Home&Real Estate
OPEN HOME GUIDE 48 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com
Home Front
KEY TO A SWEETHEART’S HEART ... Yannette Fichou Edwards will offer a no-stress five-star dinner, “Valentines Day Menu for Your Sweetheart� on Tuesday, Jan. 21, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Palo Alto High School, Room 103, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto. Menu includes Crab Cakes with a red coulis sauce, Filet Mignon with peppercorn and cognac sauce, Potatoes Parisienne, Warm Chocolate Molten Cakes and Raspberry Sauce. Cost is $60, which includes demonstration, participation and sampling. Information: 650-329-3752 or www.paadultschool.org
Eichlers
Electrically eclectic
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GROW BIOINTENSIVE ... The latest series of classes taught by Ecology Action farmer/teachers focusing on the “GROW BIOINTENSIVE� system kicks off with Saturday morning classes at 10:30 a.m. and afternoon classes at 2 p.m. The series includes: “Introduction to GROW BIOINTENSIVE,� Jan. 18; “Hidden Talents of Backyard Edibles,� Jan. 18; “Early Bird Gets the Cantaloupe: Garden Planning Workshop, Feb. 8; “From the Ground Up: Backyard Soil Care,� Feb. 22; “A Good Beginning: Growing from Seed,� Feb. 22; “Organic Matter: Mother Nature’s Secret Ingredient,� March 8; “One Man’s Trash Will Grow My Food: Compost for the Home Gardener,� March 8; “It Takes a Village to Raise a Radish: Companion Planting & Rotation,� March 22; and “a Generous Inheritance: Growing to Seed,� March 22. Students may sign up for individual classes ($31 each) or for the series ($218). Classes are held at the Common Ground Garden, 687 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto. Information: 650-4936072 or www.commongroundinpaloalto.org
The Davidson family found Sean Smith through the Eichler Network to do the wiring in their recently updated kitchen.
Architecturally modern homes require electrical improvements by Kimberlee D’Ardenne
THE ORCHID GAMES! ... The Peninsula Orchid Society’s annual show and sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, and Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Community Activities Building, 1400 Roosevelt Ave., Redwood City. The show will include seminars and demonstrations. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors or children 12-16, accompanied children under 12 free ($1 more for both days). Information: http://penorchidsoc. org
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Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email cblitzer@paweekly. com. Deadline is one week before publication.
Most homes built more than 50 years ago don’t meet today’s electrical requirements; Eichlers present greater challenges in hiding the wiring, given their lack of attic or crawl space.
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ften described as “having characterâ€? or “being interesting,â€? old homes can just as often be described as “challengingâ€? — both to maintain and to renovate. All older homes, which were not designed to anticipate today’s electricity requirements, need electrical updates. “If original wiring was used for what it was intended, it is fine,â€? said Tom O’Connor, who owns O’Connor and Sons Electric in Palo Alto. “Lots of people have a lot of stuff in their homes now that no one imagined 40 years ago.â€? Sean Smith, who owns Smith Electric in Los Gatos, agrees. “Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the biggest piece of (kitchen countertop) technology was a toaster or maybe a plug-in waffle iron,â€? Smith said. In addition to the refrigerators, stoves and ovens that would have been ÂVÂœÂ˜ĂŒÂˆÂ˜Ă•i`ĂŠÂœÂ˜ĂŠÂŤ>}iĂŠ36)