Home sweet 1/8th home
The Sonoma house at 1405 Old Winery Court, purchased last year by Pacaso, which then attempted to sell 1/8th shares in a “don’t-call-it-a-timeshare” scheme, has been removed from the company’s online listings. Has the company given up on its initial strategy of “democratizing second home ownership” by investing in homes with buy-ins affordable to ‘everyone’? (The Zillow estimate of that home was $2,750,000; Pacaso paid $4,050,000; the 1/8th share prices were of course juiced accordingly). Pat Smidores is one of the angered neighbors who founded Stop Pacaso Now, a group she says is getting inquiries from other areas plagued by Pacaso – Tahoe, Santa Barbara, Park City, Bend. “We are in a position to connect them and help them get organized. Our role has grown from just getting the house on Old Winery Court out of Pacaso’s hands.” You would think they were sorry to have gotten us so angry and organized and would have sold the house some time ago.”… Smidores notes that Pacaso bought and has listed a $10 million home on Hale Drive, above Sonoma up off Norrbom Road. It happened to be owned, she’s heard, by a friend of Spencer Raskoff, co-founder of both Pacaso and Zillow. Does that mean the company will concentrate on high-end luxury homes? “Who knows,” she says, “I have given up trying to figure out how they think.”
The 2021 grape harvest was light in terms of an average crop but still larger than in 2020, according to the Ciatti Company, the world’s largest broker of bulk grapes. With the category of $15-$25 per bottle wine sales increasing, “we expect to see continued demand for North Coast grapes.” The 2021 prices are up significantly from 2020, when prices were artificially low due to contract renegotiations and cancellations over worries about smoke taint. But how will it affect the emerging day-drinking market segment, where the bottle always seems to be half empty?
There’s now a third local chapter of Rotary International, named the Rotary Club of Sonoma Springs, launched last month with 30-plus members. Club president Sandra Otter said the group, which meets twice monthly via Zoom, will target its philanthropy and service projects in the Springs area. “We aim to build camaraderie and trust, and to embody civility and respect within the community where we meet and live,” she said. One member is Mara Kahn, who served as president of the Rotary Sonoma Valley in 2020. She exited that group over a dispute regarding the location of the club’s weekly luncheon. The meeting spot had for years (before the pandemic, anyway) been Ramekins, which was bought (and renamed Seven Branches Venue & Inn) by the ever-controversial LeFever Mattson company. Several members couldn’t abide by Ken Mattson’s politics and resigned. That club has since moved the meeting spot elsewhere… More Mattson: Josette Brose-Eichar recently visited his unfinished multi-mansion compound on Highway 12 and Moon Mountain; she was not impressed. See her comments on page 7.
Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH) has been doing the good work for over 50 years now, exemplifying the mission and meaning of ‘nonprofit.’ Its expenditures in 2021 – providing food and financial assistance, transportation, clothing, medical equipment – totaled about $580,000. Of that amount, more than 95 percent, repeat, 95 percent, went to providing direct services to clients… The little things can be so important. Story #903: a sewing machine donated to FISH was given to a woman who visits the Clothes Room regularly. With it, she was able to take on side work of sewing and mending to supplement her income. Volunteers save thread, buttons, and zippers for her.
In Sweden, Mary Ann Cuseo explains, almost everyone out walking or running picks up trash while they exercise. It’s called Plogging, and she’s laid down a polite challenge to take up the challenge here – especially since there seem to be discarded face masks all over the place. “It gets you out in the fresh air, and makes you feel that you make a small difference helping the environment. If everyone joined in, we might be able to make some progress.” Plog on!
Deb Carlen, The Sun’s Creative Arts editor, has passed away. She was a character, that one. Like all editors, she loved the written word but had little patience for writers. She grew up near Atlanta and her dad ran a newspaper, so she was ruthless with instances of bad grammar, mixed metaphors, and people who drank Pepsi. Irascible, charming, witty, and again, God help you if you split an infinitive. And all expressed with a bit of a sassy Southern Belle drawl. I’ll miss her.
–Val Robichaud, [email protected]
