For four years, Robert Redford and his wife Sibylle Szaggars lived in a hillside “cottage” in Tiburon, with spectacular views of Angel Island and San Francisco Bay. They enjoyed Tiburon’s restaurants and promenade looking out towards San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, along with the community’s walking paths and “friendly vibe,” Redford once said.
The couple sold the house in December of last year, with Redford saying in an interview that they needed to spend more time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where his artist wife had a gallery and they both ran an arts nonprofit that produces work to promote global conservation efforts.
With news of Redford’s death Tuesday at age 89, several Tiburon residents remembered him as a gracious, unassuming man who liked to walk around town and patronize local restaurants. “Everyone misses him because he was nice and a class act,” a waiter at one of Tiburon’s bayside restaurant’s told the Daily Mail.
Given what these locals told the Daily Mail, it’s probably notable that Redford and Szaggars bought their Tiburon house in 2020. That’s the same year that Redford’s son, James Redford, who lived in nearby Fairfax and who was a filmmaker and activist like his father, died of bile duct cancer at age 58.
While the waiter remembered Redford as kind and friendly, he also said there was “an intense sadness” to him.
“He was one of my best customers and he came weekly,” the waiter said. “Bob, as we called him, would sit at the same round table every week with his wife and friends and he was incredibly gracious.”
But he also said: “Bob talked about how much he missed his son, it was a heartbreaking thing for him.”
Redford had two sons and two daughters with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen. His first son, Scott Anthony, died at just 2 months old of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. James Redford died in October 2020. He was survived by his wife, Kyle Redford, and two children.
According to James Redford’s obituary, his first documentary film was inspired by his experience at age 25, needing a liver transplant after being diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a rare, chronic liver disease. That was the first of two liver transplants he would to save his life. His 1999 HBO film, “The Kindness of Strangers,” celebrated organ donors and recipients by telling their stories. As James Redford said: “A person who chooses to donate their organs gives others life. How amazing is that?”
James Redford continued to make documentary films about climate change, alternative energy and environmental justice — causes he shared with his environmentalist father. James Redford’s final film, produced for PBS’s American Masters series, was about a fellow Bay Area resident, the writer Amy Tan.
In 2018, James Redford’s liver disease returned, his obituary said. But before he could qualify for a new liver, he was diagnosed with cancer of the bile ducts. Treatments were unsuccessful.
James Redford’s “greatest passion was his family.” Perhaps his father and stepmother bought their home in Tiburon to be geographically close to him in the last year of his life and then they wanted to stay close to his wife and children after they died.
In a 2024 email to SFGate, Redford said also that he and his wife “have a long history and great affection for the town of Tiburon.” The nature lovers especially appreciated the easy access to trailheads, waterfront and parks. “We have always loved the fact that one can walk to most places, not only stores and restaurants, but also hiking trails in the nearby open space,” he said.
Another Tiburon acquaintance told the Daily Mail that Redford “walked the trails all the time and knew the name of every flower and plant. He liked the local flora and fauna.” When Redford walked around town, he’d wear a cap and sunglasses, “but everyone knew it was Robert Redford,” said another Tiburon resident. She said he would say hello and wave to locals, though no one would bother him for an autograph.
Redford and Szaggars’ Tiburon home reflected both their desire for privacy and their love of their outdoors. Located at the end of a dirt road and cul-de-sac, the modernist, split-level home had wood-shingle exteriors, huge living room windows, two large decks with bay views and a patio and garden. Szaggars told SFGate that they created a Mediterranean-style garden filled with “water-wise” plants such as lavender, jasmine and succulents. They sold their home in late December 2024 for $4.65 million, about $500,000 above their asking price.
“(Redford) said he loved Tiburon but it was time for a change,” the waiter told the Daily Mail this week. “He said he would come back to visit. Everyone misses him because he was nice and a class act. He was so gracious. We are sad he died.”
Originally Published:
Source link
