Eight Months In

The treeline marks the extent of the property - 3 acres along Comanche Creek, with a stand of mature eucalyptus to the left, sort of a nature sanctuary.

When the state is not on fire, we can see the coast mountains to the west.

THE REMODEL:

 The rooves had to be redone all around every edge - both buildings.

Mike the contractor was on-site for over 6 months.

Now the roof is done.

The hallway got new lighting fixtures.

The pantry was painted and got new lighting, as well as the removal of gobs of wasp nests (and a caked-in grease smell) from the kitchen stove ventilation duct.

The kitchen.

The dining room now that it has a table and chairs.

Living room.

View into living room from kitchen island.

The den got new carpet, paint, and ceiling fan, and its big custom desk, same style as the house cabinetry, now lives in the office in the second building.

Master bedroom - it needed no work, but those brown curtains will go eventually.

Master bedroom.

Master bathroom got a new sink but otherwise was intact.

Sunporch. I'll tile the floor within the next year. All the fans are new and were quite tricky to get working due to the mysteries surrounding the old wiring.

The office needed a floor, new mouldings, painting, repairs to the ceiling fan, outlets replaced... but the old green metal blinds are still in place.

Outside the office: All the rooflines had to be redone.

Bathroom off the office got a new vinyl floor, new paint, new toilet, and some new fixtures.

Office.

Office. We painted over the paneling throughout, and put in a laminate floor.

The guest room. Carpets were putrid, everything smelled. It's been recarpeted and painted now.

Guest room. I hated the mirrored closet doors so got rid of them. All the windows in the second building have custom blinds.

The door to the shop/garage had a pleasant sign affixed to it. I replaced both doors, the inner one with a window, the outer one a screened security door.

The shop, before and after. It had been partly finished sometime in the past, but never painted. I had to have it retaped, sheetrocked in places, textured and painted. The track lighting on the ceiling required an electrician's day to sort out the wiring mysteries...

Had a plumber put a sink in the shop.

The old shop bathroom was so gross we barely looked at it the first few months.

Slowly we had the fixtures removed, James painted, I tiled the floor, and a new toilet and vanity were put in. We put up the lighting, mirror, and medicine chest exactly as they had been in the one bathroom at the old house.

The shop outside: An old metal canopy hung above one window, and the roof eaves weren't adequately supported at the edges.

Mike had to dig out quite a bit of the siding and seal up the windows.

With a little blue wire extending the wi-fi into the shop.

This was the orchard that got ripped out, in late winter, after its blossoms had fallen.

Caterpillars came and ripped out 120 acres like this, leaving carcasses that later were loaded into trucks.

Before and after

Before and after

At least it doesn't bark.

Part of our willow tree fell in March. Before and after. Now we have a view over ino to the orchard across the creek.

Friends over at a party in June, enjoying the weir.

This is what the sky looked like Nov. 8, 2018, the day Paradise burned up. Pinkish brown up above, bright unobstructed horizons giving sideways lighting to the trees. We are about 5 miles from the furthest extent of the fire, and because the surrounding lands are heavily irrigated orchards, there is little prospect of that kind of massive wildfire reaching Crouch Avenue.

Jeff at the gate, one day shortly after the Camp Fire.