The Marin Civic Center is a beautiful Frank Lloyd building. As a Marin county resident, I am always so thrilled to go to one of our civic offices so I can walk around the spaces. It is a living, functional part of our daily lives. How many people are lucky enough to have a place to do your county business that also gives you something beautiful in return? The farmer's markets are also fantastic. read more

I attended the funnest outdoor event on Halloween, 2020. It was a thoughtful alternative to regular door-to-door trick or treating. I stopped by the Civic Center for an evening walk and found a drive up holiday event. There was a charge to drive into the area and cars then processed by giant spiders etc. to a drive-up option for hot dogs, and beyond. It looked fun but since there is a charge it does not seem equitable for those who could not pay over $10 per car. read more

See all

Buckle in...I gotta wordy with this review. I am one of those tourists that admire Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) works and find enjoyment in visiting buildings designed by him. So my review is about the esthetics and the "museum". Let me clarify I am not an architect, nor designer or engineer. I am just a plain ole person, novice admirer of FLW work. So when I finally got a chance to visit the Marin Civic Center during the week, I was ecstatic...Yippee! It is open to the public, no fees. From afar, you can see this beautiful behemoth of a building from the expressway. Trademark soft curved lines of a FLW building melts into the hillside. As I followed the signs to the parking lot, which is free by the way, the pathway to the lot was even designed as part of the landscape. As I was walking into the center, I looked up and saw the open space that brought the outdoors indoors. The front gates was signature Art Deco designed FLW. I entered the administration building near the library. When I walked in, the hallways had a museum type info boards and photos about the building of the civic center and of FLW. Neat stuff. Plus there is an original FLW made diorama of the entire landscape. I learned an outdoor amphitheater and county fairground pavilion were designed on paper but never built. Darn gorgeous building. But I hear that structural it could have been built better. The current functionality for the employees isn't quite there due to the long hallways, minimal amount of elevators and stairwells. If you are curious, swing on by to take a gander. read more

See all

Staying in San Rafael for a short getaway with my wife, we saw the Frank Lloyd Wright Marin Civic Center was nearby. We had always wanted to see it, but living in Contra Costa County did not get over this way much. So after checking out on a Monday we came by. I was a little confused by the Yelp business hours which implied it was only open to the public on Wednesday from 10 AM to 12 PM. Not true. It houses the courthouse and other public facilities so the Civic Center building is always open to the public during normal business hours. The Wednesday hours quoted on Yelp are for a once a week tour. We were delighted that we could roam all around taking pictures of the beautiful architecture. There's a nice display with pictures/history of the Civic Center at one end of the third floor that gave us some background. Ironically, Frank Lloyd Wright passed away and could not live to see the final design come to life. Wright 's plans were actually more ambitious but some parts never came to fruition, a shame. The building opened in 1962 and is now undergoing some additional restoration judging by the extensive scaffolding on the outside. But wandering through the different floors our visit was not marred by any construction activity on the interior - everything is well-preserved and beautiful. The interior is very open, with skylights above and openings that let you see down from the upper floors to the lower floors. Much greenery abounds. The hallways will get quite toasty on warm days thanks to those skylights. Make sure you go through the cafeteria to the outside and see the trademark spire. While we were outside a newlywed couple was having photos taken - if you are going to be married in a City Hall, this is the way to go! The Marin Civic Center is a California and National Historic Landmark - a must-see for lovers of architecture and local history. read more

See all

Just went in the Friday morning docent led tour and this is a must see! Have lived in the Bay Area my entire life and this is my first visit. What a beautiful place. Pictures don't capture the beauty of this place. read more

See all

I took a tour today of the civic center. I came to learn about the Frank Lloyd Wright building. I got a lecture on pride week and prison reform by Jonathan. I am not against his opinions but do not want to hear them when I came for architectural education. Please educate this docent. read more

Excellent space for a large expo-type event. Went to a gem (and bead?) show and got lost for hours in amazing crystals from all over the globe! There were at least 95 vendor booths and a sitting area situated right in the center for when your feet give up on you! Bring a cocktail and sunglasses. There are no drinks of any sort and there are fluorescent lights. Not my favorite combo. But again, beautiful crystals. So. read more

See all

I have driven past the Marin County Civic Center more times than I can even count. But in all my years of zipping by this place at 70 miles per hour I have only visited once. It was for a Sundays concert where I stood in front of some guy who kept yelling "Harriett I love you!!!!" over and over. I'm thinking that guy may not have won over Ms. Wheelers heart but touring the grounds before the show was instrumental in helping me appreciate the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. The building blends perfectly into the hillside. The 60's style architecture is amazingly timeless and is classic FLW. Included is a sense of history, but it's very hard to imagine that a place so serene was once the center of the radical movement when it hosted the trial of Angela Davis. The inspiration for the planet Naboo is worthy of it's national landmark status and when in the area a must see. read more

The tour is sooo worth it. The cafe area has some pretty decent food too. Enjoy my photos! read more

See all

I went to see David Sedaris at MCC in April and failed to notice the architecture, so I'll have to keep an eye open for the next go round. What I did notice was that the theater was very 70's, extremely dated looking, and bore a strong resemblance to my high school auditorium. I don't know if this affects the sound quality, because we were in the second row and could have heard him without a microphone. They are getting an extra star just for hosting DS. The grounds around the center were nice, with walking paths around what appeared to be a man made lake. read more

I have to say that my daughter & I enjoyed Wanda Sykes tremendously! Neither of us had been to this center before and it was very easy to find,although I have to say there should be some updating on the restrooms and I think the seats need re-upholstering,overall it was a good experience. The only thing that happened that night that went wrong was that I locked my keys in my car! (didn't know of course until the end of the night upon leaving). Thank goodness my daughter left her window down some, and with the help of "Adam",the security there,we would not have made it home sooner than we did. No one even stopped to ask if we needed help while trying to get into our car,until we found Adam and he stayed with us and helped get my car unlocked. He was very patient,kind and my daughter & he were on a mission to unlock that door! So thank you so much Adam..We really appreciate it!!! ~Carol & Chanel read more

For comfort food and a spectacular view, dine at the Marin Civic Center Cafe. It's a cafeteria with a pool! You can dine al fresco on the garden pool patio and enjoy views from Frank Lloyd Wright's imagination. The patio also includes a Charles Rennie MacIntosh sculpture in the garden. read more

We have a booth for the Marin County Home and Garden Show here it's definitely not the most comfortable location that we had but over all I like it read more

Spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright architecture right here on the freeway. One of his biggest, splashiest buildings. You can tour it--I still haven't. Oberlin and nearby Wellington, Ohio each had one Wright home--one the low slung Prairie style, the other an upright farmhouse from his early career. It's fun to juxtapose the two and then see where his career went with buildings like the Marin Civic Center. read more

I went to a dance recital here and they charged my ONE YEAR OLD daughter full price admission! Highway robbery. Seriously, Disneyland doesn't even charge kids under 2. Ridiculous. read more

This was our second visit to this auditorium. The first time was a few months ago for a Diana Ross concert. This time was for part of their speaker series and we heard Bill Bryson. For Diana we were seated in the orchestra with good visibility. This time we were upstairs in row 23. The space is a bit dated overall but there is good legroom. I hate it when there is no center aisle though because then you are forced to crawl over so many people to reach your seats if your are in the center. Sound quality in both cases was fine. Nothing about the space deterred from either the concert or the speaker. read more

I will point out that several of the reviews here are about the auditorium, which was designed by others not the Civic Center itself. This review is about how the actual Civic Center building functions not how it looks. I am currently in Chicago and today I went to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright museum and studio in Oak Park IL. He like a lot of architects was more about how a building looks than how it functions. The Marin Civic Center building is a prime example of that. The Civic Center building (not the auditorium) may be very attractive from the outside but sucks at being a functioning building. To get from an office on one side of the building on the same floor to one on the other side of the building requires a long walk. There is a long atrium in the middle that divides the building and there is only one floor (I think the second) that has a bridge in the middle. To get from floor to floor demands going to the end of the atrium to get to the elevators or stairs. The entrances are essentially hidden from view so that finding your way into the building if you are not familiar with it can be difficult. It also has many frou frou elements that truly offend me as an engineer (not structural). Those exterior arches that look so good could also have made the building much more solid in an earth quake, but all they are is plaster over framing they provide no additional structural benefit. The copper dome in the middle has had leakage problems since the building was built. Attempts have been made to correct this but to the best of my knowledge it leaks to this day. I bring up my visit to the museum today because so many of his failings as an architect are on display there. Tables and chairs designed by him are universally too low (he was a short man). Stairwells are too narrow, Traffic flows are difficult, Weird stuff like he divided a large room for two bedrooms for his children and did not extend the wall to the ceiling, a very high ceiling I will admit. Stupid stuff like putting false ceilings under the roofs which were unnecessarily high for dramatic effect, or flat skylights which are horribly prone to leaking. Or even more stupid buying a baby grand and sticking it into a wall so that it would not take up so much floor space, ruining the sound. Google his name and then see how many of his buildings (Falling Waters) have demanded a lot of money to repair and maintain. My niece, who I went to the museum with, lives in a house built circa 1890, it still works but many of Wright's do not still work or are very costly to maintain. I am staying in a hotel that appears circa 1925, it is funky around the edges but it still works. Wright may have designed attractive buildings but many of them are non functional or very expensive to maintain. I will admit that he did not live to actually complete the design of the Marin Civic Center, others finished off his concept. It is still an excellent example of his failings as an architect and actually the failings of a lot of architects. He/they can conceive of attractive buildings but their egos do not allow them to think of or design to function. In 35 years as an engineer I worked with to many of the egotistical type of architects of which Wright was one. I also worked with other types of architects who could design attractive buildings and also make them work. read more

The building is designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which makes it pretty neat in my book. Their cafe is actually one of the better caferteria foods I've ate at. I think all their ingredients come from local organic farmers. Definitely worth check it out. read more

went to see ryan adams play here last night. i had no idea frank lloyd wright designed the building(s) until i arrived and saw some renovation notices. it was late, so i didn't get to see much of the famous architect's work except the inside of the auditorium. i must agree with beth v., it felt pretty dated. not really sure if this was more due to ryan adams' lighting director's choices or the marin center's capabilities, but the concert looked like a high-school talent show - just with amazing talent. the lights weren't even as high-tech as what i see in smaller SF clubs. it was a nice environment with a bunch of little old ladies directing people to their seats. they even had this guy walking through the "bar" area with what looked like a small xylophone, signaling the ten-minute start of the show warning. outside of that, it's hard to judge this place on anything outside of ryan adams' performance, which was nice by the way - thanks for asking. read more