Esther Lederberg directed the architect to design the house at Pescadero Beach. The design was to be polygonal
as the shape of that part of a virus that encapsulates the DNA is non-planar polygonal. For technical reasons, the architect was not able to
design a hexagon. Instead, the shape of a half-hexagon was agreed upon.
Obtaining the land was not easy. A dean of the medical school, dean Robert H. Alway and his wife Sophie C. Alway had land available, but feared having
the Lederbergs as neighbors. When Dean Alway was at his coastal retreat, he did not want other Stanford neighbors
that would continually destroy the calm of his coastal retreat (with their Stanford worries). Once the Lederbergs
made it clear that they also sought a coastal retreat, and would never intrude upon their neighbors, the Always,
the land was available.
Actually building the house was then a problem. Officials responsible for coastal residences really did not look
favorably upon coastal residences. These officials placed obstacle after obstacle in the way of the actual construction
of the home. Garbage disposal had to be taken care of that would not destroy the beauty and safety of the coast.
Water had to be obtained from a well, that would not destroy the safety of the water available to others. Any staircase
in the house had to be safe (there was "great", concern about the safety of the occupants, so much safer if the house
was not located on the coast at all). The water quality was not adequate as it contained Escherichia coli. These officials
most likely were not aware that they were dealing with scientists that knew as much or more than anyone about Escherichia
coli. Eventually, all obstacles were solved and the retreat at Pescadero became a reality.
As the house was constructed actually upon the rocks at the very edge of the Pacific ocean, cleaning and removing salt
spray was constantly required.
The following photographs are a partial record of the construction of the Lederberg Pescadero Beach retreat.