Magazine

Andrew Yee/Special to the Town Crier

Handcrafted fairy houses populate the front yard of Mountain View resident Sarah Azzopardi’s home, above. Azzopardi, below, used materials like soda can tabs to create the shingles of her fairy houses.

When Sarah Azzopardi was young, her grandmother told her a story of magical fairies – small creatures that slept through the day and danced through the gardens at night. Retelling the story to her 2-year-old grandson decades later not only rekindled Azzopardi’s love of magic, but also sparked what has turned into one of her greatest hobbies: making fairy houses.

Tanya Kucak/Special to the Town Crier
A front yard of lacy phacelia, California poppies and other wildflowers is a magnet for pollinators.

Claude Monet famously said, "I must have flowers, always, always."

I think of that quote whenever I see a garden designed or inspired by Kate Frey. She designs lush gardens bursting with a multitude of flowering plants and humming with life, using California natives and other drought-tolerant plants. In a presentation at the National Heirloom Expo, she discussed "Pollinator Gardens: Gardens That Give."

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
A sloped roofline and the warm tones of the stonework soften the modern exterior of this Summerhill Avenue home.

Ever fall in love with a house when you walk in the front door?

Home builder Abbie Bourgan aimed to make that happen with his recent project on Summerhill Avenue in Los Altos that he calls a "transitional contemporary" home.

"It’s contemporary but with traditional elements such as a sloped rather than flat roof," he said. "And the earth-tone colors of the exterior warm it up."

 

When Mountain View author Susan Alice Bickford entered her family’s summer cottage in Vermont nearly seven years ago, she realized something was askew.

Photos courtesy of Rashee Rohatgi
Los Altos resident Rashee Rohatgi, bottom right, practices Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of healing, through integrating herbs and spices into her cooking. The dishes she makes include veggie poriyal, top center, and sevia, top right.

Earth, air, fire, water and ether. Los Altos resident Rashee Rohatgi weaves the five elements of life throughout her everyday routine, through the principles of Ayurveda.

Photos by Audrey Chang/Town Crier
In an effort to make their home more environmentally friendly, the Chang family of Los Altos shops with reusable bags, above, and often purchase clothes made from remnant textiles, below.

Anyone who walks into my house would probably notice the canvas totes by the front door, the multiple recycling bins and maybe even the drawer packed with plastic bags.