Jan 28, 2025
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.”
Dec 28, 2024
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.
Dec 28, 2024
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.
Nov 28, 2024
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.”
Oct 28, 2024
Steve Benson, one of Sacramento’s finest and most beloved men’s clothing store owners, died in September from complications of the motor neuron disorder ALS, or Lou Gehrigs’s disease. He was 76.
Steve founded S. Benson & Co. fine men’s clothing in 1995. The East Sac shop was a high-end boutique with exceptional style and inventory.
Treasured for his old-school service, Steve was expert at custom-fitting clients or helping choose ready-to-wear apparel. Fathers and sons became generational clients.
Oct 28, 2024
Curtis Popp is a residential interior architectural designer. Over two decades, he established a reputation as a talented, creative and sought-after home design consultant.
Along the way, he found a side project, his family’s unconventional tri-level Land Park residence.
Popp grew up in Land Park. He and wife Sue, a nurse, were raising their two children there in a small, traditional house on Perkins Way.
But the interior designer couldn’t stop thinking about the nearby tri-level.
“One day, in the middle of the Great Recession, I saw a For Sale sign spring up on it,” Popp says. “The timing wasn’t good. And it took several visits to get Sue interested because the house at that time looked nothing like it does today.”
