The River Electric is a camp resort, swim club, and event venue in the heart of Sonoma County wine country. Set on 12 acres of sunny meadows and redwood groves, The River Electric is a short walk from the historic town of Guerneville, California. Offering 40 luxurious tent campsites, two pools, and three event spaces, the property offers a relaxing and sophisticated escape for visitors.
Common areas include the welcome building, on-site restaurant and bar, and bath building which are outfitted with beautiful Heart B grade redwood siding. Cabanas in the pool area also feature redwood timber framing, and durable redwood decking can be found on the event spaces within the nearby grove of mature redwood trees. The patio space sheltering the restaurant and bar features a large shade structure, the posts of which are steel that have been wrapped in redwood to match the overall aesthetic of the property.
Sited in a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zone, nearly all the construction materials specified for The River Electric had to be approved for use per California Building Code Chapter 7A. Redwood decking and siding are eligible for use under the existing code and are fully compliant with the new 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC), which becomes effective January 1, 2026.
“Redwood is integral to what we decided to do here to enhance this landscape. Your entire view is of massive redwoods that are over a thousand years old. And being able to use redwood just completely blends this space and makes it feel like it’s been here forever” states Michael Gibson, The River Electric’s Operating Partner.
The River Electric is open to the public from May to October and closed in the winter months due to rain and routine flooding of the Russian River Valley. The non-permanent structures on the property, including the pool cabanas, restaurant furnishings, tents, and even the redwood decking, are removed for the winter and placed in dry storage for safekeeping.
Visit https://TheRiverElectric.com/ to learn more and to book your stay.
Photography: Dan Quiñones
Redwood specification information including CSI 3-part and Canadian CSC formatted specification, BIM objects, CAD drawings, product catalogs, and LEED credit information, along with American Institute of Architects (AIA) LU/HSW credit hour webinars may all be found by visiting https://www.getredwood.com/architects.
