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Real estate along the Russian River ranges from classic vacation getaways to long stretches of riparian vegetation that borders the miles of vineyards in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. Public access is spotty at best with Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, Steelhead Beach in Forestville, and Memorial Beach in Healdsburg as the best spots for a family to get to the water safely and legally. There are neighborhood beaches, of course, but in practice they belong to the people that live nearby. There are a few opportunities in Guerneville and Rio Nido to acquire river front property today.

Today Charles Brown from CPS showed me around this Guerneville listing on River Road. It’s got almost 750 feet of river frontage and some land in each of LC and K zoning. This large parcel (3+ acres) has most of the land in the flood way and the rest of it in the flood plain. The technical difference is that the flood way has actively moving water that would tend to knock down a building. You can’t build there. The flood plain has standing water which will damage unprotected wood, but doesn’t carry the same risk of impact damage. You can build in those areas if you elevate your home above the 100 year floods. This property would be great for a campground or other recreational activity.

I was looking for a multi-unit building for sale on Morgan Street in Santa Rosa last week when I came across a beautiful round porch. If you’re new to my blog you probably don’t realize that I’m a lover of architectural details in general and round porches in particular. Round porches represent a powerful expression of carpenter art and talent that isn’t matched by many other details. This porch includes a wonderfully constructed curved wall pictured here. Sonoma County real estate includes many round porches, particularly in Healdsburg. Next time you’re walking in your neighborhood, see if you can spot any curved porches or other sweet architectural details. I’d love to hear from you if you find something you love.

Bungalow is an interesting term. Real estate people use it for almost anything small, but it actually comes from Bangalore in India where the colonial English started using it as a term to refer to the residences built for them based on traditional architecture. The key features are single story construction with a wide verandah. There are many more key details that help define the bungalow style.

Bungalows were first built in the late 1800’s and the style remained extremely popular in the first part of the twentieth century. Bungalows in America were a residential expression of the Arts and Crafts movement which in turn was strongly influenced by the Craftsman movement. California set the pace and bungalows became almost synonymous with California.

Most of the cities in Sonoma County have great examples of bungalows. Click on View Listings to see one bungalow for sale in Santa Rosa and three bungalows for sale in Petaluma that I pulled from the MLS today. There were quite a few more listed, but they lacked the “bungalow essence” I wanted to show you. Let me know if you are interested in any of these. I’d be happy to show them to you.

One of my favorite pastimes is planning dream homes on the great Sonoma County properties I get to look at. Real estate is something everybody gets to have opinions about and our Healdsburg Sotheby’s International Realty office is no different than any place else. Some people talk about living a country lifestyle. Others are choosing to build urban refuges with minimal landscaping chores and an easy walk to restaurants. For me, the best places are either exceptional fixers with great potential that I can restore to their original glory or completely raw pieces of property in need of an environmentally sensitive and artistic approach to landscape and construction. This Alexander Valley vineyard listing from Yvonne Horton in my office is a perfect fit for the second type of project.

First of all, the Alexander Valley is a naturally beautiful place. There’s a reason Cyrus Alexander chose it more than 150 years ago for his home and ranch. The Mayacamas mountains on the east provide a dramatic backdrop to the valley floor and the Russian River which winds it’s way south from Cloverale to Healdsburg. The 25 acres of vineyards on the property are on the valley floor which is flat enough to provide easy cultivation on the fertile alluvial soils. Last year production was 105 tons, primarily Chardonnay.

Closer to the river the land turns to a riparian flavor with plenty of willows and other bank holding plants. There was a quarry here at one time and the sand and gravel bars that front the river show ample evidence of the Russian River’s rock moving capability. It’s here, nearer the river, that I would envision a big family compound. A big main house with a country kitchen and party sized great room for friends and family together. There’s plenty of room for kitchen gardens, orchards, chickens and ducks and geese, and all the other small farm livestock that’s fun to have around. There’s room for a pool or a pond, and there’s always the long and private stretches along the Russian River where you can enjoy a naturalist’s holiday.

Sigh…I can’t buy it today. Maybe you can. Here’s some more details

Sebastopol real estate is not noted for whimsy. There are classic farm houses, beautiful bungalows, and plenty of contemporary country estates tucked in among the apple orchards and vineyards. There’s one piece of real estate in Sebastopol, however, that defines whimsy. Florence Street comes alive with a menagerie of creatures that spring from the creative minds of Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurent.

If you are bold enough to live on a street that embraces art and whimsy, I’d be happy to help you find real estate in Sebastopol. Our map search is a great way to see where Sebastopol properties for sale are located in relation to the city.

Some see ruin, failing brick foundation, peeling paint, sagging floors, and throw up their hands in despair. I see classic lines, the pride of the original designer and builder, and the heart of Healdsburg location. I have loved this house since I first saw it twenty years ago, and it has been sad to witness her slow and avoidable deterioration. There has been the occasional paint job slapped on the great lady to hide and slow the aging process, but gravity is working it’s will. Without the prompt intervention of a new owner to repair foundations and roofs, it will be even harder to save her.

On the positive side of the ledger, she is now in the hands of someone who wants to sell. The house is on a very big lot and the potential to subdivide the lot can help underwrite the high initial cost of purchase and rehab. I am eager to help a restoration-minded buyer acquire this landmark property.

The grande dame around the corner on North St is my favorite Healdsburg fixer, but this “white elephant in the rough” ranks right up there as a challenging repair prospect. Several owners have pondered remodel, tear down, new house, refit, and haven’t managed to find the right combination. There are plans for a new house, but I still think lifting the house to create parking underneath and repairing the house could create a great shared housing project. Sadly, almost all of the original detailing is gone on the interior, but the gutting of the house makes it much easier to see what needs to be done and to create an efficient and modern internal floor plan with up to date wiring, plumbing, insulation, etc.

The outside still has some wonderful details and an architectural presence that isn’t timeless, but is solid and genuine. In any case, this is an interesting opportunity for a project as close to the Healdsburg plaza as you are going to find.

My brother Ned builds guitars and was in the area for the Healdsburg guitar show yesterday. I was going to be in Santa Rosa looking at a nice Victorian fixer later, so it made sense to meet downtown. I was looking for an excuse to try a breakfast place in Santa Rosa that was new to me (in business since 1937…), so we met at Arrigoni’s Cafe and had breakfast in their open-to-the-street dining area. I had the house special Arrigoni omelette with Italian sausage, zucchini, scallion and parmesan topped with Mozzarella. Excellent. Ned had a California omelete with avocado, but his real treat was a great piece of baklava that came all the way from Detroit. According to Raja Naber, the friendly owner of Arrgonis, this shredded filo dessert is the best example of baklava in America. I couldn’t disagree.

Arrigonis has a serving counter where you place your order before grabbing a table. You get your coffee and espresso drinks at the counter and your food is brought to you when it’s ready. Our waitress was efficient and friendly with the easy manner that makes Sonoma County dining so comfortable. Overall I was very pleased with my breakfast and am happy to recommend this long time Santa Rosa favorite to everyone.
701 Fourth Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
(707) 545 - 1297

M-F: 7 - 4:30
Sat: 8 - 3:30
Breakfast until 10:30 A.M

9 out of 10 buyers are looking for a house in great, move-in condition. Homes like that sell faster, get a higher price, and obviously save wear and tear on buyers who are probably stressed enough from the move that they don’t need additional headaches. So why do I like the dilapidated houses that are gently known as fixers?

I suppose it comes from my background in construction. I see the sagging roof and the three inch drop in the kitchen floor as interesting challenges rather than show stoppers. I also know how much money is involved in new construction and think the decades of work put into most structures represent building capital that should be conserved. On the other hand, it’s a whole lot easier to start from scratch than to try to work with someone else’s mistakes and the effects of neglect on wooden structures.

I did a quick search on the Sonoma County MLS listings and came across 75 properties in which the listing agents were honest enough to use the term “Fixer”. The best priced fixer in Sonoma County right now is a $99,000 project in Guerneville. What makes this cabin such an interesting opportunity is that the neighboring duplex with good parking and solid foundations is also on the market. There’s work to be done, but it’s hard to find three units on four lots for $400K. Let me know if you’d like more details on this.

At the other end of the spectrum is a <cough> bargain</cough> in downtown Sonoma with the low, low price of $1,145,000. A tear down on .14 of an acre. It’s amazing how much scope the word “Fixer” can provide. All I can take from this contrasting example of a fixer is that location, location, location is still alive and well as the primary driver in real estate values..

We don’t have a lot of old bridges left, at least steel truss bridges that remind me of the Erector Sets I grew up with. There’s one in Guerneville, but so many RV’s got dinged up trying to pass each other that they’ve made it into a pedestrian bridge and created a functional, but un-dramatic concrete replacement. This bridge, the Wohler Bridge, not only represents the engineering past for all of us, but it crosses the Russian River between Healdsburg and Forestville at a particularly beautiful stretch.<More>