Landscape Design 
Landscape design ideas and tips for Marin & San Francisco Bay Area home owners. Residential landscape architecture in Marin County, California.
There are currently 14 blog entries related to this category.
680 Tamalpais, Novato - Lush Large Park Like Setting
Monday, May 13th, 2013 at 3:15pm. 170 Views, 0 Comments.
680 Tamalpais sits on a private 10,500 sq.ft (tax records) lush, well planted park-like lot. Come visit this well priced three bedroom plus office home which features Brazilian cherry hardwood floors, an elegant master suite, and numerous exotic plantings throughout this special setting.
We will be open:
- Wednesday May 15 (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)
- Saturday May 18 (1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
- Sunday May 19 (1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
Come say "hello" and meander through the English "white garden", wander down the gravel paths through the Japanese Maples hanging over the koi pond and breathe in the heady scents of the many heirloom roses that dot this special setting.
- Three Bedrooms
- Two Baths including well designed master bath with walk in…
Marin Landscape Design Ideas
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 7:11pm. 962 Views, 0 Comments.
Marin Landscape Design Ideas
As I am sitting here writing this blog, the contractors are jack hammering my concrete patio in the backyard - so it's a little hard to concentrate at the moment, but perfect time to write about my current dilemma. What to do with the backyard?
The backyard is HUGE and it has so much potential. There is enough space for a pool, lawn, deck and even a bocce ball court. Backyards are a huge part of California year round living and the way I end up designing this backyard can make or break my budget. So I am going to have to consider a few things. How will we be using the yard? How much maintenance do we want? And what is our budget?
To…
Pumpkin Patch Front Yard Marin Style
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 at 8:27pm. 314 Views, 0 Comments.
This is so easy and fun to do! You will love it every time you drive up to your house!!
Put 12 or more pumpkins (gourds and squashes too) around under bushes and strewn around the yard. Turn some upside down, some sideways, etc. It's great to use different shapes, sizes and colors! You don't have to spend a fortune either....pumpkins start going on sale at some of the groceries mid-October. I found mine as low as $3.99 each for nice sized ones at TJ's this year. Pumpkin patches will obviously have the most interesting and unique choices, but definitely at a price when you need/want so many (I have 15 in my yard).
You could also put some individual solar lights (like the kind you get for $2 each at your local home center store) near…
Marin County Weather Differences - the impact of Microclimate
Thursday, September 6th, 2012 at 8:55am. 709 Views, 0 Comments.
Whether or not you care a lot about weather, you will start to pay attention when you begin your search for a home in Marin County. Marin is one of the few places on Earth with a microclimate.
As a local realtor in Marin I'm used to peoples somewhat disbelieving reactions when I tell them about the differences in weather patterns between the cities in Marin County - and even WITHIN each city! It could easily differ as much as 18°F (10° C) within just a fifteen minutes drive. This is fascinating and something you learn to take advantage of when you live here.
During my sixteen years as a Marin resident, there are numerous occasions when I've crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and the temperature shows 53° F. Fifteen minutes…
Moviemaker George Lucas Transforms San Anselmo's Miracle Mile and Amazing Grace Music store
Saturday, March 24th, 2012 at 10:47pm. 1103 Views, 1 Comments.
Thank you George Lucas for your community spirit and generosity!
For everyone who travels the Miracle Mile every day, you can't help but admire the handsome stone building across from United Market, now home to Amazing Grace Music. George Lucas, who lives nearby, rescued Amazing Grace from their dilapidated 1936 building, purchased the property, and set in motion a major renovation of the median that separates east and west traffic on the Miracle Mile. Not only did he build a new home for Amazing Grace Music, he moved it further down on the median and completely landscaped the area using a local landscape architect, Blasen Landscape Design.
The Miracle Mile is a main thoroughfare for the residents of San Rafael, San Anselmo,…
San Rafael's West End Neighborhood Beautification Project Goes Wild
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 at 3:30pm. 446 Views, 0 Comments.
It's a Poppy Palooza on the West End Street in San Rafael. West End Street is travelled every day by West End neighbors as they merge onto 2nd Street headed to downtown or 101 and where the Ali Akabar College of Music is located. This is also a favorite route for bike riders.
Several years ago, the median was overgrown with weeds and a real eyesore in the neighborhood. As part of our mission, the West End Neighborhood Association voted to take this on as a beautification project and enlisted neighbors and local merchants. We collected cardboard boxes from Martin & Harris Appliance for sheet mulching the area to smother the weeds. Bartlett Tree Service delivered wood chips for mulching. A neighbor built flower boxes and…
San Rafael Resident with a Lifetime of Stories
Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 8:11am. 538 Views, 2 Comments.
If you're looking for a guide to the West End and San Rafael or a personal history of the Great Depression and World War Two, or maybe a unique garden tour, a musical evening, just the right screw for that broken door hinge or perhaps just some fatherly advice, then all roads should lead you to Stan Kosta's home on a quiet cul-de-sac above the Miracle Mile.
Stan, who turned 93 last year, has lived in his two-bedroom house since he bought it for $10,000 in 1948, bargaining with the builder as its wooden frame was being erected on a hilltop above the Miracle Mile. It had a wonderful panorama of San Rafael and the bay to the East, and Mount Tam, San Anselmo and Bald Mountain - when it really was bald and not covered in greenery - to the…
The Definitive Source of All Marin Real Estate Blogs
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 at 11:04am. 1492 Views, 0 Comments.
While there is certainly an abundance (arguably, too many) of real estate blogs in Marin County, our Modern Blog offers a depth and balance of interesting, highly relevant and informative topics that I’ve yet to see in any other. Admittedly, I am biased as a regular contributor of the Marin Modern Real Estate blog but I do read an array of other blogs specific to Marin County Real Estate on a weekly basis.
We are a highly experienced and technology savvy group of sales professionals, each with a successful track record of closed transactions who bring a sophisticated and unique perspective to the current landscape of real estate in Marin. This isn’t the only reason our blog is different, always relevant and consistently provides information about…
An Italian Villa's Garden & Modernism - Presentation at the Tiburon-Belvedere Library this week!
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 at 8:57am. 2372 Views, 0 Comments.
And now for something completely different . . . An Italian villa's garden! 
You may be asking why I would suddenly depart from mid-century modernism to talk about a garden that was started in the 1400s. Well, mid century modernism never would have happened without gardens like this one. Here are three reasons why I am dicussing this garden.
First, I am going to be giving a slideshow presentation about the garden at Villa Gamberaia (outside of Florence, Italy) on Thursday, October 7th at 7:30pm. It will be held at the Tiburon-Belvedere Library on Tiburon Boulevard, and you are invited. The second reason is to let you in on a little secret about the garden - and gardening in general. More on that later. And third, garden design throughout history is a…
Case Study: Eichler Landscaping - the Atrium & Courtyard
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 2:53pm. 8272 Views, 1 Comments.
This is a continuation of a previous blog, where I wrote about landscape ideas for an Eichler home in Marin. Last time, we focused on the front. And now, on to the courtyard!
One the most important exterior parts of many mid-century modern house is the courtyard space. Not every home has a courtyard, of course, and some have atriums, which is generally an indoor space.
"Courtyards—private open spaces surrounded by walls or buildings — have been in use in residential architecture for almost as long as people have lived in constructed dwellings.
The central uncovered area in a Roman domus was referred to as an atrium. Today, we generally use the term courtyard to refer to such an area, reserving the…