Pond Farm was an American artists’ colony that began in the 1940s and, in one form or another, continued until 1985. It is located near the Russian River resort town of Guerneville, California, about 75 mi (120 km) north of San Francisco. Situated on a hilltop 600 ft (180 m) above the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, Pond Farm began around 1939-40 when a San Francisco-based couple named Gordon and Jane Herr acquired a portion of property called Rancho Del Lago or the Walker Ranch. Initially 250 acres (1.0 km2), their property was later expanded to 400 acres (1.6 km2). Because one of its primary features was a large pond, the Herrs renamed this setting Pond Farm. It includes two small residences and a historic barn repurposed as a pottery studio.
Pond Farm Exterior of Barn / Workshop which contains potter's wheels as used by Marguerite Wildenhain
Frans Wildenhain also known as Franz Rudolf Wildenhain was a Bauhaus-trained German potter and sculptor, who taught for many years at the School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.
Wildenhain in 1972
Wildenhain working on a clay mural at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1972