Open House
Anything’s Possible
Monica Hernandez is proud of her hometown. She went to McClatchy High School, City College and Sacramento State. It’s no coincidence she and husband Kevin Flanagan ended up homeowners in Curtis Park.
Flanagan grew up near Monterey, attended Sac State and returned home after graduation. He met Hernandez a few years later. They were together for eight years before getting married in 2015.
“Our first house was much smaller and located in the Med Center neighborhood of Oak Park,” Hernandez says. “The house was built in 1914, and we took on many ‘old home’ projects as do-it-yourselfers in the 11 years we lived there.”
But the couple had grander plans.
Boulevard Perfect
When Jennifer Tornatore and Eric Knutson married in 2003, seven years after joining households, they lived in a ranch-style home in Point Richmond. “Eric came as a package with two young sons, so we had a family-friendly home in a good school district,” Tornatore says. “But the home was uninspiring.”
Tornatore, an account executive with Uber, comes from the Sacramento suburbs. Knutson, an architect, grew up in the Bay Area. His design specialty is high-end residential, smaller commercials and multifamily homes.
In Sync
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.
Satisfied Clients
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.”
Midtown Magic
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.
Museum Quality
Thirty-eight years and four remodeling projects later, Jim and Ann Tracy still live in the home they purchased in 1988.
Back then, with one child and another on the way, the P Street vintage home in East Sacramento seemed like a good choice. The corner location had two bedrooms, one bath and a generous attic with a steep pitched roof.
It also had a separate garage. “Although the garage wasn’t built to code and was literally falling down,” says Jim, retired chief financial officer for SMUD.
“We started progressively going through and eventually we remodeled everything in the house. It totaled four major projects over the years.”