Good news! The Lafayette Farmers’ Market is opening its 2013 season on May 19th, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Look for it every Sunday from now through Fall in the South parking lot of the Lafayette BART station.
Category Archives: Lafayette Living
Lafayette Teachers – We Appreciate You Every Day
Tuesday was National Teacher Appreciation Day, but the truth is this — in Lafayette, we appreciate our teachers every day. Our schools are the #1 Reason families are so anxious to move to Lafayette, and for good reason — our teachers are the best! Many are our neighbors and friends, too.
I am a product of Burton School, Stanley and Campolindo. I am thankful everyday for the wonderful education I received. My children have gone through Lafayette Elementary and Stanley. My oldest graduated from Acalanes last year and my youngest is a Junior at Campolindo. Their experiences have also been very positive.
Education in this community is a gift and something we can all be grateful for.
Lafayette’s Commitment to Sustainability Shines at Annual Earth Day Festival
Lafayette is a community with a long history of local citizens who care about our environment and work hard to protect it. If you’re looking for it, proof of this is all over our town. Never is it more obvious, though, than when you walk through the annual Lafayette Earth Day Festival and talk to the many locals representing the wide variety of citizen groups and government organizations focused on issues that range from waste reduction and creek clean-ups to gleaning fruit and open space preservation.
Now in its 8th year, this Lafayette Earth Day event was originally organized by the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber remains a strong supporter, but Sustainable Lafayette now serves as the festival’s primary organizer.
Over the years, the festival has been held at various venues, including Lafayette Plaza Park, Stanley Middle School and Acalanes High School.
The 2013 event, held Sunday, April 21, was staged for the second year in a row in and around our beautiful Lafayette Library and Learning Center, which is generally considered everyone’s favorite venue yet and the hoped-for permanent home of the Earth Day festivities.
The library location allows additional indoor classroom activity space and easy proximity to the Friends of the Library’s used bookstore (recycling at its best!) as well as naturally tiered exhibit space in the plaza area with easy access to electricity for the musical entertainment.
Look closely at the photo listing the activities held in the Arts & Science Classroom and you’ll also see that the library provided more than just the space. Two of the Library’s Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium partners, Lindsay Wildlife Museum and U.C. Lawrence Hall of Science, exhibited as well.
Hamlin House History – Sky Hy Ranch Beginnings
Most homes, remodeled or not, have one distinct beginning – the year they were built. Lafayette’s historic Hamlin House, though, has two.
Its first beginning occurred in 1941, when this custom, Spanish-style house commissioned by Federal Judge O.D. Hamlin stood alone atop the highest peak of the 200 acre parcel the Hamlin family had owned since 1871.
The second “beginning” happened 30+ years later, after Judge Hamlin sold the house and 45+ adjoining acres to Stekoll Development Company and Fidelity Savings, who then used the combination to create Sky Hy Ranch, Lafayette’s first-ever gated community.
Gayle Uilkema and her family were the first to buy in Sky Hy Ranch, purchasing the Hamlin House, the cornerstone of the new development. The original square sales brochure she kept is 1970s mustard brown and has a matching insert for Hamlin House (Sky Hy Ranch, lot #30) that displays the home’s floor plan on one side and describes key features on the reverse, starting with this introduction:
“The country estate of Judge Hamlin has been carefully restored to keep its original old world charm: pegged oak floors, beamed ceilings, beautiful grounds; yet offers all the modern conveniences. The home is shielded with full growth trees which adds to its basic privacy.”
The Hamlin House’s “modern” 1970s conveniences included the developers’ pre-sale updates — new custom kitchen, landscaping, sprinkler system, updated pool systems, and zoned heating and air conditioning.
“What’s fun about the brochure is the story it tells about the developers’ vision for Sky Hy Ranch,” says Lafayette Realtor Dana Green.
While the Uilkema family bought a finished home, the bulk of the Sky Hy Ranch sales would be builders buying land for spec homes. As a result, the brochure had to rely on the reader’s imagination. Instead of photos, it’s peppered with architectural pen drawings depicting sun-filled open concept living spaces with clean-lined modern furniture.
“Sky Hy Ranch… a peninsula of classically beautiful homes,” the brochure reads. “Travel a private drive, pass through a security gate, and discover a mountain top ringed with native oak. Continue on the winding road and note thirty exquisite homes carefully placed on the crown to take advantage of the spectacular views and the trees. You are eight minutes from the town of Lafayette… shops, BART, restaurants, theatres, excellent schools… you are in the world of Sky Hy Ranch.”
It was an imagined world that became a reality and an excellent backdrop for the Hamlin House’s second new beginning.
NOTE: The Hamlin House is currently listed for sale (670 Sky Hy Circle, Lafayette, CA) and will be open Sunday, April 14, 1-4pm. Questions? Contact Dana Green at Dana@DanaGreenTeam.com or 925.339.1918
Never miss Dana Green’s new listings, pocket listings or coming soons:
Lafayette House Hunters & History Buffs – Here’s Your Chance to See the Hamlin House
Sunday, as Dana Green’s Sneak Peek subscribers were opening their email alert announcing that Lafayette’s historic Hamlin House (670 Sky Hy Circle) was going to be on the market for the first time in nearly 40 years, Dana was opening the home’s door to let Ollie Hamlin, her friend and Lafayette Woodlands neighbor, in.
Ollie is the son of Federal Judge O.D. Hamlin, who originally commissioned this Spanish style custom home just prior to WWII.
Ollie has documented the interesting history of the Hamlin House for the Lafayette Historical Society (LHS), where he is a long time Board Member. This history includes the years when Ollie was a youngster and his grandfather had a cabin on what was then a 200-acre parcel of land that had been in the Hamlin family since 1871.
By Ollie’s account, Judge Hamlin had visited Hearst Castle prior to building the house and been captivated by the views there so he chose to build his new house on the highest peak of the Hamlin property and then had it designed to maximize view potential.
“Completed in 1941, the Hamlin House has features popular today that were considered modern back then, including a large outdoor entertainment area with a wood-burning fireplace, one of three original to the house,” says Dana. “The pool, cabana, and separate guest quarters that Hamlin added later are also among the kinds of features in demand by today’s home buyers.”
In 1972, Judge Hamlin sold the house and 45+ adjoining acres to Stekoll Development Corporation and Fidelity Savings, who used the combination to create Sky Hy Ranch, Lafayette’s first gated community. Varied builders bought land for spec housing. Meanwhile, Gayle Uilkema and her family bought the Hamlin House, the cornerstone of the new development.
Walking into the house on Sunday, Ollie immediately noticed the newly stained hardwood floors, fresh paint, updated furniture – and the missing rugs.
“The thing I remember is that Gayle had a prolific amount of Oriental rugs,” said Ollie, about his visit to the house several years back to attend an election party hosted by Gayle, who by then had become a well-respected local political figure.
We usually stage a home for sale to help buyers imagine what it would be like if they lived in it. For Ollie, staging cleared the way to inspire family memories, starting with furniture placement. Everything from a piano that sat in the nook by the front door and the game table in the corner of the living room, to dinner parties in the oversized dining room and books that lined the family bookcases.
Ollie, a 1942 Stanford graduate, was in college when his parents built the house, so most of his childhood memories of the Hamlin property pre-date the house. For a time, though, the bedroom with the en-suite bathroom and walk-in closet located off the hall between the dining room and the master bedroom was his room. Apparently, he shared the bathroom with a canine fraternity buddy from Stanford.
“Rudy was a pet down there and when I graduated no one wanted him, so I brought him home,” said Ollie, with a smile. “I’d wash him in the shower and then quickly throw him out the window so he wouldn’t get everything wet.”
There is one room in the house you can’t help but love — then and now.
“The library was everybody’s favorite,” said Ollie, as he walked towards the inviting paneled room just off the living room. It served as the Hamlin’s family room but could just as easily be used as an executive office. Its fireplace, built-ins and custom hexagon ceiling are original, as are the large windows, which now overlook the garden and pool. The wet bar with the Dutch door in the corner of the library was a popular spot for all ages, said Ollie, including all the kids who liked to spice their soft drinks with maraschino cherries.
The home’s original views were magnificent but Ollie explained that, with the house standing alone atop otherwise undeveloped land, the family decided to add some natural wind barriers.
“All the pine trees were planted from one gallon cans,” recalled Ollie.
Today, the Hamlin House sits in the heart of Sky Hy Ranch. In many ways the main house remains unchanged from 1941. The commanding views, however, no longer surround the home. What strikes a stronger chord are the beautiful window views of the varied gardens that embrace the house on all sides, and the paths that Gayle built to connect them, personally placing each paver.
The house bears Judge Hamlin’s name. Always has, and likely always will. Each of us, though, makes a mark on the history of the homes we live in. Gayle’s legacy on the Hamlin House comes with a Zen-ful gardening touch.
The big question remains: What lucky family will move in next and what will their Hamlin House legacy become? One thing for sure, this home won’t stay on the market for long.
Says Dana: “Given the penchant for people to buy and live in this house for long stretches of time, if you’ve ever wanted to see inside the Hamlin House, now is your moment.”
It’ll be open on Sunday, April 14, from 1pm – 4pm. Stop by!
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Dana Green is an award winning Realtor. Born and raised in Lafayette, CA, she continues to live in Lafayette with her husband and children. This blog focuses on topics of interest to people who live in Lafayette and its neighboring cities -- from real estate to lifestyle. Please... join the conversation!
We welcome your comments, questions and opinions. If you'd like to talk more privately with Dana, you can reach her at
Dana@DanaGreenTeam
(925) 339-1918
