A Queen Anne Victorian House

...right here in Santa Rosa. It's situated on one of the many leafy streets in the MacDonald Avenue Historic District. The homes were built by the town's original businessmen...lumber barons, financiers and railroad magnates starting around 1860. It has become one of the.most desirable neighborhoods in Santa Rosa and homes here don't change hands very often.

The MacDonald District homes represent a wide variety of period styles, including Victorian, Craftsman, Italianate and Stick-Eastlake. There are 10,000sq. ft. mansions interspersed with smaller homes built for the serving staff to the wealthy residents. I love to walk around this neighborhood. The architecture reminds me of the variety of homes found in Berkeley/Oakland.

Our destination this morning was King's, a nursery on the edge of the MacDonald District which specializes in blooming plants. It's fun to come upon this place in the middle of a residential neighborhood and the people who work there are all friendly and helpful. We bought a few plants to fill in spaces we've created in our 'mound garden' by massive pruning removal of several plants that have invaded the area and grown too tall for their space, and some ground covers that have covered not only ground but rocks, other plants and even encroach on the Buddha. While John planted those I tackled an enormous Streletzia that is threatening to grow over the back windows, and Spike got underfoot with his Kong. We should be able to sit out there this evening and admire our handiwork....