Home Tour, part 1

We were very honored to be part of the College Neighborhoods Home Tour 2013. The theme was "Courtyards, Canyons and Classics: Celebrating El Cerrito's Indoor/Outdoor Suburban Lifestyle." My mom came and took the kids to a hotel for 2 nights so the house was actually clean for more than an hour or two, so in celebration, we would like to take you on a house tour (part 1).



Here in the corner of the front yard we added this low stucco wall partially obscuring our garden beds. Behind the boys is a pomegranate tree and you can see one of our 5 rain collecting barrel at the corner of the driveway.

We were house number 4 on the tour of 5 homes. The "Kahn/Fogerty House" was built in 1937 by local contractor Alexander Schreiber (a builder who built homes in Mission Hills and North and South Park as well). The permit cost was $4000. The historian listed our house as originally 900 square feet, but we are pretty sure all 1,268 square feet are original. The first owners were in the jewelry business. The second owners lived here into the 1990s. Then all went downhill from there and this house became the scary house on the block before being purchased by an investor and eventually lost in foreclosure before we purchased it in 2009.

The garden beds with spigot were added in 2011-2012. The neighbor kids like to come over and play in our yard. 

The courtyard was primarily dying grass, 2 small palm trees, and 2 small jasmine plants when we moved in. I dug out the grass and planted naked ladies (bulbs) I found hiding in the grass, a lime tree, roses, herbs, Easter lilies, and many other flowers and herbs. Mr. Burli placed the flagstone here in 2012.



The red painted concrete (which is common to our neighborhood and others in older parts of San Diego) leads you to the front door, which we painted blue.

I am missing a picture of the entryway (see part 2), but you can step down into the living room to the left. The rug is from Turkey, the media console is from a New Orleans company, probably made in the 1930s.

The view from the other side of the living room. The oil pastel drawing is "prisoner art" made by a prisoner on death row (and purchased at a thrift store).

The built-in bookcase is original to the house. Mr. Burli made the Morris chair for me in 2009/2010.

Moving back up through the entryway you come to the dining room. The cove lighting is original to the house and the stepped-doorway to the kitchen used to be a small rectangular doorway. Mr. Burli enlarged it and added the decorative steps to match those at the entryway.



The kitchen is a narrow galley with a small breakfast nook (once a separate room - where the beam is there would have been a wall) at one end. We replaced the tile floor with Marmoleum tiles in 2010. The nook is now my office and the homework station. I added a bench seat along the one wall for storage and eventually think it would be fun to have the bench seat wrap under the window and replace the green table with a marble tulip table. (But then again, that wouldn't be practical for homework!)

Looking west in the kitchen you see the passage into the laundry area (once a narrow doorway, too, but Mr. Burli opened it up and added the steps at the top again, removed all the cupboards, rearranged the plumbing and added a butcher block counter over the washer and dryer) and the door leading onto the deck.

Moving back into the dining room and heading into the hallway, you get a first glimpse of our family bathroom.

If you go to the right you end up in the baby/guest room. The futon from Ikea is small but serves its purpose.

The crib is a simple crib from Ikea and Mr. Burli made the changing table/bookcase when our oldest, JT, was born in 2005.

The family bath used to be cramped and dingy. Now it is open and bright. Mr. Burli did most of the work himself with a little help from a plumber, tiler and our stucco guys.  

 

The pocket door also helps keep the space from feeling crowded. To the left of the bath is the boys' room.

Only the gren roman shades from my original plan are missing and substitute white shades take their place. (A slight mishap - I tried to make them myself and realized that the glue showed through. I might give it another try later.)

Mr. Burli made the boys' bunkbed in 2011, the bookshelf is an old Ikea item and the desk was a hand-me-down marked "free" in a neighbor's driveway.
No tour would be complete without the deck (completed in 2010) - this was the day after the tour! We had over 100 visitors and then we had a BBQ for some neighbors that evening.

Stay tuned for part 2: the entryway, our bedroom and bath, the chickens and their coop and maybe some before and after pictures.
We hope you enjoyed visiting us!