Healdsburg is a very special place so it is no wonder that lots of people have a dream of one day owning and living in the historic downtown area of Healdsburg. There are some amazing homes in the historic downtown district but many of them are very dated and for many people, taking on an early 1900s house and updating it, while maintaining its underlying character, is just too daunting a challenge. Fortunately one local resident and developer, Jim Heid, has a passion for bringing good design to historic properties to create a home that captures the essence of contemporary living while maintaining some of the character of older homes.
Healdsburg is a unique town in many ways because it has a very diverse mix of properties from street to street within the area considered the downtown area. When taking on any real estate project, whether it is restoring a historic building or building from scratch, it is so important to understand the nuances of the hyperlocal market.
So what were the things that drew Jim, the developer of Piper St, also known as Holcomb house, to this Craftsman bungalow?. Firstly, this is a neighborhood that he knows well living just around the corner but in pure practical terms it makes it as easy as any job site to get to by jumping on his bike. One of the invaluable lessons of redoing old properties is the ability to make multiple site visits throughout the day, as there are always unknowns that pop up and need to be addressed before they become big issues, or maybe even a design opportunity lost.
The other key attribute of this property is that it has lots of character and potential, even though it was long overdue for a ʻmakeoverʻ. While some people would shy away from a corner lot, corner lots are actually preferred by Jim because, in an urban area, they do tend to get very good light. One of the other attractions of this house was the front porch. If you don’t know historic Healdsburg, front porches are a real feature, not just of the homes but of the lifestyle (as a great place to enjoy a coffee or glass of wine). 401 Piper St doesn’t just have a token porch that you see on so many new homes. Instead, it has a really good sized, eight foot deep porch that spans the entire front of the house, greatly expanding the ʻlivingʻ area of the home.
One of the projectʻs challenge was its relatively small lot. This was made worse by the way parking had been provided on the site – essentially taking up what limited side yard existed on the lot. While the lot isn’t huge, the location of the parking meant that a good proportion of the lot was lost. One of the key factors in creating some additional value add was to come up with an alternative solution to the parking and so capture more of the lot and create a private courtyard with indoor/outdoor living and a variety of well sized "outdoor rooms". Critical to this solution was to move the house!
When I saw the home shortly after it was gutted and as it was being prepared to be moved on the site (more about that later), it’s easy to wonder why the home wasn’t just knocked down and re-built from scratch. Afterall, any contractor will tell you it is often easier to build from scratch rather than work with a 1910s build house with everything that entails.
The original plan was to solve the parking problem by adding a garage off College Street, opening up Piper and the east side yard to become the ʻoutdoor spaceʻ. But due to zoning constraints of the rear lot line, and a power guy wire, the plans just wouldn’t work to fit it in unless it was attached to the house which would have violated the 20’ rear yard setback requirement. However, in discussing the options in more detail with the city, they suggested that if an ADU was added on top of the garage, then because an ADU would only require a four foot setback to the rear property line. then it would be possible to add a garage with an ADU above it. It’s a great example where a ruling at state level, in this case on relaxing the rules around ADU placements, has actually helped local cities stealthily add more housing into existing blocks.
Not only did this solution solve the parking problem but it created an additional 540 sq ft of living space. What's more, building an ADU opens up the buyer pool to people that are looking either for a home that has the option of additional income from an ADU (an ADU in this location will easily rent for $3000 per month) and or someone who is looking to buy a home that has a separate space for guests. (I always tell people if they move to Healdsburg they will suddenly get a lot more guests than they are used to!). This is a common requirement especially when a home is on the smaller side.
One of the other challenges for this home is the fact that it is on a fairly modest lot and because it is on a corner, it automatically reduces the available space for a yard. Because of the condition of the foundation, one of the critical requirements of the renovation was to replace the foundation. This scared off many buyers and one of the reasons it became a good buy, for someone who is not daunted by this. While it is a major cost and logistical item, there was positive upside. Replacing the foundation required the house to be jacked up and lifted off the old foundation, the old foundation removed, a new foundation excavated and formed, and then a new foundation poured. Once the home had been jacked up, the cost of lifting it up is one thing but at that point, the incremental cost of moving the house is actually relatively small, so this opened up the possibility of moving the house five foot west and a foot south, to put it at the property setback lines. Doing this, combined with moving the parking, generated a lot more outdoor space, a better parking solution, an additional bedroom and bath (as an ADU), a new master bath and bedroom (under the ADU) and then created the indoor/outdoor living that everyone craves.
So while having to replace the foundation would often be considered a negative, it ended up creating an opportunity to significantly improve the property. It will also be reassuring to the new buyer that the house has a shiny new 2024-built foundation which is clearly very different from the original foundation built in 1910.
For Jim, one of the key motivations for taking on a project this complex is to add back to the fabric of the community, while providing more modern living options. By taking features of the old home, such as the beautiful sash windows with their rolled glass showing their age, and restoring them, creates a home with a very different feel compared to a new home. In a city such as Healdsburg, where many of the buyers have chosen Healdsburg because of its historic nature, there is real value in a restored home compared to a cookie cutter new build home that is too often out of place. not to mention the value to the community. By incorporating a lot of the older features that provide character (Jim calls it soul) and then juxtaposing them with contemporary living touches and amenities, a truly one of a kind home is created.
Keeping some of the historic features, 401 Piper will retain the classic millwork, douglas fir floors, historic windows and old growth redwood siding. All of these are requiring specialized craftspeople to refurbish (for example all millwork was removed, bundled, labeled and sent to Concord to a wood stripper who will ʻdipʻ and then sand it all. This approach, is never the cheapest option but it does add real value to some select buyers. The key to Jimʻs approach is to focus on those elements that maintain the most character, create the most unique environment and the best balance of cost and value that will give the biggest return but then also focus on those elements that will provide the best possible experience for someone living in the home. For example, the intention is to refinish the original floors but only if they will enhance the home over and above having new wood floors throughout.
While a key success factor is to create a product that adds value to the community, this project is not a charitable enterprise. The goal is to make the investors some money. As anyone who has done a major project, either of their own home or else as a flip, knows that keeping costs in check is key. When doing a project to re-sell and make a return there are some key considerations to take into account, not least, thinking through who the eventual buyers are going to be. Having the buyer personas front and center when it comes to making design decisions will lead to creating a product that appeals to the maximum number of buyers.
One of the biggest mistakes people sometimes make is over developing for a particular neighborhood or lot. The old adage of being the worst house in the best neighborhood is a pretty good maxim when it comes to choosing a property to develop. The owners of Piper St purchased the home for $843,000 back in 2017 and while it definitely wasn’t the worst home on the street, the street has seen a lot of homes improved over that time which has resulted in the price of homes rising by over 30% during that time.
Any developer will always look for ways to maximize a return. As long as there is a simple way to do it, one of the biggest ways to create value is to increase square footage. The original house, which dates back to 1910, was a 1268 sq ft home configured as a 3 bed 2 bath home on 5580 sq ft lot. One of the big decisions at the outset was deciding how to reconfigure the property. How could the parking situation be improved? Should it be a two story home? What was the best way to add square footage?
The final design decision was deciding whether to add an additional story on the house. A big factor in doing this is often the cost of replacing the foundation but this was required anyway. Because the house is in the historic district, doing any major project requires special approvals from the city. In conversations with the city’s historic resource consultant, changing the mass of the house by adding dormer windows into the roof and creating a second level of living space was going to be very difficult to get approved. While there were plans on the table that involved adding a second story, the additional cost would have pushed the price to a price point that would severely limit the potential buyer pool. Plus there were other factors which meant that this property has a price ceiling beyond which it would be hard to push through.
The other benefit of not doing a second story was having the ability to create a vaulted ceiling in the main living/dining space which will give it a great sense of volume. The overall floor plan in the main house will comprise an open plan living, dining, kitchen but will also have a den/TV room/reading room or a room that could be used as a bedroom if the buyer wanted three bedrooms in the main house. In addition there will be a large primary suite which opens up to a private deck and another guest bedroom and bathroom. By doing some clever grading work, the living space will lead seamlessly to the outdoor space which will have a dining and seating area as well as an outdoor kitchen.
So having made all the big design decisions, the team had a plan. As the saying goes, a plan is nothing until it degenerates into work. In the next blog post we will report on progress as the new home takes shape.