Andy Harris was a pioneer house flipper. By 1988, he was on his third house. He bought them, made repairs and resold for profit.
But he knew the Curtis Park home was special. It was designed by Earl Barnett, the architect who conceived Memorial Auditorium, Sutter Club, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
It was no candidate for flipping.
Mayor Kevin McCarty took a bold step at his first full City Council meeting in December. He voted with five colleagues to fire City Manager Howard Chan.
We don’t know if McCarty led the revolt, or if the list of failures under Chan and former Mayor Darrell Steinberg prompted the council to remove the city’s chief operating officer. Councilmembers offered no explanations other than vague remarks about fresh starts.
There was only the final vote—6–3 against extending Chan’s contract for a ninth year. Rick Jennings, Lisa Kaplan and council newcomer Phil Pluckebaum voted to keep Chan. It would be nice to know the motives of all nine members. Their reasons would be instructive. But we got nothing.
The McKinley Park Tudor started out with a garage. Over the years, the garage gave way to a storage shed. When Theo and Paige Martenis bought the home in 2015, they decided their growing family needed more living space.
The answer was an ADU—accessory dwelling unit. The shed that replaced the garage was replaced by an additional 1,000 square feet of living accommodations.
“We want to have another child,” says Theo, whose daughter Sofia is 4. “We needed a place where family could stay with us and help.”
There was just one big hangup. A giant heritage redwood stood on the lot line with neighbors to the rear. Both households love the tree and wanted it preserved.
The mission to save the redwood was accomplished by architect Dennis Greenbaum and contractor Michael Higgins with MT Higgins Construction.
“We gave the architect the directive to build around the tree,” Theo says. “And we worked diligently with the architect, contractor and an arborist to spare the tree as little trauma as possible.”
Last year’s elections showed city voters are almost divided over how we want municipal leaders to address local challenges.
Mayor Kevin McCarty and Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum both won tight races. They bring fresh perspectives to City Council, along with newly elected Councilmember Roger Dickinson.
Whether your candidate won or lost, we should all hope and pray the new council can tackle the problems facing our city.
The 1937 Spanish Revival-style duplex in Land Park is the perfect place for retired architect Peter Saucerman and his wife Susan Twining.
The house features an owner-occupied unit of 2,200 square feet and another 1,100-square-foot rental. The owner’s side has three bedrooms and two bathrooms on two floors connected with a curving staircase, plus a two-car garage.
Local architect Leonard F. Starks designed the property for himself and his wife Eleanor. One of the city’s most prolific architects, Starks designed the Elks Tower, C.K. McClatchy High School, Downtown Post Office and Alhambra Theatre, the latter demolished but still missed.
Ryan and Heather Filippini go way back. They met as youngsters at St. Anne’s Catholic School in Lodi, followed separate paths to college, got reacquainted in Sacramento and married in 2010.
Now they work mostly from home. Ryan works in real estate. Heather works for a tech support company. East Sac is their base.
“Our first East Sac home was a two-bedroom, one-bath near Bertha Henschel Park,” Ryan says. “We then upgraded to a larger house across the street. We loved our neighbors and our tightknit neighborhood, especially during COVID lockdowns.”
