how we got here, part 2
This is part 2/2 of a series that starts here.
In the midst of the pandemic, my company announced there would never be a full return to the office date, giving the majority of the staff to choose where they do their best work. A couple months later, Taylor’s studio lease expired in Santa Monica and it was the first time our jobs granted an opportunity to consider something different. My career in entertainment advertising has historically been LA or NY based, with little to no flexibility in living elsewhere to do it… at least not successfully. With big machines and lumber filling a 6,000 sqft space, Taylor has always been anchored to his location as well. The pandemic granted a window of change, and it felt foolish to not to give thought to a better way of living and working.
A horse property in Paso Robles kickstarted the thought of leaving LA and opened up the possibilities of pursuing our post retirement dream early - to be landowners along the Northern California coast with ample space for a house, garden, orchards and creative studio. The real-estate market was a great place to be for a seller, and we learned that with all the renovations we had done, our home had appreciated quite a bit since we had bought it in 2019 which put us in a unique situation to sell. With knowledge of this and a bit of faith, Taylor moved out of his studio, went on sabbatical to restructure his business and spent May-July finishing up house projects to get it ready to put on the market.
Simultaneously, we started exploring the coast from central to northern California to see where we wanted to plant new roots. We were painting our future, somewhat blindly, but with clear vision of the heart. We first considered Paso Robles, Templeton and Santa Ynez, but issues with the drought in the area and the appearance of the dry natural landscape pushed us further north to the Bay Area and forced an impromptu trip in May to Petaluma and Santa Cruz - to towns above and below San Francisco.
We toured Inverness, Point Reyes, Marshall, Occidental, Guerneville, Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, and Soquel. Our love for Santa Cruz caught us by surprise and a visit to a home in Soquel led to our first, albeit unprepared, offer.
We didn’t get the house and our dreams were crushed. It went for 40% over asking, which in hindsight was all a blessing because it didn’t have enough space to do all of what we wanted to do. On our second trip north in early July, we stationed ourselves in Santa Rosa to pursue Angwin, Calistoga, Santa Rosa, Napa and a last minute decision to visit Santa Cruz to view a listing made us remove Santa Cruz from our list. On the way back to our Santa Rosa basecamp, a visit to Healdsburg and Sebastopol cemented one of the two areas.
We were told by many people to check out a little funky town called Sebastopol in West Sonoma. No one could define Sebastopol’s “funky” so we were weary, but curious. We visited a local artisan in Sebastopol that Taylor recently met and it further proved that similar dreams were a reality here. Sebastopol exudes creativity and artistry - from it’s breathtaking landscape to its people. It’s small, but not too small. The restaurants and wineries feed the soul in the way the strangers can feel like family. Sebastopol was perfectly aligned with everything we stand for as individuals and as a family unit. It was the home we were always meant to have, and to head home we had to leave our house.
When we returned to LA, we had our north star and slowly all the paint strokes started to make sense. To make our offers more competitive it was clear that we needed to sell our home, so we listed on July 15th, and 5 days later we had accepted an offer. To have sold a home that I adored without another lined up was a tough one for me to work through, but I tried my best to surrender to the universe to work its magic.
There was a property in Sebastopol that became our front runner until a day before offers were due, and at 3 a.m. a Redfin click showed us the dreamiest house on Burnside. We flew up a week later, knowing it was the one - an architectural 3 bedroom home with sweeping views of the Sonoma coast, 5 acres of usable flat land, 12 minutes to town, 1 hour to San Francisco - it was perfect. With the current real estate market, it felt like a long-shot but we manifested and kept focus.
At 9:45pm on August 2, 2021, our realtor called us with news that would change our lives forever - our offer was accepted and on September 2nd, this 5-acre gem that we proudly call Paradox Ranch was officially ours. The sellers had a 30-day rent back so we spent those final days with family and friends, reflecting with gratitude and packing up our lives for the big move. It’s been a long journey, but we’ve finally made it. It has been about a month and we’re slowly settling into our forever.
I am so thrilled to share the many adventures that lie ahead and it is with so much gratitude in my heart for all the support following our journey. It is Taylor, Roark and mine to hold close, but it’s encouraging to let others in to share the experience with the same vigor and excitement.
Taylor and I plan to use this space to share how we’re fairing with rural living, recipes, travels and life on the ranch. I encourage you to be on the lookout for Taylor's side of the story under Field Notes where he'll share his architectural and landscape plans, research on sustainability, biodynamic farming, water conservation and more logistics about the land. Trust me, it's sure to blow your mind.
Welcome!