We had a preliminary planning review meeting with the city Planning Director on Tuesday morning. He’s a nice guy, a straight shooter. So straight, in fact, that he was willing to share pretty some strong (and amusing) opinions about a few of the newer houses in town. . . Opinions we agree with! And he also expressed his disdain for the proliferation of “barnitechture” around Napa valley, and seemed relieved that we weren’t proposing to build more of it.

This would be an example of “barnitechture”:

That one’s not too bad. This one is pretty awful:

Anyway, no “barnitecture” happening with our house.

Of course, we have to respect where we are, and at its heart, St. Helena is an agricultural town. So we will incorporate some of the elements of that heritage into the house — metal roofs, some wood siding, old salvaged wood here and there, a stair tower that evokes the old water towers around town, some sliding barn doors inside the main hallway (hiding behind those doors will be the laundry room).

All in all, it was a good meeting. The Director said we obviously know what we’re doing, and he didn’t see any issues that would trip us up with the Planning Commission. So it’s full steam ahead with the plans! Here are some of the drawings we presented on Tuesday:

Inside . . .

And out . . . 

But it was too beautiful this weekend to eat inside!  Lev and I had a lovely picnic dinner outside on Friday night (cold corn soup with crab, panzanella salad with grilled chicken).  I finally figured out how to turn on all the lights around the pool and under the pergola, and with the soft yellow light bulbs I installed, it’s quite romantic!  (Oddly, the switches are not all in one place. But I did solve the mystery behind most (not all) of the many light switches in the bedroom!)

I also extended an invitation to the adjacent neighbors to come by and say hello if they saw me around (a hand-written and hand-delivered note on thick card stock — feeling very Downton Abbey after watching the last few episodes of Season 3 last week).  So far no one has taken me up on the offer. Oh well, my good fences will make good neighbors.

But it’s a good thing.

Escrow is closed and my title is now on record! Headed up this afternoon to pick up the key. Get ready for lots of “before” pictures!

You know what’s charming about buying a house in an old neighborhood?  Realizing that the “tract” that makes up your neighborhood was laid out in 1889.  In this case, the tract was named after two guys — Worrell and Ward — who owned vineyard acreage in the area, much of which was lost to the phylloxera infestation that hit Napa county in the late 19th century. I’m still doing some historical research, but I’m assuming that Worrell and Ward decided to subdivide the land and sell it for residential development rather than replace the vines destroyed by phylloxera.

You know what’s not charming about buying a house in an old neighborhood? When you realize that the lots and property boundaries haven’t been surveyed in a more than a century. And you suspect that maybe your old cottage partially sits on someone else’s land. And so you’re going to need a survey. And there are no markers or monuments for a surveyor to work from. Which means your survey is gonna run you well into the four figures. Ouch.

Here’s what I’m buying:

A PORTION OF LOTS 111 AND 112 AS SHOWN ON THE MAP ENTITLED, “MAP OF THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE WORELL AND WARD TRACT, ST. HELENA, NAPA CO., CAL.” FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF THE COUNTY OF NAPA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA ON JULY 12, 1889, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:

COMMENCING AT A POINT ON THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF SCOTT AVENUE AT THE MOST WESTERN CORNER OF LOT 112 ABOVE REFERRED TO; AND RUNNING THENCE NORTHEASTERLY ALONG THE NORTHWESTERLY LINES OF SAID LOTS 112 AND 111, A DISTANCE OF 100 FEET TO THE MOST NORTHERN CORNER OF SAID LOT 111; THENCE SOUTHEASTERLY ALONG THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF LOT 111; A DISTANCE OF 52 FEET; THENCE SOUTHWESTERLY AND PARALLEL TO THE NORTHWESTERLY LINES OF SAID LOTS 100 FEET TO THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF SCOTT AVENUE; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY ALONG LAST MENTIONED LINE 52 FEET TO THE POINT OF COMMENCEMENT.

The seller signed all the paperwork today and promises it’s in the hands of FedEx (she lives in Milwaukee).  So a Wednesday close is still possible. . . Isn’t the suspense killing you??

PS — I love that a couple from Milwaukee bought a “winter” vacation home in St. Helena. It ain’t exactly tropical here in the winters, but I suppose it’s better than Milwaukee!

Well, I was supposed to close escrow today. I had visions of spending the weekend swimming, puttering around in the garden, drawing house sketches, etc. It wasn’t meant to be, though. BUT, I did sign all the closing paperwork this morning!  Closing is scheduled for next Wednesday.  Keeping fingers crossed!