Told Oldham's New Project

Todd Oldham is awesome! His children's art line is fun, high quality, and being sold in Target! This is such an exciting way for kids to express themselves.

Interested in reading more?

50 Reasons to Love the U.S.A. Now

 The West & Southwest

How energy efficient is your home?

Butter and Egg Days Parade

in downtown Petaluma this Saturday; Antique Faire on Sunday!

Would you live in an IKEA designed community?

Inter IKEA Holding Services, is building Strand East, an entire community in Stratford, East London. Rebuilding in what is an abandoned industrial area, the site is just south of the Olympic Park, where the this year’s summer Olympics will be held. Unfortunately, it won’t be ready for those heading out to watch the summer games. Construction on the 26 acre development is set to begin in 2013 and will take 5 years to complete. Future IKEA residents will live in 1,200 residences, of which 40% will have 3+ bedrooms, built around offices, shops, restaurants, schools, and health care facilities to eliminate the need to hop into a car.

http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/04/16/would-you-live-in-an-ikea-designed-community/

Sunset Breezehouse Factory Preview April 21st, 2012

Please join us Saturday, April 21st at our factory for an exclusive sneak peek at the Sunset Breezehouse. We are very proud to have been selected to build this year’s Sunset Idea House and we can’t wait to show it to you! At the factory event, we will take you behind the scenes to see the home’s precision-engineered construction up close and to meet with Sunset editors, designers, and Blu Homes architects.

When: April 21, 1-3 pm

Where: Vallejo, CA

RSVP TODAY

Considering Remodeling?

Budgeting for a large remodeling project presents a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem: Homeowners won't have a feel for the cost until they get bids from contractors.

But unless the homeowner give the contractors a ballpark figure from the start, the contractors will have to guess at what to include in their bids -- and they'll come back with a huge range of prices for very different plans.

To solve this problem, homeowners should start by finding the average costs. When insurance companies need to pinpoint construction costs, they multiply the length by the width of the space and then multiply that by the project's typical cost per square foot. Estimators who provide such data to claims adjusters and contractors use the following averages for cost-per-square foot: Kitchen, $174; Powder room, $133; Master bathroom, $160; and Family room, $92.

Next, homeowners should tweak the costs to fit the scope of the project. The numbers above are for complete remodels, meaning the room is demolished right down to the framing and rebuilt. With a less involved project, reduce the number by about 30 percent. For a cosmetic update, as in fresh paint on the cabinets plus new lighting and hardware, reduce it by about 60 percent.

Wine Country Open House Sunday 1-4pm

What Does Warren Buffet Think About Buying A Home?

Warren Buffet is seen by many as the greatest investor of our time. When he speaks, people listen. Like anyone else in his position of influence, he is criticized by some for using his bullhorn to promote his own business agendas at times. That makes it very interesting when we occasionally learn of how he privately advises those closest to him.

The greatest investor of the last century privately has told the people closest to him that buying a home right now “will be the best opportunity in [their] lifetime”.

The Golden City

Odyssey is all about olives

As part of the annual Season of the Olive, Olive Odyssey will celebrate the salty fruit with a weekend of activities at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. The event is set for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18 and 19, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Experience the olive in old-world style with host Don “The Olive Guy” Landis and a gathering of olive enthusiasts at an Olive Odyssey. Olive curers offer their unique delicacies and share their curing recipes in the Tuscan courtyard at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. Olive notables and olive tree experts will talk about the fruit and answer questions. The Olive Press will offer tours of the olive mill, tastings of their many flavors and styles of olive oil and open their olive gift shop to browse.

More OLIVE GOODNESS...

Tomorrow is “Jazz on the Menu”

Make your reservations today!

For the second year, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival will present dinner at not one, not two, but 15 local restaurants — with different jazz musicians at each one — all to benefit our Education Programs.

Meal seatings 6 – 9 pm on Thursday, Feb. 2. View all participating restaurants and performing musicians. (Despite what the Press Democrat says, there are no $25 tickets necessary.)

Again, the hot spot will be the After-Party at Costeaux - which the PD’s Chris Smith reports is Tony Bennett’s favorite Healdsburg restaurant – with jazz, wine and desserts. This year tickets are only $10, and are now on sale.

Read more on this page…

Five Housing Trends in Winter 2012

1,2,3,4,5

From A $7 Million View Home To A $4 Million View?

Purchased for $7,000,000 in 2004, the 4,836 square foot home at 333 Belvedere Avenue across the bridge in Belvedere returned to the market in early 2009 listed for $12,900,000. The property had been been refinanced in 2008 with a first mortgage for $4,650,000 and a second for $2,100,000 to which a third for $1,725,000 was added in July 2009.

Reduced to $9,950,000 in December 2009, to $8,950,000 in 2010, and then withdrawn from the market five months ago last asking $7,500,000, the one-time Blanding Estate Carriage House which was "beautifully transformed into one of Belvedere's most prominent view-oriented residences" (according to its Sotheby's listing) sold on the courthouse steps for $4,175,000 last week. But wait, there’s more.

While we can't currently confirm, and perhaps a bit of bravado is in play, if a plugged-in reader's source is correct, the multi-million dollar property "was bought by a neighbor with the intent of demolishing it to clear the view."

Interested in Serving Your Community?

Click here for opportunities to get involved.

Blueprint for a New American Home

Expanding the Spaces a Family Really Uses; More Practical Doesn't Have to Mean Smaller