The Tamalpais Marin: A Life Plan Community with Award-Winning Care at Every Level

Residents and team members have long known that The Tamalpais Marin is a special place.

With exceptional service, elegant apartments, and stunning views from every angle, the community, lovingly known as “The Tam,” offers not only premium senior living, also known as Independent Living, in Marin County, but also assisted living, long-term care, and short-term rehabilitation, memory care, and skilled nursing services —all of which have recently been recognized by U.S. News & World Report.

A life plan community offers more than a place to retire. A life plan community, formerly known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), is a full-service community that offers not only independent living but also higher levels of care. These types of senior living communities offer access to assisted living, memory support, skilled nursing, and/or other care types, allowing residents to “age in place” rather than needing to find alternative living arrangements should they need more support in the future.

Having access to a continuum of care under one campus has been beneficial not only in reducing residents’ and their families’ stress levels but also in ensuring that spouses who need different levels of care can remain in the same community, making the transition easier for both parties.

There are over 30,000 senior living communities across the United States. This year, fewer than 2,000 earned any type of U.S. News & World Report award. Among them are three Sequoia Living communities, which have won an array of awards across multiple categories. These include:

• Best CCRC
• Best Assisted Living
• Best Short-Term Rehabilitation
• Best Long-Term Care

U.S. News determines these ratings through information from resident and family surveys. The non-biased results in categories such as safety, quality of care, available activities and enrichment, management and staff, and food and dining determined overall satisfaction with the community and, ultimately, which communities were awarded this distinguished recognition.

Best Assisted Living

 For those needing help with activities of daily living such as bathing, eating, dressing, and medication management, assisted living offers 24/7 support in the comfort of a private apartment. To determine the best assisted living communities, U.S. News looked at safety, care quality, staff, and management.

Through the care and dedication of trained nursing staff, the continued enjoyment of the dining facilities and cultural programs, and access to existing friendships and familiar surroundings, the assisted living program at The Tam offers everything independent living does, with extra support and care tailored to residents’ individual needs.

Best Short-Term Rehabilitation

 Residents recovering from surgery, illness, or injury can receive short-term care right on the Tam campus. Typically lasting a few days to several months, short-term care provides inpatient services to help patients recover and return home.

For U.S. News, patient outcomes, nurse staffing intensity, and care processes were used to determine award recipients. 

Best Long-Term Care

 For those with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or aging-related conditions, long-term care is available to provide medical and non-medical care. At The Tam, residents receive the highest standard of care in a comfortable, familiar setting, including the categories U.S. News uses to determine recognition status, such as performance, staffing consistency, patient-centered care, and resident quality of life.

Memory Care

A form of long-term care, memory care is designed for those living with Alzheimer’s, dementia, or other memory-related cognitive impairments. The Tam offers a secure, separate unit for residents in the memory care environment, ensuring safety, security, specialized therapies, and highly structured support.

Best CCRC

 To deliver resident and family satisfaction, CCRCs must provide premium care across many, if not all, aspects of the community. This includes value, location, safety, quality and variety of food, respectfulness and responsiveness of staff, availability and scheduling of enrichment, and transportation.

At The Tamalpais, residents can count on every level of care being available to them when needed, with premium service, dedicated staff, and award-winning care in independent living and the care continuum.

With stunning scenes of the San Francisco Bay to the east and Mount Tamalpais to the west, there are no bad views from The Tamalpais Marin—and that’s just the icing on the cake.

Residents enjoy the life plan community in Greenbrae for its flexible lifestyle, exceptional service, elegant apartments, welcoming environment, and access to the outdoors.

Flexible Lifestyle

Without the stress and time required to manage a household, residents can enjoy greater flexibility. Housekeeping, home maintenance, yardwork, and cooking are replaced by hobbies, exercise, gatherings, and, for some residents, travel.

For resident Andrea Tapia, she’s using this extra free time to take international trips. “I just pack and leave. And I come back, and my apartment is clean, and my plants are watered.”

You don’t have to leave the community to enjoy flexibility, either. Residents can live their perfect day every day, whether that’s waking up early to take a hike, sleeping in and enjoying coffee at home, trying a new painting class, meeting a friend for happy hour, or exploring the newest menu item in the dining hall.

Flexibility in retirement is currency, and when you live at The Tam, you can spend it any way your heart desires.

Exceptional Service and Elegant Apartments

From staff to architecture and everything in between, The Tamalpais has an air of sophistication. Common spaces feel elevated and open, apartments are clean and spacious, and activities are planned often and well. Dining features fresh, local delicacies in a sophisticated dining room with full views of Mount Tamalpais. Staff are available and happy to answer questions or assist in any way. The Tam was built on service, and it has only improved that service over the last 20 years.

Welcoming Environment

 The Tamalpais proudly supports community, diversity, and different lifestyles. Anyone (62+, of course) is welcome at The Tam and can find something that interests or intrigues them. While it’s not required to join a club or committee or attend events, residents find that it can help them form new friendships, build new bonds, and learn and grow.

Judy Gries started her journey at The Tamalpais Marin by joining a committee and orchestrating celebratory dinners to bring residents together, which ultimately led her to join the resident association. She’s also part of Awakening Wisdom, a group that she says, “has been an absolutely delightful time. It has shown me how to be more introspective and quiet down, pay attention to what’s happening inside your body, and grow spiritually.”

Access to the Outdoors

 Surrounded by over 6,000 acres of land to explore, The Tamalpais Marin is a perfect location for those who enjoy fresh mountain air. Whether it’s peaceful walks in Muir Woods, scenic paths to Cataract Falls, or exploring Mount Tamalpais State Park, residents are often seen hiking and biking around the area. Marin is also surrounded by quaint communities with lively arts, music, and theater scenes.

It was the perfect blend of adventure and culture for Michael Gordon, who weighed his options before ultimately choosing The Tam for its convenient location for “concerts, hiking trips, local symphony, theatrical arts – it is nice to have those options.” He now leads private bus tours for his friends and neighbors at The Tamalpais, lending insider information about the history and facts around the Bay Area.

Ready to see the award-winning community hundreds of residents call home? We invited you to schedule a visit and see what makes The Tamalpais Marin one of the best CCRCs in the nation.