Jul 28, 2024
Like many couples who meet, marry and combine households in middle age, Elaine Lintecum and Anthony Herrera wanted a new home unique to them.
Lintecum, retired CFO of McClatchy Corporation, and Herrera, a retired state manager, took the challenge and made decisions together.
As a single woman, Lintecum purchased and remodeled a McKinley Park Tudor. Herrera lived in South Natomas. Together, they decided they wanted a one-story house for Herrera’s two dachshunds. Stairs are not a good idea for the sleek low-to-the-ground breed.
They also wanted a home where they could age in place.
The couple toured properties and, in 2006, discovered something unique, a home at 46th and M streets different from other stately homes in the Fab Forties. It was a mid-century modern from 1959, set among large Tudors and Spanish-style designs.
Jul 28, 2024
Basil summons memories of Biba Caggiano, the late Sacramento restaurateur, author and TV personality. Once my basil plants demand a leaf harvest, I revisit Biba’s pesto recipe.
On page 159 of her cookbook “Northern Italian Cooking” is Biba’s pesto sauce recipe. My book page is yellowing and stained with extra virgin olive oil drippings from decades of use.
The recipe barely fills a third of the page, but always exceeds my pesto needs throughout the summer and all winter in my freezer.
Just heed Biba’s wisdom, “If you plan to freeze the sauce, add the cheese after the sauce has thawed.”
Jun 28, 2024
Gardens are sanctuaries, swathed in color, fragrance, creatures and peace. A church garden has more layers. It’s spiritual and steeped in creation.
Fremont Presbyterian Church, a block from Sacramento State University, is perched at the gateway to River Park and East Sac. It sprawls on four acres. One acre is garden beds, borders and open spaces wrapping buildings and parking lots in pleasing hues and textures.
Unrest throughout the world nudges us to seek tranquil environments, like gardens. At Fremont Presbyterian, pastors, the congregation and community are welcome to wander and worship among birds, bees and butterflies. Preschoolers can stroke soft velvety leaves of perennial lamb’s ears.
Jun 28, 2024
Six years ago, working as attorneys at the same Sacramento law firm, Heather and Dan Baxter fell in love. They married and decided to purchase their first home together.
Dan was raised in Carmichael. Heather comes from suburban Southern California. Dan was partial to the Arden-Carmichael area. Heather had been renting in Land Park and loved the tree-lined neighborhood filled with historic homes.
“I had to strongly encourage Dan to consider Land Park,” Heather says. “This neighborhood just was not on his radar.”
May 28, 2024
Buddhist monk Shunryu Suzuki proclaimed, “A garden is never finished.” Ever changing, gardens evolve and aren’t frozen in time. Trees grow, leaves fall, perennials fade, tastes change. Evolution dodges closure.
Michael and Peggy Bachman can appreciate Suzuki’s Zen teachings. Living in the same Carmichael home for 25 years, their front yard is a half-shaved mustache. One side of the garden is stunning. The other is stubble, a weedy, overgrown mess of gardening yin and yang.
What was transformed a year ago is now a neighborhood attraction, a marriage of stone, statuary, tile, a fountain and Mediterranean plants. The design was inspired by a trip to Greece. Michael built the walls and applied his handyman talents to tiling, stucco and concrete work.
May 28, 2024
John Hodgson and Sheila Boxley acquired their new Midtown home almost nine years ago. The builder was Indie Capital known for stylish infill projects.
“We had been looking and saw it on an open house tour,” Hodgson says. “We liked everything about it.”
Previously, the couple owned suburban homes and townhouses. “Then we even lived for a while in a loft unit at 1801 L St.,” he adds.
The new house was built in the center of a Midtown block with alley access to a two-car garage. The lot was 40 by 160 feet. “Nate, the Indie Capital contractor, split the lot to create this home’s footprint,” Hodgson says.
