
Marincello was a failed development project in Marin County, California that would have put a planned community atop the Marin Headlands, overlooking the Golden Gate. Its upheaval set the precedent for Marin County's rigid anti-development stance and push for open space.
The land making up the Marin Headlands was purchased by the US military in 1851, shortly after California became a state, for the installation of coastal defense guns. Other than building Forts Barry, Baker, and Cronkhite, and planting trees and vegetation to camouflage the forts from attack, the Marin Headlands was left in its native form. Its unique topography helped serve its purpose for the Army.
By the 1950s, the military installations were becoming obsolete and the government started to look into future plans for the land. Environmentalists urged the military to give the land to the Department of Parks and Recreation to preserve its native and open quality. They also lobbied to make the forts a historic area and part of a Marin Headlands State Park.
By the 1960s, the rise of the suburb was in full effect in the United States, and it looked like the pristine land atop the Marin Headlands (only minutes away from San Francisco) would prove no different. A developer from Bridgeport, Connecticut named Thomas Frouge came across the area and immediately had grand visions for the land, writing “It is probably the most beautiful location in the United States for a new community." With help from Gulf Oil, he purchased the 2,000 acres (8 km2) of land and made immediate plans for his new planned community to be called "Marincello."
Marincello was originally conceived to house up to 30,000 people in 50 apartment towers, as well as hundreds of homes and townhouses. There would also be a mall and a grand hotel at the highest point of the headlands.
A 3D model and proposed drawings were quickly created to start a sales pitch for the houses and apartments in this new city. These demonstrated how this native land was to be built upon in an unprecedented scale for Marin County. However, Frouge promised that Marincello would be a carefully planned city and would not fall siege to the mistakes of other bloated suburbs around the country. He also noted how the houses and apartments would be built with an "open-space" architecture in mind and would effortlessly blend into the unique landscape.
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