Sunday Open Homes~~Berkeley and Oakland

For Sunday March 1st, 2009

I am at 6851 Aitken in Montclair, Oakland. It's supposed to be a torrential downpour, so I'm not sure who will visit, but I will be there from 2-4:30pm.

Happy house hunting in the rain!

Just for fun check out the Maybeck cottage at 1471 La Loma. This space was originally designed by Bernard Maybeck to house his Packard, back when La Loma was a country lane. Also up 100 and something steps is a cottage way up on Panoramic, above the UC Berkeley Stadium. Very interesting historically, but not much to live in!

Number 10 Buckeye in Upper Rockridge and 7030 Broadway Terrace are my picks of tour for this week!

Best,

Nicole

Historic Berkeley Cottages

Up you go!
Up the garden path, to the
weather beaten wood paneled cottage.
Original Craftsman hand painted beams, are the central feature in this three room home.

Almost out of time, you can imagine Virginia Woolf on a visit to Berkeley, enjoying this rustic cottage, an excellent example of, "A Room of One's Own."

Then back into time, down 100-something steps, following the garden path you go.

Rainy Day Gardens

All this rain has me thinking about my garden.

This year I'm dreaming of huge pumpkins to sit on the front porch this fall. Crazy shapes and rich orange colors. My son carefully turning them towards the sun.

I will plant tomatoes, zucchini, hot peppers and tomotillos, lavender for the bees and honeysuckle for the hummingbirds.

Bay Friendly Gardens and UC Berkeley/urban gardens both recommend bee-friendly plants and drought tolerant California natives perfect for planting this season.

Drought Conditions Reinvigorate the Greywater Debate in Berkeley

Drought Conditions Reinvigorate the Greywater Debate in Berkeley

Greywater:
Waste water from lavatories, showers, baths and sinks only. This water can be stored in special equipment and may then be used to water lawns, gardens or other relatively benign non-potable uses such as groundwater recharge. Water from toilets is called black water; it must be properly drained to the sewer or septic system.

It makes so much sence to re-use the mostly clean water from hand washing in bathrooms and from the kitchen sink, but getting a working plan through the City permitting process can be tricky business. This has caused a water underground to form, that eschews the permitting process altogether, which has inadvertantly contributed to the problem of non-cooperation in the planning department. Concern over renegade greywater contamination is one of the strongest arguements against making greywater systems simple and widely available to average consumers. If you get the chance, tell your city councel person that you are in favor of greywater and you vote!

Safety tips for using greywater:
1. Use greywater from bathroom sinks, tubs, showers, and washing machines and avoid greywater from kitchen sinks, dishwashers, and toilets.

2. Don’t use liquid fabric softener or harsh detergents. Look for biodegradable, low-sodium detergents without phosphates, brighteners, boron, borax, enzymes or bleach. You can find Oasis biocompatible soaps at Berkeley Bowl.

3. Avoid storing greywater.

4. Apply greywater directly to the soil, not by spraying.

5. Root crops that are eaten uncooked should not be irrigated with greywater.

6. Don’t use greywater on young plants or plants that like acidic conditions.

7. Water from laundry that includes diapers should not be used.

8. Don’t use greywater when members of the household have a communicable disease such as staph or hepatitis.

Bee Friendly Gardens

What Are They and Why Should We Care?

There are over 87 species of wild bees in and around Berkeley. These are not even the hiving bees that we are familiar with but bees that live singly in old wood and other wild places they can find to shelter.

These bees are the workhorses of food pollination. Many people have heard of the large scale honey bee colapse but don't realize that just by planting California Native plants in their gardens they can sustain dozens of species of wild bees right here in town.

With drought conditions being what they are, planting soil appropriate, sun appropriate plants are more important than ever and will provide habitat for hummingbirds, bees, and other flying creatures.

Consult the list of hundred's of flowering plants that are attractive to bees at the UC Berkeley Website.

The Grubb Company Promotes Green Real Estate

The National Association of Realtors is (finally) Going Green!

I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that my new brokerage, The GRUBB Company promotes Green Real Estate with it's agents and clients. Our Broker, John Karney is a marine biologist by training and is well founded in the science of global warming. Coming from a scientific background, he is wary of Green-Washing and I felt myself heaving a sigh of relief when I saw the intelligence with which the topic of "Green Real Estate" has been addressed in our office.

The new Green Certification offered by NAR is a big step in the right direction for creating awareness with Realtors and I am looking forward to adding that certification to my Build it Green designation.

There has been an emphasis in green building of consumerism. Just replace that old thing with the new, new green technology. This is great when we are talking toilets and refrigerators, but I just want to point out replacement should not always be the first line in our green arsenal.

Shopping, remodeling, new foundations... none of them are as green as doing nothing, but they might be safer and more beautiful!

Being green can take a lot of research, so don't let yourself get Green-Washed!

I Moved to The GRUBB Company

Hello!

I recently moved to The GRUBB Company from Prudential. The reason why is that the GRUBB Company has a stronger market presence in the areas that I work. Through this relationship, I will know about more listings coming up, more quickly, and be able to provide that information to you. In many cases, before the home actually hits the market. If this email sounds a bit heavy on the sales side, I don't mean to, but it's actually true.

I would love to work with you and get to know what your needs are in your new home!


Best regards,

Nicole

Another Poetry Quote...

Let us remember…that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both.

Christian Wiman, Editor, Poetry Magazine