Open House

From the street, little is revealed beyond a tree canopy and a cinder block wall along the sidewalk. Sculptural shapes rise above the wall, offering a tantalizing preview of the art, architecture and gardens within.

At 90, Gerald Walburg is an acclaimed artist best known for monumental metal sculptures, including the 50-year-old “Indo Arch” Downtown. His career is defined by strength, precision and experimentation—qualities evident in the remarkable collection of homes, studios and gardens he created in East Sacramento.

When Elise and Bryan Fandrich first walked their 2.5-acre Rosemont property in February 2021, winter transformed the landscape into a lush retreat. Heritage oaks, hundreds of years old, towered overhead.

“I remember looking up at those trees and feeling so humbled and awed,” Elise says. “We feel extremely privileged to live here and maintain a sense of responsibility to steward this home and property for the next generation.”

The couple bought the property in March 2021, during the pandemic. They wanted more space and quiet for their family, plus a connection to the natural worlds they experienced growing up. Elise was raised in Carmichael. Her husband grew up on a large property in Oregon.

When Tommy and Susan Poirier began thinking about the next chapter of their lives, they didn’t go searching for a smaller house. They wanted a different way to live.

For more than two decades, the couple lived on a sprawling property in Carmichael. Filled with gardens, the homestead stretched for nearly an acre. It was meant to be their forever place.

But time found a way to reshape their priorities.

“As the kids grew up and moved away, the house just became too much,” Susan says. “We loved it, but there comes a point where you realize you’re taking care of the property more than enjoying it.”

In the quiet, tree-lined streets of Sierra Oaks, trust attorney Mark Drobny created the kind of home he envisioned for this chapter of his life: modern and minimalist, designed for solitude and celebration.
“It’s a refuge,” Drobny says. “I wanted a place where I could come home from work every night and completely unwind.”

The 4,500-square-foot residence, completed a little over a year ago, feels both expansive and deeply personal.

Natural light floods nearly every room through oversized windows and soaring expanses of glass. A dramatic glass-paneled front door offers an uninterrupted sightline through the living space to the sparkling pool beyond, establishing the home’s clean architectural lines and indoor-outdoor connection.

Elizabeth Valentina was in college four decades ago when she saw the canopied stretch of Fair Oaks Boulevard. Here, she imagined, is my future home.

“I thought, someday I’m living on this stretch,” she says.

Valentina married, raised two sons in Fair Oaks and became a single mom after a divorce. With her boys preparing for Jesuit High School, she wanted a home closer to the tree-lined boulevard from her college memories.

But this house was far from perfect.