Michael's Blog

Well, now I've gone and done it.   I signed up for a Myspace account.  On that blog I want to connect with family and friends on a personal basis. 

From the Buffini course, these would be my A+ family and friends.  This real estate blog, i can reserve for my more community and real estate related posts.  If I need the A+ group in my social network to see something in this blog I can always add a direct link to the topic.

Is is possible to manage two accounts at the same time?  I feel like the Lusitania heading full steam ahead into the iceberg, or the Titanic heading into the torpedo-danger zone  off the coast of Ireland.

(((( I intentially mixxed up the ships and wreck information to see if you were paying attention ))))

During the Alameda broker's tour yesterday I came across a unit that I just have to blog about. 

This particular unit was the highest priced unit at Park Webster Condominiums on Tuesday's tour.  The homeowner took pride in all the custom wood work throughout the unit.

In my humble opinion, the wood work looked like a very dated 1980s entertainment center.  It should all be ripped out by the next owner.

In the corner is a angled bookcase.  On the second shelf down from the top there it is.  A little wood cabinet about 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide.  On it's front door is a crucifix, this little cabinet looks suspiciously like bible.

Lit from above and hinged from the right, this cabinet opens up to reveal an area where some loved-one's ashes once resided.

Close the door to the cabinet and back away slowly......ICK.

I am sure that granny was a fixture at the cribbage games down at the rec center.  But, this gives and entirely new meaning to granny was a fixture when her little resting place is screwed down to the bookcase and is now a real estate fixture.

Close the door to the cabinet and back away slowly......ICK.

I've been commuting along the Oakland's watermelon coast going from San Leandro to Alameda. Locals will know what I am talking about.

It's a name I have nicknamed the stretch of San Leandro Bays' western shoreline.  It is Doolittle Drive from the San Leandro city limit to the Harbor Bay Isle bridge.  The name is in reference to a large piece of concrete shoreline stabiliazation that is painted to resemble a giant slice of watermelon.

[photo of the watermelon]

It's located just opposite the Western Air Museum at the Oakland International Airport.  It's really close to the rental car center.  I can just imagine the people flying into Oakland and taking the rental car shuttle bus to get thier cars and seeing this four foot wide slice of watermelon dipping into the waters of San Leandro Bay.

It's a classic example of pop culture art, folk art or graffiti depending on how you look at it.

Who else remembers the Snoopy and Red Baron wood sculptures along highway 80 in the mudflats of Emeryville?  I will aways refer to that area as Snoopy's dogfight area.

Art.com
A huge selection of artwork reprints lots of photos
http://www.art.com

As seen on TV
Clearing house for TV products.
http://asseenontvguys.com

Certified Staging Professionals Training
CSP Certified Staging Professionals
http://www.csptraining.com

JG International Furniture
Some nice pieces
http://whittierwood.com

Leelees creations
Realistic faux food (not recommended for staging)
http://www.leeleescreations.shoppingcartsplus.com

Maco Furniture
Unfinished Pine and Alder furniture...paint it stain it.
http://macofurniture.com

On the go living.com
http://www.onthegoliving.com

RESA
Real Estate Staging Associaton
http://www.realestatestagingassociation.com/

Star City
take a look
http://www.starcityhomedecor.com/links.shtml

Welcome Home Furniture Rental
Furniture rental
http://welcomehomefurniture.com

Harold Peary, a San Leandro native became a nationally known actor/comedian in the 1940s with his character Throckmorton P Gildersleeve or as he is best known as "The Great Gildersleeve".

The show the Great Gildersleeve was a spin-off of the Fibber McGee and Molly radio shows.  While still a part of the Fibber McGee and Molly show, the location was set in the town of Wistful Vista.  Summerfield became the location when the show was spun-off

Harold Peary went on after the Great Gildersleeve to voice acting in many classic cartoons for Rankin-Bass and Hanna Barbera. He also appeared in front of the camera in Pettycoat Junction, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Brady Bunch.

Harold Peary was born in July of 1908 and lived to the age of 76 until he passed away in 1985.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gildersleeve

We had one of our Realtors showed up at the office today looking tired.  She had been with clients at the home auctions last evening till 1AM.

Her clients purchased a home and she gets at commission for signing her clients in.

I am going to have to watch for auctions like this. If not for clients but to pick up some investment properties

Http://www.USHomeAuction.com is the website for this auction company. 

Alameda's history so much revolves around the resort era and San Franciscans summering here across the bay.  It would be nice to honor that history with something that brings it back.

I would like to toss the idea out that it is possible to create a modern tribute to Neptune Beach's history.

A company called LANDRY restaurants built a restaurant complex called the Kemah Boardwalk near Houston Texas. Landry's which owns, Cadillac Bar & Grill, Rainforest Cafe, Aquarium, Saltgrass Steakhouse, Joe's Crab Shack and The Chart House located all these concepts together with some boardwalk styled attractions, shops and even a hotel.

Landry's could do something similar with the area just to the west of the town center in the area near the current McDonald's, County Court House and Post office.

Here is a link to the Kemah Boardwalk.  Http://www.kemahboardwalk.com

Just an idea I have at the back of my mind.  Not that Alameda would ever go for something like this.  Alameda has been known to be very cautious when it comes to growth.

The Greenslade House of Hamilton New Zealand is for sale. 1.75M $nz.  5 Bedrooms 3 Baths.  This post page is from the real estate office down in Kiwi.   I have emailed the agent asking for permission to repost the photos. In the mean time, here's the link

***edited 2/11/2008***  I heard back from the listing agent MaryAnn Pendy.  Thanks for the permission to repost these photos to this blog.

http://www.rwhamilton.co.nz/show?rd=1&ref=HAM17199#

It's a grand home built in 1911, Nationally recognized and designed by John W. Warren. 

My Great Grandfather and his brother were real estate agents in Oakland California back in the year 1900. Their "Greenslade Brothers Real Estate" office was located at 901 Broadway in Oakland.  The building is still standing and is part of the historic "Old Oakland" district.  It was the building where the Smart & Final Store is located.  I have to look for and post the photo I have of Theodore Henry Greenslade (My Great Grandfather) and Herbert Edgar Greenslade.

http://www.oldoakland.org/

My family goes back even further into real estate where in the Southern part of England, in Devonshire to be exact. The Greenslades of that area are really big into real estate with a company called Greenslade, Taylor & Hunt.  My branch of the Greenslade family came from the town of Tiverton Devonshire.

http://www.gth.net/

San Leandro is located just South of Oakland and Alameda. 

Interstates 880, 580 and 238 all run through parts of the town making San Leandro very commute friendly.  The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has two stations making access to San Francisco, SFO, Oakland International Airport and the Oakland Coliseum very easy.

Lake Chabot Regional Park borders the city to the East.  The San Leandro Marina, San Francisco Bay and Monarch Bay Golf Courses border the city to the West.  The marina has several water-front restaurants for casual dining.

Bayfair Center a large regional shopping mall and is located near the southern border of the city.  Bayfair has Macy's, Target, Bed-Bath-&-Beyond, Kohl's and Century Theaters 16 mega-plex.

Beyond Bayfair Center to the South is an unincorporated area of Alameda County that has San Leandro,  postal addresses. This area is generally considered to be the Ashland district of San Leandro.

In downtown San Leandro is the San Leandro Plaza Shopping center.  This was the historic center of town and redeveloped in the 1970's to create an open landscaped shopping plaza.  Downtown is also the home to San Leandro's City Hall, which has it's own community theater for live preformances.

San Leandro is home to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.  In the area around 139th Avenue, you can smell the chocolate in the air.

Here are some links to the area that you may find usefull.

http://www.hiltongardeninn.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=OAKSLGI

http://www.sanleandromarinainn.com/

http://bayfair.mallfinder.com/

http://www.prurealty.com/Michael.Greenslade/San%20Leandro%20Information.aspx

On Sunday January 27th, 2007 my wonderful father William Moor Greenslade passed away.  He was 76 years old.  He passed from a coronary event while doctors were trying to intubate him for breathing.

He had been the victim of a violent crime in 1966, where he had been gun shot in the chest.  My father never considered himself to be handicapped, in-fact, he cringed at the word.

in 2001, he suffered a massive stroke that atrophied his left side.  He still insisted on getting out and about for morning breakfasts with his friends.

It became time for me to cancel my week's floor time, I needed to be with family for the funeral arrangements.  I sent our office administrator an email explaining my situation.

My co-workers immediately began to offer their assistance in anyway they could.  Deborah put out the idea of sending some flowers to the house. My mother was getting flowers, It was such a nice gesture to send me flowers.  It came in a Proflowers.com box and addressed to me.  I opened it up in-front of my family who had begun to fly in from all parts of the country.  It was such an honor to me to say this is from my co-workers at my real estate office.

Dani and Nick came to my father's vigil service on Thursday evening to offer their support for me.  It was great to see people who cared about me and how I was feeling.  On the day of the funeral and the wake Ron and Linda from the office attended the ceremony and wake.  It was a good feeling to me to have "my friends" surrounding me.

I am doing some floor time here and came across the following article in the Alameda Journal.  Here's the link to the article on online.  I am not sure how long it will be up at this web address.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/alamedajournal/ci_8075959?nclick_check=1

Just in case I'll try to summarize what the article states.

*** Once code compliance is applied against the property amnesty is no longer available.

*** The amnesty program legalizes, currently undocumented construction. which may still need to be made code compliant for safety.

*** To apply go to the following website www.ci.alameda.ca.us/planning/planningdocuments.html

*** A $40.00 fee for the amnesty program

*** A physical inspection is needed.

*** An additional $210.00 inspection fee for projects accepted into the amnesty program

*** You may have to open some walls and openings to facilitate inspectios!

Planning and building department staff are located at rm 190 at 2263 Santa Clara Avenue 510 747-6850

Gregory J. Mc Fann the building official buildingofficial@ci.alameda.ca.us

Down at the end of my street where I live is the city limits between San Leandro and Oakland.  Less than 20 houses away from me is the Dunsmuir Historic Estate.

My mother and I have volunteered here since at least 20 years as docent tour guides.

The mansion was built in 1899 as a wedding gift from Alexander Dunsmuir to his Bride Josephine Wallace Dunsmuir.

Alexander was the son of Canadian Coal Baron Robert Dunsmuir.  Robert Dunsmuir massed a huge fortune on Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada.  The Dunsmuir & Dingle Coal company ended up with three collieries, shipping, railroads, real estate and lumber.

Alexander the younger of the two Dunsmuir sons was sent down to San Francisco, which was the marketplace for their company's coal in 1870.  In San Francisco Alexander was to manage the coal distribution and shipping arms of the company.

Alexander, a single man would spend his evenings in the theaters. He eventually became friends with Waller Wallace who worked in one of the theaters.  Waller invited Alexander to his home.  Alexander met Waller Wallace's wife and the two quickly fell in love with each other.  The affair caused a divorce in the Wallace household.

Alexander and Josephine wanted to marry.  Alexander's parents back in Victoria would not allow Alexander to marry a divorcee and show folk on top of that.  Alexander would be dis-inherited from the Dunsmuir fortune if he was to marry "that woman".

Edna Wallace, Josephine's daughter went with Alexander and Josephine. Waller Wallace Jr., Josephine's son went with his father.

In the height of Victorian Era San Francisco, Alexander and Josephine live together out of wedlock.  This was very scandalous indeed.

Even though Alexander was one of the wealthiest people in San Francisco, he could have lived on top of Nob Hill with the elite of society.  Because of his situation, he lived a very seclude private life, out of the public eye.

The stress of not being able to marry the woman he loved, Alexander took to drinking.

In 1889, Robert Dunsmuir passed away,  Alexander and his brother James began to run the company on their own without their father's direction.  Their mother Joan Dunsmuir still controlled the purse strings of the family fortune.

1899, Joan gave up control of the fortune to Alexander and James.  No longer in fear of being dis-inherited, Alexander proposed to Josephine.  Construction soon began on "OAKVALE PARK" the Dunsmuir estate.

"OAKVALE PARK" built on 500 acres in the San Leandro Hills.  It was to be a lavish country estate in the Country Place design style, with large natural meadows with specimen plantings from all around the world, but still in a natural setting.

The Dunsmuir's chose Joshua Eugene Freeman to design the mansion which is 16,224 square feet in size. On the third floor there was the servants quarters.  The second floor contained a lavish master bedroom suite that contained a his master bedroom and a hers master bedroom with dressing rooms and bathrooms between.  Several smaller quest suites for family and close friends to spend the summers at the mansion.

San Leandro was chosen due to the fact that the Dunsmuirs had now grown accustomed to the privacy that their lifestyle had warranted.  This large estate would serve them just fine.

Well, in December of 1899, Josephine and Alexander finally wed.  They embarked on a railroad trip to New York to visit Josephine's daughter Edna.  Edna Wallace had since become a grown woman, a dancer on the Broadway stage as a Flora Dora Girl.  Edna Married to producer Dewolf Hopper.

Just 40 days into their new marriage Alexander passed away of alcoholic related meningitis. Josephine came back from her honeymoon a widow.  Just 18 month's later Josephine would be dead also, this time, for her, cancer took her life.

Edna inherited the newly constructed mansion, however, non of the money from the family fortune.  She ended renting the mansion out to the Hellman family from San Francisco to use as a summer home.

In 1906 the Hellman's purchased the mansion at auction.  The Hellmans, owned Wells Fargo Bank and wanted a summer home to escape the city.  "OAKVALE PARK" allowed them the room that they could not have in San Francisco.  Amenities were added such as a golf course, hedge mazes, swimming pools, tennis courts.

The Hellman's used the mansion as their summer home until 1959.

The City of Oakland purchased the home in the 1960's and developed the Northern edge of the property into the Peralta Oaks Business Park.

The Non-Profit Organization "Dunsmuir Historic Estate, Inc." operates the house museum, gives tours, educates the community and most importantly maintains and restores this beautiful mansion.

Http://www.dunsmuir.org

Dovetailing off of my blog a few days ago about blogging at Mach 1.3, I wanted to follow up with this posting.  What would the speed be of the Earth be if we calculated the time and distance of the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

A quick google search resulted in the following website: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/earth3.html

It appears that we are travelling around the sun at a whopping 67,000 miles per hour.  Well, let's do the math again on this.  If Mach is 761 miles per hour, 67,000 miles per hour divided by 761 miles per hour that means we are cruising along, doing real estate at  Mach 88.

Think about that for a moment.  if you read this blog for 5 minutes you would have travelled a whopping 1,116 mile per minute and in five minutes, you would have travelled 5580 miles from where you started.  Don't for get about the 16 mph that the earth rotates on it's own axis.

When you place your head on your pillow to sleep tonight, You will never be in that same location again.  This is not taking into account the un-imaginable mph orbit of our solar system around the galaxy.  I will stop here.

I could just hear it now.

Officer: Do you know how fast you were travelling? My Blog reader: 67,000 miles per hour officer!

Lots 1 and 4 of Pleasanton's Foothill Road contained acreage that once contained 170 acres. I confirmed it with the City of Pleasanton historical museum.

This land was the home of San Leandro's mayor Earl Derry and his wife Stella Derry from 1946 until both of their deaths in the late 1970s.

You see Mr and Mrs Derry had a sense of humor about things.  They ran their very own Dairy farm on that site.  Derry's Dairy.

The Derry's moved out there when they sold their Superior Avenue home in San Leandro to my Grandparents William and Agnes Greenslade in 1946.

I reading old newspaper archives about the Derrys, I also found out that the Derry's still owned some land back in Michigan.  Their property was surrounded on three sides by another property.  Oil was discovered on that property surrounding theirs.  I would imagine that they had some considerable wealth besides what his real estate and development career had produced.  It is imaginable that the Derry's owned the Pleasanton property for several years before moving from San Leandro to retire out at the site of where Stoneridge Mall.

It's interesting to note that the Fenton Family of Fenton's Creamery also lived on Superior Avenue.  Was the Derry Dairy one of the locations where the Fenton's got their cream from to make their wonderful ice creams on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland?

Mmmm yummm Fentons.

nuff said for now

I wanted to share with you the photograph that Robert Yelland sent to me of the architect William Raymond Yelland and his wife Edna.  Thanks Rob (btw if you need a great veteranarian doctor for your pet, go see Robert Yelland at this office on Lewelling Avenue in San Leandro)

William Raymond and his wife Edna lived on Coventry Drive in Kensington in a home that he originally designed for his in-laws.

It's a little Cape Cod styled home, something you wouldn't expect from him, if all you knew from him was his storybook style and Normandy Styled homes and buildings.  The home just sold in December from foreclosure.  I need to wait for the new owners to move in and tell them of the important nature of their home, having a home designed by Yelland, but also being the residence of the architect himself. (sounds like an episode from "If Walls Could Talk" from HGTV)

Not everyone knows that WR Yelland designed churches and funeral parlours too.

Clarksburg Community Church. Located just South of Sacramento California in the Delta town of Clarksburg California, this church is at the heart of the community.  This design is classic Yelland through and through. One of his most distinguishing design features is a brick and stucco checkerboard at the gable ends of some of the gables.  This church also has classic yelland bricked arches and a great clinker brick cat slide roof.  Part of the roof is a double conjoined gable.

Chico Trinity Church.  Located in the Butte County college town of Chico, this is one of the largest churches designed by Yelland.  It appears to be a prototype for some churches here in the East Bay which follow the same design pattern as this beautiful church. Located at the corner of 5th and Flume streets in Downtown Chico, this church has a large church main chapel on it's right side.  On the Left side of the church is a smaller single story chapel. Joining the two wings is a two story office and class room wing.  The entry to this church has a fantastic tan brick lattice over a red brick field.

The same basic design can be seen in the San Leandro Community Church located on Bancroft Avenue.

Brentwood Methodist.  Located in the Contra Costa Delta town of Brentwood, not to be confused with the Southern California Los Angeles District of the same name.  This church was built from before the turn of the century.  It may have been moved to it's current location.  The work WR Yelland did to this church was to do an addition creating a centralized entrance and office and classrooms.

United Methodist Church of Endicott - Endwell, Ny.  This is by far the furthest Yelland ever built.  It is still classic Yelland.  On it's steeple are classic Yelland turned finials.  The interior ceiling of it's main chapel is an extruded barrel vault.  That ceiling is very much like the ceiling, in shape, to the ceiling of my parent's home (Derry Residence c. 1927).  This design makes me happy to see another example of a Yelland Barrel Vault.

Yelland also designed the Hislop Funeral Parlour in Auburn California.  It is now known as the "Chapel of the Hills"  Looking at this and the Clarksburg Community church, you can see the family relation to each other.  A beautiful design.

Chico Trinity Church

Clarksburg Community Church

United Methodist Church

Dovetailing on my "Big Planet, Small Minds" blog posting last week. Just think about the numbers for a minute.  The Earth is roughly 7900 miles in diameter.  To find the circumference we simply multiply the diameter by PI (3.14)

7900 x 3.14 = 24086 miles in circumference.

Considering the fact that the day is 24 hours long, or, it takes us 24 hours to make one revolution around the circumference.  We are travelling at over 1,000 miles per hour this very instant.

Imaging Real Estate at 1,000 miles per hour.  Now that is fast.

Mach 1 at sea level is 761.2 miles per hour.  1,000 miles per hour roughly calculates to Mach 1.3.

Just think that if it takes you 3 minutes to read this blog, you are 50 miles from where you started reading this blog.  We travel at about 16.6666 miles per minute.   So you could easily get from Alameda to San Leandro in one minute, providing the Earth rotated in that particular direction.

This number does not take into account the motion of the Earth in it's yearly orbit around the sun.

I should issue you a speeding ticket.

I want to put it out there that I am a big fan of mixed use development.  I look around at commercial business districts, like Webster Street here in Alameda or Bancroft & Dutton in San Leandro, I see oodles of wasted space above each business establishment.

Places like Bayfair Center, San Leandro Plaza and Alameda Town Center should have condo units above housing thousands of people.

It drives me crazy that in someplaces "they roll up the sidewalks" after some of the shops close at 5pm.  How cool would it be if people actually lived directly above these places and were there all the time.

Could you imagine waking up in the morning, getting ready for work and taking the elevator down to the street or plaza level and walking to a bakery, coffee shop or diner for breakfast.

Getting to work would be a matter of hopping on the public transport.

Coming home you can stop by the cinema, have a dinner at a nice restaurant and taking the elevator back up to your condo.

Imagine, adding a level of business offices above the retail and below the condos.  Wow, you could, if you wanted to live close to work. 

 [edited 2/7/2008] 

San Leandro is having some new construction around town.  Most of the new construction is in the higher density row houses.

Cherry Park Square Built by JohnBenCo at the intersection of Superior Avenue and Mac Arthur Boulevard.  8 craftsmans style row houses.  I was instrumental in naming of this tract.  At the planning department meeting for this tract at city hall, I suggested the name "Cherry City Square" in relation to the older portion of Superior Avenue "Cherry City Tract".

Cherry Glen built at the interchange of Interstate 880, Interstate 238 and Washington Avenue. 43 row houses.

Then there's Toscani Place, the Portofino Italian Mediterranean styled row houses on Davis Street. 9 units in that complex.

There is Bayport Court off of Lewelling Avenue.  6 units in the complex.

There is a development scheduled for the corner of Broadmoor Boulevard and Mac Arthur Boulevards.  So far, this is looking like it will be 20+ units in a building looking like the Grand Floridian or the Hotel Del  Coronado.  I like the design they have displayed on the sign at the location.

Just across the border on Durant Avenue and Mac Arthur Boulevard at the old location of Hambrick's 1/4 pounder Giant Burgers will be another smaller development.

On Mac Arthur Boulevard between Dutton and the San Leandro Creek, in the redevelopment zone is the Greenbrier Court.  Single family detached homes.  Great location for dining and Starbucks.

In the Ashland district near Bayfair Center is Citywalk San Leandro.  Condos from Low $300,000.oo

On San Lorenzo's Bochman Road is Village Walk by Olsen Homes.

Liberty Pointe on Liberty Street in the Ashland District by Clarum Homes.