Exploring The Elmwood, Berkeley

Check out the activities and community involvement at
Lululemon Athletica!

Run with them on Wednesday afternoon!

East Bay Leed Certified Barn Renovation, Moraga, CA

Long before I was in real estate and before I understood what I now consider the horrible loss of ancient buildings, I have dreamed of renovating an old barn for my home.

My idea was an open living space with a stone hearth built into the center of it. Unstructured rooms would mean that the kitchen flowed into the family/dining room and the bedrooms I had planned, would be in lofts on either end of the building, joined by long halls that connected the lofts on each side, overlooking the living space. Lining the halls I planned built in bookshelves and a cozy chair for curling up with a good book. The loss in privacy, I calculated, would be more than be made up for with by creativity the open space would allow.

Since then, I have read about the alarming rate at which these dilapidated buildings have been struck down in favor of something new, that doesn't need retrofitting. The New York Times article I Googled today, said, "No farm, no barn," and unfortunately that seems to be the case. Where farms have made way for development, the old outbuildings have been struck from the landscape. I am still hoping to do my barn renovation, but I am crossing my fingers that there will be a barn left to renovate.

A colleague of mine Chris Avant from Canyon Construction has done just this type of renovation with the Moraga Barn, in Moraga California, built in 1914. Having the distinction of being the oldest building in Moraga, it served as a train station, an hotel and a bar. Today it is the headquarters of Canyon Construction and through the renovation it was planned and designed to achieve LEED Platinum Rating.

The Moraga Barn uses renewable energy, salvaged materials, offerers state of the art water efficiency, provides heating and cooling efficiency, and features low and no VOC products in the interior to improve indoor air quality for it's end users. With it's original footprint, The Barn looks much the same as it had when it was new, but provides another generation of users an ideal work and play space. The owner, Chris Avant, has plans to house a wine bar in the ground floor with his offices upstairs.

For more information about Canyon Construction visit their Website.

Mid-Century Modern Berkeley Home

Mid-Century Modern Berkeley Home... The details

Modern Treatments for Fireboxes and Hearths

Modern Treatments for
Fireboxes and Hearths

Berkeley's Love Hate Relationship with the Fireplace

A Hearth is a Home

Our love of fireplaces, hearths and mantles is deep and ancient. If we have fire we can keep warm, we can make bread, we can care for our loved ones. I rarely find a home buyer that doesn't require a hearth in the living room. "Oh, I don't plan on burning wood in it, I just want it!"

Hearth and Heart both derive meaning from the Old English root hoerte, and we just don't want to move our families into a home without a heart.

So even though wood burning fireplaces are not green at all, and they are put greenhouse gasses into our air, we can't seem to live without them. Actually, I feel the same way, but love the look of lit candles at a range of heights to offer up the glow of a fire without the same carbon level. For best indoor air quality, choose unscented beeswax candles.

Exploring The Elmwood, Berkeley

The Tree House Cont.

Artisan produced, organic, and often local, they also stock world goods that employ women in South America and locations beyond.

Ideal Temescal Craftsman~~Big Price Reduction!

The Sellers at 391 51st Street have taken a terrific price
reduction on their home to $650,000!

Take advantage of the buyer's market to upgrade to a walking neighborhood,
near everything you love to do AND EAT!

With libraries, independent bookshops, a Local Farmer's Market, Bake-Sale Betty, Pizziola
and more, this vibrant neighborhood can keep you busy every day
of the year!