Signal Tribune Newspaper

By Rachael Rifkin
Staff Writer

(Part one in a six-part series on the California Heights Home and Garden Tour)

Jerry and Caryn Baumgarten (California Avenue)

Houses are rarely kept in their original condition, but Jerry and Caryn Baumgarten’s California Avenue home comes close. Minus a 1980s kitchen remodel and a reconfiguration of the laundry room area, the 1929 home looks pretty much like it did when it was first built.
The coved ceilings, built-ins, arches, doors, windows, bathroom tiles and leaded glass doors in the kitchen nook are all unique to the house. Following a refinishing, the hardwood oak floors have returned to their former splendor. The light fixtures in the dining room are original and extremely sought after. The fireplace is so unique that it’s worth $10,000 of the total value of the 1,462-square-foot home.
“The house has a lot of original features. The windows and doors have literally been untouched since the house was built. They still have the original patina on them,” said Jerry, founder of a start-up consulting company that advises on social network space.
Besides refinishing the floors, the Baumgartens have retiled the front porch, taken out the wallpaper in the bathroom, restored the exterior façade, replaced the rotting wood deck in the backyard and converted the garage into an artist studio for Caryn, a brand/creative direction consultant.
The Baumgartens eventually want to bring the kitchen back to its Spanish-style origins as well.
“So far we’ve redone the windows in the kitchen. We replaced them with traditional sash windows from Castillo’s Sash and Door,” said Caryn. “From an aesthetic standpoint, we purposely tried to keep the house of the era. I hate seeing homes that are poorly executed hodgepodges of eras. I think something gets lost in the soul of a home when you try to change its very nature.”

Kenny and Jennifer Michelsen (Gundry Avenue)

For Kenny and Jennifer Michelsen, their 1930 home on Gundry Avenue is just as much a part of California Heights history as it is of their family history. Kenny grew up in the house, and now he and Jennifer are raising their two daughters there.
Kenny’s parents purchased the home in 1972. In the late ‘90s, Kenny’s mom decided to move to Arizona but wasn’t comfortable selling the house to strangers. The house was a good fit for the then newly married Kenny and Jennifer, so they decided to make the move.
“The first time I saw the house, I fell in love with it. I love Spanish-style homes. It’s almost as if we picked it out ourselves,” said Jennifer, a stay-at-home mom.
Kenny has enjoyed reconnecting with his old neighborhood.
“Being back in the neighborhood, I can really appreciate the architecture and historical component,” said Kenny, who works for a Wells Fargo management group. “You don’t appreciate that when you’re a kid. So maintaining and restoring the home is important to us.”
Some of the original features remain– the coved ceilings, the built-ins– but most of the house was remodeled last summer. The faux fireplace was converted into a working fireplace, the dining room expanded and the kitchen completely redone. Two smaller bedrooms became one large master bedroom and bathroom. The changes did not include an expansion in square footage; the space was merely reconfigured and the house remains at 1,330 square feet.
“Last summer, we got serious about doing a big remodel. It just became clear that the kitchen was too small. Doug Orr [of interior/exterior design and construction company Orr Visual Communications] designed it all for us,” Jennifer said.
For the Michelsens, the most important aspect of the remodel was retaining the integrity of the house. “We wanted to maintain that Spanish Colonial vibe, and we couldn’t have asked for a better result. Everything came out amazingly well,” said Kenny. “We’re really happy with the remodel, and we’re really happy with the neighborhood. It’s a special experience for me, seeing our kids grow up in the same house and go to the same schools I did.”

Doug Dunkin (Lewis Avenue)

Having grown up in tract houses, Doug Dunkin was looking for a house with a little more character. He found just the right house on Lewis Avenue.
“You walk into this house, and you feel like it’s actually special. It’s not like every other house. It has a really good feel, a really good layout. It felt unique enough to call home,” said Dunkin, senior vice president of business development and marketing at marketing agency Usmp.
Built in 1937, the 1,550-square-foot Spanish mission house features: a foyer entrance; barreled ceilings; an original, working fireplace; and wooden ceiling beams. Most of the windows are original, as are the vanity cabinets (minus the marble countertops) and mirrors in the guest bathroom.
The previous owners completely updated the kitchen, adding a butler’s pantry, period tile backsplash, Wolf stove and warming drawer. Dunkin also took on a couple of his own remodeling projects. He turned the den into a dining room and the breakfast nook into an office. He retiled the guest bathroom and added a shower.
“I liked that this house didn’t need to have any major projects done. It just needed a little updating. And it’s a two-bedroom, two-bath house, which is unique for the area. It’s usually two bedrooms, one bath or three bedrooms, two baths,” said Dunkin. “It’s a cool house; it’s fun. If it inspires somebody on the home and garden tour to do something with their house, then fantastic. But, for the most part, I entered my house into the tour because I wanted to share it with people.”