Home&Real Estate Home Front
indoor/outdoor
‘KIND’ PEST CONTROL ... Teresa Lavell will offer a free class on “Safe, Effective Pest Control� from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 2, at Common Ground, 559 College Ave., Palo Alto. In partnership with the City of Palo Alto Watershed Protection and the Our Water, Our World program, the class will offer kind and pet-friendly ways to manage ants, slugs and other garden pests and diseases. Pre-registration is required. Information: 650-493-6072 or http:// safeandeffectivepestcontrol.eventbrite.com/ or www.cleanbay.org
IRRIGATION BASICS ... Juan Garcia of WaterWise Consulting, Inc., will offer a free class on “Irrigation Basics for the Homeowner� from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 9. Sponsored by City of Palo Alto Utilities, the class will be held in the Lucie Stern Community Center Community Room, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. The class will cover components and layout of the system, common problems, (continued on page 43)
Drew Kelly
LIVING
Palo Alto architect Joseph Bellomo designed the House Arc as a 150-square-foot flexible living space. by Carol Blitzer ome may see the oblong structure as a future cabana, writer’s hideaway or an extra bedroom in the backyard. But Sunset will be showcasing Palo Alto architect Joseph Bellomo’s House Arc as the “Ultimate Outdoor Living Room� during the 15th annual Celebration Weekend June 2-3. Triggered by the sudden need for housing post-Katrina, Bellomo designed a prototype that he called “light-handed, economical, (using) light construction methodology.� Made of recycled steel tubing, 3form thermoplastic resin, Western red cedar and aluminum sliding doors on two sides, the 150-square-foot home comes in a flat-packed kit that can be delivered by truck. After two to three days of construction, it’ll become an 8-foot by 18.5-foot structure, 11 feet tall. While the wealthy could use the “house� — which is priced between $55,000 and $75,000, depending on cost of materials, custom finishes and number of units ordered — as a backyard
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Sunset Celebration Weekend offers inspiration for ‘green’ homeimprovement projects
spa or office, Bellomo was really thinking in terms of farm housing, or perhaps as stockpiled emergency housing for a severe seismic event or hurricane. “It’s housing for everyone, in a gracious manner,� he said. There’s room inside for a bed (or bunkbed), plus a desk or storage units and a chair or two. The structure is topped with a curved cedar trellis, where one could even train wisteria. That first prototype is now used as a spare bedroom for a family in Hawaii. Bellomo calls his housing model “affordable, adaptable and expandable.� One can add plumbing to make it livable, push out one side to expand it or build two side-by-side — kind of like a double-wide trailer. “It’s remarkably more spacious than when you first look at it,� he said. Because he is very focused on “green� building, Bellomo said the steel tubing will be manu(continued on page 43)
Drew Kelly
NATIVE PLANT WALK ... with Frank Niccoli will be offered from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 7, meeting at the Gamble Garden Carriage House, 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Niccoli, owner of The Village Gardener and on the faculty of Foothill College’s Ornamental Horticultural Program, will walk around Gamble Garden and talk about texture, structure, color of blooms, fragrance and cultural requirements of native plants. Cost is $35 for nonmembers, $25 for members. Information: 650-3291356 or www.gamblegarden.org
Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com
MAKING THE MOST OF
WATERWISE PLANTS ... UCCE Master Gardeners will give a free talk on “Outstanding Waterwise Plants for the Spring and Summer Garden� from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 2, at the Palo Alto Demonstration Garden, 851 Center Drive, Palo Alto. Gardeners will point out the outstanding performers in the demonstration garden and show how to use them in home landscape. Information: Master Gardeners at 408-2823105, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or http://mastergardeners.org
FREE FABRIC ... The next FabMo free fabric distribution event is Thursday, June 7, 4:30 to 8 p.m.; Friday, June 8, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 9, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Appointments are required, to help manage the crowds (Email gather.fabrix@me.com with preferred date and time), but some drop-in hours are included. The distribution, with a requested donation, takes place at 2423 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View. Volunteer greeters and sorters are also needed. Information: www. fabmo.org
OPEN HOME GUIDE 56
The House Arc, which will be displayed during the Sunset Celebration Weekend June 2-3, is made of recycled steel tubing, 3form thermoplastic resin, Western red cedar and aluminum sliding doors.
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