Ellen Ruby Blog's: Prolific Painter: Color Runs Rampant at This California Cabin in the Woods

Thursday, 6 August 2020

Prolific Painter: Color Runs Rampant at This California Cabin in the Woods

This home hidden among the redwood trees is a private oasis near the Russian River in Sonoma County. Quite apart from its beautiful locale, the residence has also served as a colorful canvas for a local artist.

The 1,078-square-foot home on Old River Road sits on almost 2 acres in Forestville, CA. It’s currently listed for $625,000, after debuting on the market for $649,000 in May.

“It’s perched up in elevation. You’ve got a real kind of winding driveway to the home, and when you’re up there with all the redwood trees, it’s like you’re sitting up in a birdhouse,” says the listing agent, Julia Sullivan. “It’s so beautiful. All you see are trees.”

The home is about an hour north of San Francisco and close to the wine country in Santa Rosa and other parts of Sonoma County.

“You have no neighbors around you. You just get the feeling of serenity and privacy up there, yet you’re just minutes away from stores and restaurants and city life,” Sullivan explains.

Exterior of home in Forestville, CA
Rob Martel

This is the second time in about four years that Sullivan has worked to sell this house. When she sold it to the current owner in 2016, it had neutral colors. Not anymore.

“The house is owned by a local artist, as you can see from all the painting on the walls and murals she did,” Sullivan says. “She told me she felt that the colorful walls made the home feel brighter than just the cream-colored walls that were there when she bought it.”

The walls in both of the bedrooms are colorful, and one has private access to the yard. The carpet is new and bright in each of the bedrooms, as well as throughout other parts of the house.

There are two full bathrooms.

“Although they’re very clean, and everything is operable, the bathrooms could use some updating,” Sullivan explains.

The same goes for the kitchen.

“[The owner] actually updated the kitchen cabinets herself. She found an old bedroom dresser and refurbished it into kitchen cabinets, and then stained them,” Sullivan says.

A spiral staircase connects the floors, and an upstairs loft area could serve as a third bedroom or an office.

“It’s windowed and skylighted, and it does kind of look down on the living room. It’s really a cool additional space,” Sullivan says.

The home was built in 1961, and for the area, the distinctive interior paint scheme isn’t too far outside the norm.

“The whole Russian River area is very eccentric, it’s very artsy, its residents are known to be a little different, like this,” Sullivan explains.

“It’s just the kind of funky home that you run into over and over and over again out there.”

There is an outbuilding and an extensive deck that is perfect for wildlife viewing.

“You sit out on those decks and deer come by,” Sullivan says, adding that the owner has also seen eagles, foxes, raccoons, and possums.

Sullivan explains that the recent price adjustment is an attempt to get one of the many people who are coming to see the house to make an offer.

“It’s a unique property, looking for just the right buyer who can appreciate the murals—or if they don’t, at least have the ability to see beyond them if it’s not their style,” Sullivan says.

“It’s just paint. The house has great bones, with space.”