By Clyde Noel

Couple realize their dream to build a backyard kitchen, thanks to ‘HouseCalls’

The color brown was in style during the 1970s. Most of the ranch-style homes in Los Altos had brown kitchens and family rooms when they were built. Over the years, brown has gradually given way to new color schemes and lighter wall coloring.

When Rebecca Sweet and her husband, Tom Urban, bought her parents’ home, the first thing they did was get rid of the brown family room. It’s being renovated in the latest colors.

“I’ve lived in Los Altos since 1975 and grew up in the house. When my parents, Jon and Lindy Anderson, moved to a larger home in Tahoe, we bought the house,” Sweet said. “My parents made a lot of improvements in the house before they moved, but we’re going to finish the house the way we want to live.”

Built in 1954, in the same boxy style as most of the other Los Altos ranch houses of the time, the house totaled 1,600 square feet. After the recent additions, it now has four bedrooms, three baths and approximately 3,000 square feet.

Being outdoor enthusiasts, Sweet and Urban began their changes with the back yard. They replaced the concrete patio with brick, built an arbor and added two fountains. They also included a play structure for their two children, Emily, 7, and Michael, 12.

As an added bonus, early this month television star Ron Hazelton of “Ron Hazelton’s HouseCalls” paid a surprise visit and installed an outdoor kitchen in a national television promotion.

Hazelton and his crew from the home improvement show televised the entire production of how to install an outdoor kitchen. As TV cameras rolled, Hazelton explained to Sweet the mechanics of building an outdoor grill. Instructions for a complete installation will be included in one of the Sunday episodes of the program, probably in December.

“We sure enjoy the outdoor kitchen,” Urban said. “We’ve used it five times since they left last week. It works great, and the halibut we barbecued was fantastic.”

After the crew finished the installation, they tried it out before they left, Urban said. In a group effort, they enjoyed steak, chicken, hot dogs and grilled vegetables.

“I did the cooking,” Urban said, “except when the camera crew started to take photos. Then Ron stepped in and did the cooking for the show. Before he left, he signed the inside of the kitchen door.”

“We entertain a lot with small parties,” Sweet said. “With the outdoor kitchen, we will do a lot of entertaining in the back yard with couples we work with and friends we see a lot.”

One of the parties will be a fund-raiser for Springer School. Sweet and Urban intend to have a dinner party with a Casablanca theme for the winner of the silent auction next month.

There is an abundance of flower beds on the property. Along the side of the house, and in front, there is a subtle use of seasonal blooming flowers. The back yard is landscaped with a profusion of flowers of all colors.

“I love the landscaping my mother and I worked on for years and the flower beds we put in. Flowers are a significant part of my life,” Sweet said. “I’m amazed what nature can do with flowers. They bring me joy, and that is why I plant them all over the property. I would like to be a floral landscaper.”

Sweet has known her neighbors since she was a little girl, when she called on them for trick-or-treating at Halloween.

Urban grew up in Palo Alto but has come to enjoy the Los Altos neighborhood and the children on the street.

“We have an annual block party during the summer months, when all the residents gather and enjoy a barbecue. We have games for the kids and everybody enjoys the day,” Urban said. “I enjoy the area we live in because you can walk downtown to do your shopping, while you can’t find a place to park in Palo Alto.”

The couple enjoy animals and have additional mouths to feed, adding to their suburban-style lifestyle. Besides Daisy the dog and Shorty the cat, they have chickens Betty, Jane and Rhonda who cultivate the flower beds as they spend their days scratching in leisure.