Claremont Living Fall 2014

FALL
2014
C
our er i
Claremont
claremont-courier.com
Claremont
Claremonts Padua Hills has a rich and vibrant artistic history/page 4
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Living
Expanded slideshow at claremont-courier.com
Piecing together a dream team
to sell your home/page 10
Pilgrim Place garden enriches the earth/page 18
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10
Home buying and selling tips by Ryan Zimmerman
Buying and selling can be complex, but it doesnt have to be.
Artful homes by Robin Young
Padua Hills has long been known for its artistic history.
It takes a Village by Sarah Torribio
Piecing together a dream team to sell your home.
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18
Sustainable living by Angela Bailey
Pilgrim Place garden enriches earth and lives.
CLAREMONT LIVING/2014 3
RYAN R
ZIMMERMAN R
Z
Perfectly uniting exceptional properties with the buyers who will cherish them.
Ryan is a Claremont native; residing in the city for over 28 years, and is extremely rooted and
knowledgeable about his community and local neighborhoods. Let Ryan use his knowledge of the
area to help guide you to the perfect home. Ryan was awarded Claremont Businessperson of the
Year 2012-2013 by the Claremont Chamber of Commerce and he compiles the COURIERs
monthly Real Estate Snapshot. Check it out to keep current on Claremonts housing market.
Broker Associate, ABR, GRI, SRES, e-Pro. DRE# 01801354.
www.Facebook.com/ClaremontRealEstate
www.RRZimmerman.com
Wheeler
Steffen
Sothebys
INTERNATIONAL REALTY
TheClaremontLife.com
909.447.7707
Ryan@RRZimmerman.com
T
he enclave of Padua Hills was
founded when HH Garner, who,
along with a group of like-mind-
ed friends, purchased over 2000 acres of
land in the northern area of Claremont.
The group incorporated in 1927 as Padua
Hills, Incorporated.
The land at the foot of Mt. San Antonio, better
known as Old Baldy, was named after the city of
Padua, Italy, whose patron saint was St. Anthony and,
like Claremont, was home to higher education.
The corporation members actively promoted the cul-
tural aspects of Claremont. Dramatists formed the
Community Players and performed plays at the home
of HH and Bess Garner. Members involved with the
Colleges and in community affairs felt they could
make part of this land available to those wanting to
build in the hilly area. Their hope of having a commu-
nity center, complete with dining room, a theater for
the Community Players and retail space eventually
found its home on a mesa three miles north of town.
Elevated at 2000 feet, the mesa afforded good air qual-
ity and unsurpassed views of the foothills and valley.
The Padua Hills Theater was designed by
renowned Pasadena architects Marston and
Maybury in the Spanish Mission Revival style. The
olive trees planted in 1887 by early settler Henry
Palmer had by then reached maturity, and a grove of
them sheltered the south side of the dining room.
The theater opened on December 2, 1930, with sold-
out performances and a full dining room. The Pomona
Progress-Bulletin reported this beguiling description:
Nature itself responded to the auspiciousness of the
occasion, bathing the surrounding foothills and moun-
tains in full moonlight, and the valley below, with its
twinkling lights from many communities, was spread
out before the entranced throng who attended. The set-
ting of the beautiful playhouse, on the brow of Olive
Hill, is in itself an inspiration.
The setting was indeed lovely. The elevation ensured
the location didnt suffer the oily smoke emanating
from the smudge pots in the citrus groves below.
Advertisements to sell lots to homebuilders mentioned
this as one of the many advantages to living in Padua
Hills. An ad from a 1950 Claremont COURIER pulled
no punches: Smudge bother you? When it is blackest,
say 7 a.m., drive up to Padua Hills. Try the Kleenex test
on the shrubbery.
By 1931, the Padua Hills property subdivision was
complete. In his book Padua Hill, a Short History,
Lawrence Woodruff writes that the area just around the
theater was reserved for arts and crafts studios and
shops. Below that, the land was zoned for single-fami-
ly residences. Mr. Woodruff has lived in Padua Hills
since 1983, in a home designed by Theodore Criley
and himself. His book came about to preserve the
unique atmosphere of the neighborhood.
City on the hill: Padua Hills design
Photos special to the COURIER
The front view of the Theodore Criley designed home for Albert Stewart seen sometime shortly after its construction in 1947.
View from the home of artists Jean and Arthur
Ames in Padua Hills circa 1950, showing a largely
undeveloped Via Padova along the ridge of Padua
Hills. Photo from Claremont Museum of Art archive.
PADUAHILLS/continues on the next page
Betty Davenport Ford home built in 1952 and designed by her husband Harold H. Ford. A 1968 addition to
the rear of the Ford house included Betty's studio above and Harold's office below.
For many years, the compact, congenial group of
artist, architects and Colleges professors had shared
the same vision for their neighborhood. But as they
began to die out, new residents moving in were
unaware of the vibrant history and rich legacy of
they had just bought into. Mr. Woodruff feared that
history would be lost if not written down. The
Board of Directors of Padua Hills agreed, and new
residents now receive a copy of his book.
The Covenants, Conditions and Retrictions
(CC&Rs) of Padua Hills, Inc. included a preamble
by Mr. Garner stating his belief that there is a place
for the home of great wealth in Padua Hills but we
believe equally that there is a place for the artist, the
craftsman, the scholar who, while his home may be
of moderate cost, will appreciate having it in the
best possible surroundings where he and his friends
can most readily contribute to a rich and varied
community life. Therefore, instead of cost restric-
tions, we provide that Padua Hills Community
Association and Art Jury approve each and every
building to be constructed on the tract. We believe
that this provision will further the harmonious and
attractive development of the tractbe a burden to
no one and act for the best interests of the indi-
vidual lot owner.
In this spirit, Mr. Garner kept up his efforts to
attract people from Claremont and the Claremont
Colleges to build homes along Via Padova below
the theater, often making arrangements to mitigate
costs for new residents. Mr. Garner built his own
home in Padua Hills in 1953, and lived there until
his death at age 95.
Craftsmen, artists and scholars came to settle in
Padua Hills, creating the foundation for what
became a truly golden age for the arts and architec-
ture in southern California. The end of World War
II brought many artisans to the Claremont Colleges
to study under the GI Bill, giving them an opportu-
nity to support their families while completing their
studies and practicing their craft. The CC&Rs of
Padua Hills were of great importance to Mr. Garner,
and he upheld them vigorously for nearly half a
century.
Starting in 1953, local artists held the annual two-
week Padua Hills Art Fiesta. On July 19 of that
year, the Los Angeles Times ran a four-page spread
with the headline Artists Prepare to Welcome
Throngs of Visitors to Padua. And the crowds did
come. There were over 30 artists listed, most rec-
ognized professionals, who sold their work and
interacted with Fiesta patrons about their process.
These days, the Art Fiesta is produced by the
Claremont Museum of Art and will take place this
year on November 3 on the grounds of the Padua
Theater.
4215 Via Padova
Albert & Marion Hoppy Stewart
Albert and Marion Stewart came from New York to
Claremont in 1939 to take positions at the Scripps
College Art Department under Millard Sheets. Mr.
Stewart had studied at the Beaux Arts School in
France and Ms. Stewart had attended Vassar College
and taught weaving while in New York.
Mr. Garner, eager to promote Padua Hills as an art
community, urged the Stewarts to build a home there.
Albert Stewart enlisted local architect Theodore
Criley to design it, and Mr. Garner provided workers
to help build it.
Mr. Criley, being a small-town architect, would
design nearly anything that came to his office. His
plan for the Stewart house demonstrates a wide-rang-
COURIER photos/Steven Felschundneff
Theodore Criley designed this Via Padova home for Albert Stewart in 1947, where he lived until his death in 1965. Jim Coffman and Catherine Fleming currently
own the home, and have added multiple stone sculptures by Mr. Coffman to the front yard.
The dining area is the focal point of the former Albert
Stewart home now owned by longtime Claremont
resident Jim Coffman and his wife Catherine Fleming.
PADUAHILLS
continued from the previous page
Living room of the home of Marion and Albert
Stewart located on Via Padova in 1950. Photo by
Robert C. Cleveland, donated by Pat Stewart
Jump to Claremont Museum of Art.
ing exploration of form and the new ideas that were
being seen in California during this period. The
spaces flowed from inside to outside, and were
arranged according to function instead of being
imposed by the exterior style.
The materials used and the location of the lot great-
ly influenced the design of the house. It sits on a ridge
overlooking the foothills of the San Gabriel
Mountains and demonstrates an artists eye for the
relation of background to foreground. A screened
room attached to the living room provided a transition
between the indoors and outdoors.
The house was built of large, rough bricks and was
capped with a flat wooden roof. The front entry was
extra wide and tall to allow Mr. Stewarts large works
to be taken straight out of his studio. His studio
formed the center of the house, walled with thick con-
crete intended to protect the artwork in case of fire. It
was tested during the Grand Prix fire of 2003, which
damaged the house but left the studio and its contents
unscathed. According to Mr. Stewarts protg Steve
Svenson, local artists helped to rebuild the home after
the Grand Prix fire.
Another notable feature of this property was the
kidney-shaped pool in the backyard. The free-form
shape became an iconic example of 1950s swimming
pools. The design was first intended for a home by
designer Isamu Noguchi in 1935 at a Richard Neutra-
designed house, although the pool was never built.
Mr. Stewarts and Mr. Crileys use of the shape in this
particular case is extremely early.
Sculptor Jim Coffman bought the house in 2010 and
lives there with his wife Catherine Fleming. The home
has seen some changes, most notably the alteration of
the front door placement and entryway. Mr. Stewarts
studio is intact, as is a separate studio built for Ms.
Stewarts use in 1947, now used as a bedroom. The
Coffmans now enjoy the same spectacular foothills
view from the living room, and the walls are lined
with art, including a sketch portrait of Catherine by
Australian artist Christine Hingston. The grounds fea-
ture many of Mr. Coffmans large sculptural stones
and statues amid native landscaping. The small kid-
ney-shaped pool has now morphed into a large hot tub.
4206 Via Padova
Harrison & Marguerite McIntosh
Harrison McIntosh came to Claremont to study with
the Scripps College faculty after World War II. His
wife, Marguerite, had studied at the Beaux-Arts in
Paris, and was at Pomona College on a Fulbright schol-
arship when she and Mr. McIntosh met in the Scripps
ceramics lab. They became engaged in 1950 and were
married at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in
Claremont. Mr. McIntosh recently turned 100 and was
feted at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in
Pomona, with over 500 guests in attendance.
The McIntosh home was designed by Fred
McDowell, along with Mr. McIntosh himself, who
PADUAHILLS
Architect Fred McDowell designed the post-and-beam-style modernist home for Harrison and Marguerite McIntosh in 1958. The couple lived there until they
retired to Mt. San Antonio Gardens. Their daughter and her husband now live at the residence.
Works by Harrison McIntosh on display in the living room of his 1958 post and beam Padua Hills home.
ensured that the scale of the home, including door-
ways and counters, were appropriate for the 54
McIntosh and his 51 wife. The property is marked
by a towering Italian stone pine, planted as a seedling
by Mr. McIntosh in 1958. Currently occupied by his
daughter Catherine McIntosh and her husband
Charley, the homes interior could be a time capsule
for a 1950s Sunset Magazine. The walls and shelves
are filled with art by many McIntosh comtempo-
raries, included furniture by Sam Maloof, paintings
by Milford Zornes, ceramics by Rupert Deese and
sculptures by Betty Davenport Ford.
In the early days, Mr. McIntoshs work was displayed
and sold in the Artcraft Shop just south of the Padua
Theater, a helpful outlet for selling pieces. The
McIntosh studio he shared with Rupert Deese for 67
years had its own kiln, and several others on the hill also
fired their works at home for sale in the shop.
Ceramicists William Manker and Betty Davenport Ford
made use of the workshop and retail space as well.
OFFICE: (
909
)
624-8165
FAX: (909) 575-3650
REAL ESTATE
goritz.et@verizon.net
Ellie Goritz
REALESTATEBROKER Lic. #00466987
2261 Marietta Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
PADUAHILLS
The living room of Harrison McIntoshs Padua Hills home is largely original and features his pottery
and the works of fellow area artists like Karl Benjamin and Sam Maloof. The home was designed by
Fred McDowell and built in 1958 with an addition added in the 1990, also by Mr. McDowell.
GORDIEN & ASSOCIATES IN THE VILLAGE CLAREMONT, CA 91711
Expertise in Claremont since 1978
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HISTORIC
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et within an undeveloped expanse of land in Claremont, this unique property is an ideal
location for those who value privacy, and is one of the few remaining natural environ-
ments within the city. The home features three bedrooms, 1.75 bathrooms, with 2134
sq. ft. A wonderful artist's studio with separate entrance could serve as a family or media room.
Large windows offer magnificent views of the mountains. Upgrades include a beautifully
designed 3/4 bathroom, energy efficient FAH/CAC unit and some dual-pane windows and
doors. Situated low among drought-resistant and indigenous vegetation characteristic of
Claremont, this one-acre site borders the Claremont Colleges Field Station and is in close prox-
imity to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens. The grounds include a fully fenced sparkling
swimming pool and a two-car garage. Located in award-winning Chaparral School locale.
CLAREMONT ARTIST STUDIO HOME SET ON ONE ACRE - $725,000
Charlene Bolton & Collette Albanese
BRE#00927473 BRE#01281576
909-621-0895 909-732-0955
250 W. First St., Suite 100,
Claremont, CA 91711
4003 Padua Hills
Millard and Mary Sheets
Millard and Mary Sheets had built their home in
Padua Hills, three miles north of Claremont in
1942. They had moved to Claremont following Mr.
Sheets completion of art school in 1929 at
Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles. Mr. Sheets
is perhaps most famous for the architecture and
mosaic designs of more than 40 Home Savings &
Loan buildings, built throughout the greater Los
Angeles area.
The Sheets home was designed and built in a style
and with materials that were ahead of their time. The
home featured high ceilings and a flat roof, giving the
building a sleek look. The view overlooked the
canyons and mountains to the north with citrus groves
to the south as far as one could see.
The house was constructed using rammed earth, a
method with which Mr. Sheets had been experiment-
ing. He decided on this type of construction for the
Padua home because there was a large amount of
adobe clay soil on the property. This method required
building of inner and outer vertical forms for each
wall of the house, into which damp adobe clay was
then placed. The clay was then rammed with pneu-
matic hammers and compacted into a solid wall. Once
the outer forms were removed, the remaining struc-
ture would be self-insulating and structurally sound.
In 2003, the Grand Prix fire swept through the
foothills above Claremont, destroying all but three
homes in Palmer Canyon, just north of Padua
Theater. The fire continued south and roared down
Via Padova, destroying the Sheets home. Dr. Gerald
and Barbara Friedman, working from the original
Sheets plans, had the house rebuilt.
The past and current residents of Padua Hills rec-
ognize its role in fostering and housing literally
a great many artists and craftsmen whose work is
now part of private and museum collections around
the world. It is a place, still, of wild beauty, native
flora and fauna, and thoughtful design that make its
location a breathtaking one.
Robin Young
PADUAHILLS
COURIER photo/Steven Felschundneff
Cliff May and Chris Choate designed the Milford Zornes home on Via Padova in 1953 with a studio and
carport addition by Theodore Criley and Fred McDowell in 1963. It was recently sold by Geoff Hamill of
Wheeler Steffen Sothebys International Realty.
GEOFF HAMILL
#1 INCLAREMONT SALES & LISTINGS. TOP1% REALTORS INTHE USA
BROKER ASSOCIATE, ABR, CRS, E-PRO, GRI, SRES
909.621.0500 Geoff@GeoffHamill.com
D.R.E. #00997900
Extraordinary Respresentation Since 1988
As Claremonts longest established real estate office, genera-
tions of local residents have relied on us for our ethical, profes-
sional and personal attention to their real estate needs.
Founded in 1947, Curtis Real Estate remains a family-owned
and operated firm in the heart of the Claremont Village.
107 Harvard Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 626-1261 www.curtisrealestate.com
REAL ESTATE
Claremonts Longest Established
Real Estate Firm
The original Milford Zornes home on the left had the studio added in 1963. The home, which was originally designed by Cliff May and Chris Choate,
recently changed ownership.
W
hen it comes to selling a house,
there are some key players, chief
among them being the realtor.
Selling a home involves many variables and many
people, says Geoff Hamill, realtor/broker associate
with Wheeler Steffen Sothebys International Realty.
Its our job to be the facilitator, the organizer, the lis-
tener and sometimes the therapist, Mr. Hamill said.
After being contacted by a seller, Mr. Hamill
undertakes a survey to assess the realistic value of the
property and determine what preparation is needed to
attract a buyer with a healthy bid.
Im very hands-on. Im involved from the begin-
ning, throughout the process and also throughout
the end, he said.
Mr. Hamill comes by his real estate acumen
honestly. When he was 12, his mother Ruth got into
the real estate business. She often took him along with
her during inspections. When he was 20, he got his
own real estate license. Twenty-six years later, he has
developed a tutored eye.
Well start at the curb and do a 360, he said. I
dont just look at my clients home, I look at the
neighboring property. If someones got an overgrown
or dead lawn, well reach out to see what the situation
istry to work with the neighbor to make their prop-
erty look better so it doesnt reflect badly.
The landscaping of the property being sold is also
important. Some times there isnt enough landscap-
ing, while other times there is too much, according to
Mr. Hamill.
Dilapidated fencing, rusty rain gutters, broken
switch-plates: these are signs of deferred maintenance
that turn off buyers, he said.
I come with an action list, he said. We dont nec-
essarily do everything, but we try to address anything
that is an obvious visual distraction.
There are also some renovations that pay off big
and wont break the bank.
The painting of an interior is usually the best
return, he said. We usually suggest a neutral, like a
Swiss coffee. We dont need to get into colors.
When Mr. Hamill discusses work that needs to be
done with clients, he gets an array of reactions.
Some sellers dont want to do anythingit scares
them, the idea of spending money and changing
things. Others say, Bring it on! My objective is to
listen to them, he said.
One of the most emotional parts of the selling
process is winnowing down the stuff that we all col-
lect over the years. Some belongings matter, but
many are just clutter.
It helps for a seller to get prepared for a move from
the very beginning, making the process easier, Mr.
Hamill said.
Half of my clients get rid of a good portion of their
things, he said. They put donations bags on the
curb, hire a dumpster.
An impending move can also be a good opportuni-
ty to simultaneously reconnect and recycle.
Have a family reunion where you invite people
from across the state and the country and encourage
them to get what they want, Mr. Hamill said. You
can have people pick up things like yearbooks and
heirloom items. It brings a family together and helps
with the process.
And when you get into your new digs, Mr. Hamill
suggests keeping up the de-cluttering trend.
If you have a housewarming party, call it a house
welcoming party and say that no one is to bring any-
thing unless its edible or can be planted in the
ground, he said.
Once the client has approved fixes and upgrades,
Mr. Hamill turns to his pages-long database of local
businesses whose quality service and affordability he
can vouch for. He usually tries to provide at least three
options, but he has some of his favorite providers.
For instance, he can recommend the Natural Earth
LA landscaping company and family-owned Baseline
Termite without reservation. Later in the process,
with a transaction looming, he recommends the finan-
cial services of Tim Harrison and Dee Ann Estupinian
of Broadview Mortgage and the deal-closing acumen
of College Escrow.
I like them because they are a neutral third party,
he said of the latter.
After the assessment process is over, the supporting
parts in the big show, that is the home-selling process
comes into play. When it comes to the role of handy-
man, Miles Bennett is Mr. Hamills go-to guy.
Mr. Bennett was a corporate general manager in
construction until retiring nearly four years ago. He
spends much of his time crafting artisan concrete
countertops, but he also keeps busy with a side busi-
ness called Actually Handyman.
Were not all handy, but Im actually handy, he
quipped.
Mr. Bennett tries to confine his work to Claremont
and does quite a bit of work for Mr. Hamill as well as
It takes a Village to sell a home
ITTAKESAVILLAGE/continues on the next page
Lisa Schlick recently took over ownership of antique shop The Ivy House from her mother Jackie Dunn.
In addition to selling furniture and decorative items from the store, Ms. Schlick also stages homes for
sale. She says that selling a home can be a very emotional experience and the right staging can make
a sale go smoother.
for local realtors like Carol Curtis. The most common
fix he makes is a surprisingly simple one, the instal-
lation of the proper number of smoke alarms
equipped with carbon monoxide detectorsto bring
older houses up to code.
His second most common chore is fixing leaky
faucets, which underlines the unfortunate truth that
many of us let small but annoying home maintenance
issues go until preparing for a move.
I did a house last week where the people had a
sweep at the bottom of the door. It made this awful
screech. Theyd been living with it for years, he said.
All it took for me to fix it was one quarter-inch screw.
Mr. Bennett also provides another much-needed
pair of eyes.
I walk the house and look for issues that people
might focus on, he said. It may not be that big of a
deal but it might be something where [a prospective
buyer] says, I dont like that. My approach is that I
look for things that add value.
Once a home is in good order, its time to think
about presentation. A vacant home might call for the
addition of furnishings, just enough so homebuyers
can picture themselves living there. Many homes
benefit from thoughtful staging.
Lisa Schlick is an art instructor at Mountain View
Elementary School and the owner of The Ivy House,
a shop providing an eclectic mix of art, antiques and
vintage furnishings. She began working with Mr.
Hamill several months ago.
How do you make a place look its best? Get some-
one with a fresh point of view to assess the visual
details of a home, those kind of things an owner might
not notice because they are too close to the situation.
Ms. Schlick pays special attention to the entryway
of a home because, If the entryway is not welcoming,
it sets a negative mood for the whole house.
The right painting or mirror, bookended by a lovely
object, goes a long way.
Most people have everything they need to make
something look fabulous, Ms. Schlick said. A lot of
times the items just arent in the right place. Every
time Ive gone into a house, Ill find that little hidden,
forgotten vase.
Its human nature to accumulate belongings, but
unedited clutter can be a form of deferred mainte-
nance, according to Ms. Schlick.
If something stays stagnant for too long, its neg-
lected, she said. Your house is like a being. It can
give you energy or it can drain you.
This is not to say that a person cant live well with a
lot of belongings, emphasized Ms. Schlick, who
recently downsized herself from a home that was full
of paintings.
Everything should be useful, beautiful or signifi-
cant, she said.
De-cluttering starts with noticing. For example,
there may be too many things on a mantle.
I might hold something up and ask, Whats the
significance of this? Ms. Schlick explained. If they
say, It really doesnt have any, we can take it away.
If they say, That was my grandfathers pencil box,
then we keep it. Once youve gotten rid of the things
that dont mean anything, everything flows, she said.
Making a space look effortless can take a lot of emo-
tional effort, Ms. Schlick said, especially when some-
one is downsizing a lifetime of memories.
Moving is hard. It doesnt matter why, she said.
You are attached to your house. Its place you come
home to, its your comfort zone, she said. I sat with
one woman who was taking family photos out of
frames and she was sobbing. And that was okay. It was
that kind of move. It can be cathartic.
Ms. Schlicks parents recently moved out of her
childhood home, and she said that was almost tougher
than her own move. There were so many objects that
represented childhood memories, like a statue of a
reclining man reading that she prized.
Its not always the nicest thing or the most expensive
ITTAKESAVILLAGE/continues on the next page
IT TAKESAVILLAGE
thing or the most pedigreed thing that
means the most, Ms. Schlick said.
Look around a room. It tells your
whole story. We all have our shiny
side and our banged-up side. We all
have our sparkly side and our darker
side. Its what makes you a person.
Its the same thing with a home. Its
your story.
When you are selling your home,
you want to tell a different story, one
of possibility.
I think people buy the house that they
can see themselves in, Ms. Schlick said.
She tries to give every room at least
one beautiful vignette.
I staged one home that had this
beautiful window looking out onto a
beautiful yard. And the couch was on
the other side of the room, she said. I
put a little writing desk there and it just
made this lovely spot to sit.
From assessment to repair and reno-
vation, from staging to financing, sell-
ing a home takes a Village, according
to Mr. Hamill. Despite todays relative-
ly brisk Claremont housing market, a
seller must use all due diligence to nab
a serious buyer with a great offer.
Its never been an easy time to sell,
he said. Its always been challenging.
Sarah Torribio
storribio@claremont-courier.com
ITTAKESAVILLAGE
Ivy house owner Lisa Schlick looks for the right skeleton key for an antique desk at the Foothill Boulevard antique
shop. One service Ms. Schlick offers through her business is staging homes. Proper staging will help potential buy-
ers see themselves living in the home by making it inviting without being too personal.
The Ivy House on Foothill Boulevard in Claremont
has an interesting and wide selection of items for
home decoration.
T
he home buying and selling
processes can be a complex,
stressful time for people. It doesnt
have to be and can be made a lot easier if
certain steps and strategies are
implemented on the front end to avoid
headache and heartache down the road.
The following will outline some important
tips/strategies for buyers and sellers.
Buyers
Become Pre-Approved. This is the single most
important step for any buyer or would-be-buyer who
is thinking about or has started looking for a home
to buy. Being prepared is crucial, and it will save
you a great deal of time, stress and, yes, heartache. I
can tell many stories of buyers who have started
looking for homes before becoming pre-approved.
They come up with a price range they assume they
can afford and start seeing properties.
Eventually, they fall absolutely in love with a
home or a neighborhood and focus all their
attention and hopes on that home. They then speak
to a lender for a pre-approval, only to find out that
for one reason or another, they do not qualify for as
much as they thought. Their dreams are crushed,
and they now have a difficult time being happy with
any other home that isnt as nice as the one that
got away. Even worse is when they can afford it,
but somebody else who is prepared with their
pre-approval letter
buys it before them.
Most sellers will not
even consider an offer
that does not include a
pre-approval. Moral
of the story, arm
yourself with a
pre-approval so
youre ready and able
to pounce on that
perfect property the
moment you see it.
There is no such thing as the perfect house.
Nearly all buyers find themselves creating a must
have, should have, deal-breaker list when they start
looking for a new home. While this is often a
productive process, it can also sabotage your efforts
of finding the right house. Certain deal-breakers are
important, but make sure they arent criteria that are
easily remedied, as you might be excluding
otherwise great homes. Paint and carpet are relatively
inexpensive and easy fixes, and most homes will
need some updating in some areas. Things that
simply cant be changed or cant be changed without
great expenses are another thinglocation, floor
plan, number of beds/baths or huge remodel projects
all fall into the latter category. Establishing these
criteria with your agent will help greatly, as they will
be able to filter through the homes that would
otherwise not be of interest to you.
Act Quickly. In a strong real estate market,
where homes are selling relatively quickly and
prices are in an upward trend, it is important to
view properties promptly after they hit the market.
I usually tell buyers, if its a home they have
genuine interest in chances are somebody else
does, too. If possible, make sure to see the
properties you like within 48 hours of their hitting
the market. If not, then whenever the soonest
possible is. If it is a hot property, it could be sold
after just a few days on the market. Your agent
should have a good sense if the property is one
that might sell very quickly or if its one that will
likely sit for a while (the over-priced turkeys).
Understand payment, price and value. This is
important, as some buyers worry about the price of
a home too much. They see a price tag on a home
for many hundreds of thousands of dollars and they
think, That is just way too much money. What
they sometimes dont consider is what a payment
would be at that price. Often times, if they havent
actually crunched the numbers before, it is a lot less
than they might have thought. Its the payment that
you have to be comfortable with for the next 30
years, so decide what you can afford based on a
payment you are comfortable with. Also, price and
value are two completely separate things that buyers
often use interchangeably. The asking price of a
home is different and they arent always aligned.
That can go both ways though so, at times, homes
Expert advice: Home buying and selling tips
EXPERTADVICE/continues on the next page
Ryan Zimmerman
might be worth more than the listed price. Make an
offer on a home for what you believe it to be worth,
its value, not based on what it is listed for. And
always remember, what somebody paid for a home
years ago has no bearing on what it is worth today.
Sellers
Detail your home. It is incredible to me how
many listings I see hit the market where sellers
have made little to no effort to prepare the home
for sale by having it look its absolute best. When
youre going to sell a car, people will almost
certainly wash the car, vacuum or shampoo the
carpets, clean the tires and windows, ArmorAll the
interior and, in some cases, pay to have it
professionally detailed. People do this because
they want to attract more buyers, have the
potential buyer love the car and want to pay them
the best price possible for the car. The exact same
philosophy applies with real estate but is often
overlooked by sellers.
Scuffed walls, dirty rooms, broken fixtures,
loose baseboardsthese are all things that are
often overlooked and not taken care of. Treat your
house the same way you would your car. You may
need to spend some money here and there, but
knowing where to invest money in the right
projects will go a long way, giving you a better
return on investment and making your home more
saleable. Go room by room and cure any defects,
paint rooms that need it, clean areas that are dirty
so they sparkle, put excess items away, color up
rooms that are bland with flowers or colorful
accessories and borrow the attitude less is more.
Your realtor should be guiding you in this if you
arent sure what to do yourself and may offer
some more creative approaches that will make
your home show its absolute best.
Price your home right, from the start. Weve
all heard the term chasing the market and we all
know its something no seller wants to do. A home
will receive the most buyer traffic within the first
two weeks of being on the market, which is why it
is so important for your home to be the most
attractive during that time.
When a home hits the market, it is noticed by the
majority of buyers right away through websites,
specific marketing of the listing agent and other
agents notifying them. They will usually make their
appointment shortly thereafter to view the home. If
it isnt attractive when they see it, or if its priced
too high, they will likely pass it by, and wont
always come back later. As your Days on Market
continue to go up and up, buyer interest will go
down and down. And, after long enough, buyers
will simply assume that if nobody else bought the
house after so much time, then there must be
something wrong and it must be over-priced. Those
buyers may not even bother taking a look at all.
Beware of realtors who will try to buy your
listing, meaning they will tell you whatever price
you want to hear to get you excited, often
over-promising and enticing you with a very high
price, and then under-delivering when it doesnt sell
anywhere close to the original recommended price.
Remove emotion from the transaction. This
can often be the most difficult thing for sellers to
do. We love our homes. We have made memories
there, we have worked hard on them, made them
beautiful, made them comfortable, spent our
hard-earned money updating them. Remember,
youre selling the house because your goals are
moving you to another location. Dont let emotion
cloud your judgment and sabotage a sale that
would otherwise take place. We know you
absolutely love that forest green carpet you put in
your living room 10 years ago, but chances are the
buyer today doesnt. Many sellers will often feel
their homes are worth more than the market value
will actually support because they are considering
personal and emotional value. The buyers who are
going to be purchasing your house do not attribute
that same value. The process will be a lot less
stressful, and you will likely be able to achieve the
best possible outcome, if that emotion can be
removed from the transaction.
Ryan Zimmerman
[Ryan Zimmerman is a licensed Broker Associate
with Wheeler Steffen Sothebys International
Realty. In addition to selling homes, Mr.
Zimmerman is a board member of the Claremont
Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Claremont
Young Professionals. He also provides the
Claremont COURIERs monthly Claremont Real
Estate Market Snapshot.]
EXPERTADVICE
T
he art of cultivating the earth and
creating a sustainable garden
one that supports the local
ecosystem and spurns chemical inter-
ventionmay seem like a daunting task
to the average homeowner.
However, the Plymouth Garden at Pilgrim Place
beautifully illustrates how a few basic principles of
sustainable gardening can go a long way in trans-
forming a small space into a thriving garden of
renewable resources.
Started 15 years ago by Dean Freudenberger, a
United Methodist missionary whos traveled to six
continents improving agricultural conditions, the
Plymouth Garden is a closed ecological system made
of up 27 easy-to-cultivate raised beds surrounded by
numerous fruit trees.
What started as a vegetable garden has now
become a learning center for sustainable gardening,
says Mr. Freudenberger. Weve had two classes from
Cal Poly, nearly a dozen delegations of Chinese
bureaucrats and faculty and the superintendent of
Claremont schools came to visit to check out com-
posting and whats involved in all of this.
What the visitors have learned from the Pilgrims,
and what you can too, is that a sustainable garden can
be as beautiful as it is virtuous. The gardeners at
Plymouth Garden practice the basic principles in sus-
tainable organic farming by eliminating the use of
outside soil, fertilizers or insecticides.
A sustainable garden begins with the most impor-
tant tool of the garden: the soil, says Mr.
Freudenberger. When I first started here people
would say, We cant grow anything here, we dont
have any soil! So I said, Lets make some!
And make some they did. The gardeners have been
creating soil at the rate of about one ton per month,
composted from the green waste at Pilgrim Place.
Soil is not dirt but a living organism, says Mr.
Freudenberger with a fistful of composted soil.
Within a handful of this soil, several billion life
forms thrive including bacteria, protozoa, algae, mil-
lipedes, worms, ants, fungi and many more. This life
feeds on organic matter, like grass clippings and
kitchen greens.
Energized by the sun, the excrement from these
mostly microscopic life forms develops soluble nitro-
gen and other nutrients needed for plant growth. Mix
it all together and youve got a soil rich in matter, per-
fect for growing vegetables.
The hair roots absorb the soluble nutrients that the
bacteria produces and through the process of osmosis,
everything grows and weve got something to eat,
says Mr. Freudenberger. Whether its animals we
raise from corn and soybeans or plants, life on the
planet and our human life is dependent upon the sus-
tainability of this process. And its humbling to real-
ize that our life is dependent on life that we dont
understand and cant see without a microscope.
Creating soil is a multi-level process that can be
easily replicated in your own backyard. With separate
bins for yard clippings, steer manure, old soil and
green compost, a soil-recipe is essentially mixed
together to create new soil for the garden.
We take three wheel barrels of clippings, one
wheel barrel of compost and three bags of manure,
which represents an integrated agriculture and bring it
over to the cooker where it cooks for three months,
Mr. Freudenberger explained. Youre transforming
life to death to life again.
The raised beds at Plymouth Garden are planted
and harvested twice a year, once in the spring and
again in the winter, with each Pilgrim gardener
responsible for their own assigned plot.
When this guy finishes and harvests, Mr.
Freudenberger said, pointing to a plot of kale, Hell
A visit with Plymouth Garden at Pilgrim Place:
Tips for growing a sustainable garden
SUSTAINABLEGARDEN/continues on page 20
A fig tree has an ample crop that is beginning to ripen at Pilgrim Places Plymouth Garden. The vol-
unteer gardeners at Pilgrim Place harvest the fruit of 180 trees throughout the community yielding
$10,000 in sales, for the residents annual fund.
Dean Freudenberger determines that a bell pepper
appears to be ready for harvest recently at Pilgrim
Places community garden. The garden is current-
ly dormant with only a few crops being grown but
soon the winter vegetables will be planted.
Volunteers care for the 27 raised beds in Pilgrim Places community garden by rotating out old soil for new, weeding and planting crops. Currently, the
garden is in late summer dormancy, but will be planted with winter crops once the heat subsides.
dig out three wheel barrels of older soil and put it in
the old soil bin, then get three barrels of the new stuff.
Hell dig it in, getting it down to six or eight inches,
thats how we regenerate the fertility of our land-
scape. By constantly doing this energy recycling, we
are regenerating the resources that we use.
Maximizing plant diversity without the use of pes-
ticides and herbicides is also a key component in
sustainable gardening. Creating biological diversity
within the garden makes insect damage and plant
disease virtually non-existent.
In these 15 years, weve never had an infestation of
insects or plant diseases. We have 100 different kinds of
plants and each plant is the host of an insect that feeds on
the bugs of those plants, explains Mr. Freudenberger.
We have a low-level process of a battlefield in here
among insects with this biological diversity. Weve had
no chemicals in here whatsoever. This is an organic
process, thats the name of the game.
Crops such as beans, corn, summer squash, pep-
pers, artichokes, rhubarb and kale flourish with the
help of the 27 resident gardeners who care for their
crops and mulch the pathways. The garden itself
requires very little energy, other than human labor, to
produce fruits, vegetables and plants.
Even the ornamental trees are reaping the rewards
of the sustainability efforts but forth by the Pilgrims.
As the tree drops its leaves, we always have the
maintenance people rake the leaves and put them
under the tree, Mr. Freudenberger said. Here we
SUSTAINABLEGARDEN/continues on the next page
SUSTAINABLEGARDEN
Dean Freudenberger holds some of the soil he and the team of gardeners at Pilgrim Place made through composting household and yard waste recently at
Pilgrim Place community garden. Mr. Freudenberger organized the garden 15 years ago, they now plant 30 crops and produce 160 tons of soil annually.
This crop, a type of kale, is one of the few crops
flourishing in the summer heat in the community
garden at Pilgrim Place.
have a natural illustration of how natural systems
function. The tree produces leaves, at the end of the
cycle the leaves drop, the microbiology of the soil
reduces all of this to soluble nutrients. But then the
plant, through the feeder roots and hair roots, have
this renewable life cycle.
The fruit trees, thriving in the garden, benefit from
a similar process. All we feed them is grass clippings
and water. This is an illustration of regenerating
essential resources so we can move towards a sus-
tainable future.
Located behind the Health Services Center, the
Plymouth Gardenin addition to other trees on the
propertyproduces quite a bounty. The 160 fruit
trees peppered throughout Pilgrim Place are harvest-
ed 50 weeks a year and the gardens excess vegeta-
bles and fruit, as well as the plants sold at the Pilgrim
Festival, helps the Pilgrims net between $10,000 and
$14,000 annually for the Residents Annual Fund.
The Plymouth Garden is a wonderful example of
sustainable farming on a local level but for Mr.
Freudenberger, its a practice that he hopes will one
day be adopted worldwide.
The bigger picture is our global food system. Now
it is based upon petrol chemical fertilizers, pesticides
and herbicides. That resourceoil and gasis not sus-
tainable. So the question is, What does a post-petrole-
um food system look like? he asks. Youre looking
at an illustration of it, which was the way our grand-
parents farmed in the first place. What were doing
here is emulated by integrated livestock and cropping
systems that follow a complex system rotation.
For Mr. Freudenberger, sensitivity to the earth in
local gardening is essential to creating a long-lasting
positive impact globally.
The Plymouth Garden is just a microcosm of what
has to happen worldwide if humanity is going to sur-
vive on a sustainable basis, he said. We cannot talk
about sustainability unless we talk about living upon
the resources that we can regenerate.
For more information on sustainable gardening or
a tour of the Plymouth Garden, contact Dean
Freudenberger at Pilgrim Place (909) 399-5500.
Angela Bailey
news@claremont-courier.com
SUSTAINABLEGARDEN
I
n October, Pomona
College will open a stun-
ning 35,000 square foot
Studio Art Hall. Designed by
wHY architect Kulapat
Yantrasat, the buildings striking
exterior is marked by a soaring
wood-beam roofline and exten-
sive use of glass, which flood
the studios with natural light.
The buildings design emphasizes the
contemporary ways of making art and
thinking about culture. Its open and
porous nature emphasizes connections,
with glass walls exposing the various dis-
ciplines during the art-making process
and creating a cool, transparent and col-
laborative atmosphere to explore new
ideas, materials and artistic production.
Based on a village model, the new
home of the Pomona College Art
Department maximizes the intersection
between students, faculty and staff as
they move through the studios and
public areas. The glass walls provide
students with insights into the creative
processes of their peers and faculty
members in multiple disciplines.
Maximizing the benefits of its
California location, floor-to-ceiling
windows in many studios frame the
expansive San Gabriel Mountains or
adjacent oak grove. The arching wood
and steel roof echoes the rise and fall of
the nearby mountain range and draws
parallels to the historic bow-string
trussed warehouses, that are home to
Los Angeles thriving art scene.
The seeds for new ways of thinking
are planted through the serendipitous
encounter, the unplanned studio visit
and the informal visibility of the work-
spaces and studios, says Mark Allen,
chair of the Pomona Art Department.
The buildings non-hierarchical gath-
ering of mediums fuels an openness
and unrestricted approach to art.
Built to the LEED Gold standards of
the US Green Building Council, the
$29 million Studio Art Hall forges new
connections to disciplines beyond the
arts. Major program elements are
arranged around a central courtyard
that accentuates a prominent north-
south path through campus. The studios
have the capacity to expand the work-
ing environment into the natural ele-
ments and pedestrian spaces.
Pomona Colleges dramatic new Studio Art Hall,
maximizes benefits of southern California location
Pomona Colleges new Studio Art Hall
POMONACOLLEGE/continues on the next page
The Pomona College Art faculty is a group of pro-
ductive contemporary artists whose practices range
from photography and public art pieces to sculptural
installations, performance, computer art and concep-
tual drawings. They are Lisa Anne Auerbach (knit-
ting, communication, zines), Mark Allen (director of
Machine Project), Michael OMalley (sculptor focus-
ing on built environment, kinesthetic experience and
social relations), Sandeep Mukherjee (painter focus-
ing on making the hybrid objectpart painting, part
drawing, part sculpture and part environment), and
Mercedes Teixido (abstract watercolor drawings,
improvisational drawing, letter writing and site-spe-
cific works).
Alumni include: light and space artist Helen
Pashgian 56; light and space artist James Turrell 65,
who just received the U.S. Medal of Arts; photogra-
pher and filmmaker Judy Fiskin 68; sculptor Chris
Burden 69; sculptor Peter Shelton 73; video artist
Denise Marika 77; public works artist Michael
Parker 00; and visual artists Kim Ye 07. The role of
the Pomona College Art Department and the Pomona
College Museum of Art were a celebrated part of
Californias Getty-coordinated exhibitions Pacific
Standard Time.
A formal dedication ceremony will be held on
Saturday, October 11 at 1 p.m., followed by an open
house from 2 to 8 p.m. featuring performances, art-
work and demonstrations. Among them will be
Michael Parkers mirrored Steam Egg, the joyfully
experimental sounds of Daedelus (The Light
Brigade with Archimedes at 8 p.m.), a giant cham-
pagne bottle piata, a hologram installation, dance
performances, Georgian polyphonic singing in the
glow of a darkroom safelight and furniture created by
Pomona College students.
Investing in Pomonas new Studio Art Hall is a
commitment to removing boundaries and infusing
creativity throughout the college, Pomona College
President David Oxtoby said. The design, with its
signature openings to the wider campus, invites other
disciplines into the space to spark new and innovative
ways of thinking and creating art.
POMONA COLLEGE

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