Master glassblower Alex Leader squints into a furnace that holds a crucible of 2,000-degree molten glass as blankets of heat escape into the already sticky-hot studio. He scoops out a glowing mass of the melted silica, soda and lime, and with a long blowpipe and torch, uses his breath to create beauty.

Vases, stemware and light fixtures transform people’s homes and are the hallmark of his artistry at Leaderglass, the company Leader founded in Sonoma with a calling card that meshes his name and his profession. It also reflects his restraint, as he resisted the temptation to add the tagline, “the leader in glass.”

“I like to think I’m a little more humble than that,” said Leader, whose latest spin in his glassblowing career is giving others the opportunity to experience his craft. “It’s something different to do in Wine Country,” he said of the classes he holds at Leaderglass as an alternative to wine tasting. Since 2011, more than 600 people, many of them tourists, have taken a class. Some have had private, two-hour sessions with Leader ($150); others pay $50 for one hour and help from the master in producing their own paperweight.

“I haven’t turned anyone into a glassblower,” Leader said, “but they come in and have fun and experience something new. Watching an expert glassblower makes it look very easy, but by the time people are done with the class, they know it’s really difficult.”

Leader has to help people finish their pieces, but everyone realizes it’s not something to be learned in a day. He does have a few students taking a series of classes. They can be team-building exercises or corporate events, and he’s taught small groups from Google and Genentech. Dinner parties have even been held in his hot shop, as it’s called, while he blows glass as the entertainment.

Stepping out of the sweltering studio into the dim office he calls his cave, Leader said that 17 years ago he and his wife, Lillian, came to Sonoma from New Jersey with their young son, Che, following a glassblowing job offer and the clichéd California dream. They fell in love with the Valley of the Moon and decided it was the place to raise their family, which now includes a 10-year-old daughter, Raven.

“I was a kid with a whim,” said Leader, 41, of his passion to become a glassblower. An excellent student in high school in New Jersey, he entered Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire with a leaning toward history and no real notion of what he wanted to do with his life. It was there he was exposed to glassblowing, and Leader eventually left college and took a job as an assistant to a glassblower, which is the centuries-old tradition for learning the trade.

While selling handmade glass he helped create for Belle Mead Hot Glass at a wholesale show in Philadelphia, he met Sonoma glassblower Frank Cavaz, owner of Bacchus Glass, and took him up on his job offer. Although Leader now has his own company, he continues to share space and furnaces with Cavaz.

Leader likes to make art objects that homeowners will use and enjoy. He sells ornate, signed, stemmed wineglasses for $50 each, and hopes people drink from them rather than simply displaying them on a shelf.

“We commissioned him because he was great to work with and extraordinarily gifted,” said Sonoma homeowner Chip Romer, who has an elaborate dining room chandelier and four sconces in his living room that were made by Leader. “He got the colors right and the shape was exactly what we wanted. He was happy to collaborate with my creative vision, which is really gratifying when working with an artist.”

Leader makes special orders, and is proud that the trophies presented to the winners at NASCAR races at Sonoma Raceway are his creations. Recently he was commissioned by Sonoma Valley Hospital to produce large oak leaves of blown glass, which will be part of a permanent art installation in the hospital’s new emergency center. He also made small commemorative oak leaves as gifts for major donors to the hospital’s new building.

As beautiful as his works are, there are hazards in producing them.

“I burn and cut myself all the time,” Leader said, although never seriously, and after 23 years he has no permanent scars. He loves that there is a 2,000-year history to glassblowing, an art most famous in Italy with its acclaimed Venetian glass. “In the last 50 years, it’s been artist to artist,” he said, explaining how one learns. “I’ve never taken a glassblowing class. No formal training, only on the job.”

Leader is a huge admirer of Seattle’s Dale Chihuly, who started the studio art glass movement in the 1970s and whom he credits with reviving glassblowing in the United States.

“From Colonial times up until World War II, glassmaking was a huge business here,” he said, mentioning Libbey Glass and the makers of Carnival glass, who largely relocated production overseas. “And then came plastic, and glass seemed impractical when you had this new material that didn’t break. We joke that Tupperware killed the glass industry.”

A new niche Leader is creating is making decanters and wineglasses out of wine bottles, a very difficult and specialized technique.

“Glass hardens very quickly, and glass re-melted from a bottle hardens even faster, making it even more difficult to work with,” he said of the glasses that will be sold in the tasting rooms of several wineries, including Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards and Roche Winery, both in Sonoma.

“I live in the Wine Country and I make glasses. Glassmaking and winemaking, they are totally connected,” Leader said of his creative life lived surrounded by vineyards, a lifestyle he never intends to leave.

Wake up just after sunrise to a melody of birds and soft light splashing across glistening hardwood floors. The air is crisp and fragrant, with subtle scents of the sea. Step outside and stroll the woods and pastures, and along the Tomales Bay shoreline. Take deep, invigorating breaths.

Back inside, brew a cup of espresso or organic tea, nestle deep into luxe linens and flip on the 50-inch flat-screen TV. Tickle the ivories on the Steinway, peruse the library of cookbooks and games, and plan a dinner menu to be prepared in the well-stocked kitchen or on the grill outside. Or call a private chef to take care of the meal.

Sound like paradise? Then the Straus Home Ranch, long a private West Marin residence recently renovated as a vacation rental, is the place for you. It’s a 19th-century farmhouse, but one that has been polished to a beautiful sheen.

The property has been in the Straus family since 1941, when Bill and Ellen Straus purchased 160 acres next to Tomales Bay in the tiny hamlet of Marshall. At the time, there were several buildings on the property, including the main house, built in 1864 by Jeremiah Ladd Blake, a colorful character who was a farmer, artist, saddle maker and poet.

Bill and Ellen bought the property from the Blake family, and a few years later added a second parcel less than

a mile away. They started a small dairy, with 32 cows, on the original land and moved it to the newer property in 1950. For the next several decades, the Strauses raised their four children and tended their dairy in the pristine countryside, now protected by the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which Ellen co-founded.

In certain ways, the rest is familiar history: Straus Family Creamery, founded by the couple’s son, Albert, in 1994, is widely known for its premium organic dairy products, including milk, cream, yogurt, sour cream, butter and ice cream.

With the opening of the home ranch to visitors, another part of the land’s story can be told.

When their parents died in the early 2000s, the Straus siblings divided the holdings, with Albert keeping the dairy and creamery. His siblings, Miriam, Vivien and Michael, kept the home ranch. For a decade or so, the family home was rented to long-term tenants. In 2012, the siblings decided to turn it into a vacation rental, welcoming their first guests in 2014: Japanese visitors who came to study organic and sustainable farming.

“We had to race to get it done in time for their visit,” Michael Straus said of the restoration that took place during the first half of 2014.

Henry and Irene Haupt of Petaluma did the restoration, working on the exterior and interior. “It was pretty run-down when we started,” Irene said, “and we had to remove old wallpaper and paint inside and out.”

The Haupts also added a railing to the downstairs porch. The upstairs wraparound porch already had a railing, so Henry crafted a matching one, using old redwood. The downstairs railing matches the upstairs railing so perfectly that it looks as if it had always been there. Whenever anything needed to be replaced, Henry would match the wood, produce the piece in his Petaluma workshop, and install it in a way that honored the integrity of the original structure.

Vivien Straus, who lives in Petaluma, chose a palette that is soft and muted, with cream-colored walls and off-white trim. At certain times of the day, the house takes on a warm, buttery glow.

Darrel DeBoer, a family friend and architect who also builds furniture, used local wood to craft a dining table and bench, kitchen island, picnic table and more.

In the barn, he found pieces of redwood and used them to make the spectacular table for the dining room. He used California bay from his own land in El Sobrante in Contra Costa County for the bench.

Bay does not grow straight, but rather twists and turns in response to its environment. It is typically dismissed for furniture, yet if it’s milled and the pieces clamped together, it dries straight and becomes a gorgeous piece of wood. DeBoer also embraces other local hardwoods, including cedar, madrone and live oak.

A dead cedar tree from El Cerrito, with beautiful knots and a soft yellow hue, became a two-tiered island in the fully renovated kitchen, the only room to undergo structural changes. For a picnic table, DeBoer used lumber discards, Douglas fir that is typically used for framing houses. Six-foot lengths, unsuitable for framing, are perfect for tables. The trick was in the finish.

“Think about it like a boat if you want it to last,” he said. “If you don’t, it won’t have a long life. If you do, it will last a very long time.”

DeBoer was particularly inspired by a piece of redwood he found on the Straus ranch, a long, 2-foot-wide board.

“Finding 2-foot-wide redwood is impossible today,” he said. “Cows had been walking on this for a hundred years and all I had to do was hang it on the wall, step back and stare at it.” Now it’s a desk in an upstairs bedroom.

Stacy Lauer, who lives in another house on the property, shaped the interior design of the 4-bedroom, 2-bath home.

“I wanted to honor the history and spirit of the house,” she explained, “and focus on comfort, function and simplicity. It’s not really vintage, but it’s not modern.” She, too, worked with a muted palette, with white, off-white, soft cream, beautiful grays and rich, earthy browns. With a limited budget, she indulged where it mattered most.

“I went very high-end with bed linens,” she said, “and because we had to stay with white, I used a lot of textures.”

Decor came from Crate & Barrel and Ikea on the low end, and Matteo Linens of Los Angeles on the high end.

Lauer is a pastry chef and caterer by trade and will provide chef services by advance arrangement for guests at the home ranch.

Not much was needed to enhance the landscaping, as there is so much natural beauty on the property. Some of the acreage is leased to ranchers for grazing heifers and for organic silage production. There’s a large hay barn painted red, a rental home and several other small farm buildings.

Another Straus family friend, landscaper Daphne Edwards of Berkeley, added some lush yet drought-tolerant plants that blend beautifully with the natural environment.

One of Michael Straus’ more vivid memories of his childhood at the ranch are the magical winters, when he loved playing outside in the rain. “And sometimes I’d just sit on a big rock on the tiny beach near the front of the house and watch the bay and the amazing sunsets,” he said.

Now that the Straus family welcomes guests to the old farmhouse, others can make their own winter memories there. Watch the bay and the sunset, or let the occasional storm make staying inside all the cozier and more comforting.

Snuggle deep into that down jacket against the chill of a January morning. Zip that rain gear tight up to your chin against the soaking rains of February. Now look at the label. Does it say Marmot? Then you’re wearing local.

One of the country’s most beloved makers of outdoor wear and gear is located right here in Sonoma County. Twenty-five years ago, Marmot moved from Colorado to Santa Rosa, and in 2012 relocated to two warehouse-like office buildings in Rohnert Park. The larger facility houses Marmot’s offices; the smaller one is used for manufacturing the company’s extreme-weather sleeping bags, which will keep you warm when it’s 20 degrees below zero outside.

It rarely gets that cold in Sonoma, yet Marmot president Mark Martin said this is the ideal location for an outdoor company that focuses on sustainability.

“It’s certainly a beautiful location, and it’s an incredible place in terms of attracting employees from outside the area,” Martin said. “We are committed to Sonoma County, and we think we tell a pretty good story for Sonoma County when we bring people here and showcase not only the beauty of the land but also the access to activities, whether it be Annadel or going to the coast.”

Although there are no retail sales at Marmot’s headquarters, walking in feels almost like being in an REI store. There are racks and hanging clothes: “We can showcase the products the way customers experience them and show how the products go together,” Martin said. The space is used as a showroom for vendors interested in purchasing Marmot gear, including sleeping bags, clothing, hats, gloves and shoes.

Martin, 52, tall and lanky with the easy movements of an experienced hiker, said the corporate headquarters wasn’t built for Marmot, but that the construction and design fit the company to a T. The floors are concrete, exposed steel girders support the high ceilings, and the building has a rugged, industrial feel.

The product flow runs from the open-layout design department, where large boards show current trends in color and functionality, to a room with lifesize form models where two-dimensional concepts become three-dimensional garments or gear.

In autumn of 2014, the designers were already working on concepts for spring 2016, studying color palettes and lifestyle design trends. Martin said that one of the fastest-growing segment is the everyday outdoor category, a far cry from the extreme gear the company focused on when it began in 1974.

Evan Saunders, a sales associate who has worked at Sonoma Outfitters for seven years, said Marmot’s designs are innovative as well as durable. “They don’t just build the same thing year after year. They don’t just put out a new color for the same vest.”

Athletes seek out Marmot gear because it’s reliable in harsh conditions, such as winter in the Sierra, he said; what sets Marmot apart from its competitors is its choice of materials, such as a “power-stretch fleece,” and its unrelenting drive to keep improving its products.

“It’s their attention to detail, from how they do their thumbholes to adding fleece-lined pockets” that keep hands warm, he said. “They design with a purpose.”

Marmot products are guaranteed for life, which is in sync with Sonoma’s environmental ethic, Martin said, noting that less than a quarter of 1 percent of products ever need repair.

“There are a lot of downstream benefits from a sustainability standpoint: You’re not having to go out and buy products (repeatedly), so we reduce waste,” he said. “People want to be part of the brand that has products that continue to last over time, and if we have to replace them there is a cost exposure, so we make damn sure that those products perform.”

Most of Marmot’s manufacturing is done in Asia, but Martin said cost savings isn’t the main reason the work is done overseas. “The reason we work with our factory partners outside the United States is for quality and technical innovation.”

But its highest-quality sleeping bags, the ones rated at zero degrees or below, are made in Rohnert Park.

“Where you have life-threatening conditions, those are the products that we still make here,” Martin said. He noted the down the company uses is certified as not being from force-fed geese and not being live-plucked. The down comes from geese and ducks slaughtered for food.

In the Rohnert Park warehouse, a computer measures the amount of down that goes into each baffle of a sleeping bag, then workers sew up the baffles and hit the bags with whiffle bats to evenly distribute the down.

The company, part of publicly traded Jarden Corp., based in Rye, N.Y., has about $200 million in annual sales and uses some of its revenue to support community endeavors, such as Russian Riverkeeper, which works to preserve the health of the Russian River.

Martin said Marmot is poised for another stage of growth.

“We are at an inflection point with the brand becoming better-known,” he said. “We are sold in 57 countries now. We are a global brand, we have a dedicated group of core users who know and love the brand, but we are in the process of introducing Marmot … to a broader audience.”

It’s a far cry from Marmot’s early history. UC Santa Cruz students Eric Reynolds and David Huntley, avid mountain climbers, began making prototypes of down-filled winter wear and sleeping bags in their dorm room. In 1974, they founded Marmot, named for the large ground squirrel that lives at high elevations. They won a contract to make 108 puffy jackets for the Clint Eastwood movie, “The Eiger Sanction,” and were on their way.

Before relocating to Sonoma in 1989, Marmot had its own factory in Colorado, and it almost “caused the company to go out of business,” based on labor costs and quality issues, Martin said.

Jarden Corp. acquired the company in 2007, and Marmot is now “nicely profitable,” Martin said. “We’re better than where we used to be, but we’re not where we want to be yet.”