places

Thanks for all your wonderful comments about the transformation of Casita Alegria and the ghost story that accompanied it. Your insights inspired me to close this allegory with an expression of [...]

Although Casita Alegria had been transformed into a lighter, happier little house, I had to face the fact that I was sleeping in a haunted adobe. While lying awake during my first night alone [...]

In retrospect, not only did the downstairs of Casita Alegria feel creepy, so did the upstairs. The curved steps in the entry that wound their way up to the second level ended at an empty, shallow [...]

The magical remodel of Casita Alegria’s lower level was finally complete. The old adobe allowed me to remove both walls of the creepy hallway to expand the tiny kitchen and family room on either [...]

I loved the way Casita Alegria’s chunky chocolate brown lintels defined the adobe’s entryway, where a flamboyant spiral staircase literally floated up to the second floor. But the scrawny [...]

I got up at six AM this past weekend to hike up Frog Rock. What have I gotten myself into, I wondered grumpily? After considering staying in bed, I decided instead to indulge in a fat steaming [...]

I hate California – it’s cold and its damp! But this afternoon in an instant, the clouds cleared beyond my worn-out black laptop perched in front of an old single pane window. I stopped writing [...]

The couple found a home on an island whose layers hugged a lush green hillside by a brilliant blue sea. Perched on a narrow windy road near the island’s ridge, a curved stairway led down to the [...]

I was recently asked through my Instagram page how I make walls glow. Honestly, I can’t take credit for that. As found in nature only the magic of passing light through color or projecting light [...]

And so, the once faded and uninspired living room, dining room, kitchen and family room of a 1960’s Tiburon tract house now shimmered with color and light. But Jackie and Paul didn’t anticipate [...]