East Bay Home and Gardens

East Bay Then and Now: Some East Bay Buildings Were Inspired by Precedent

By Daniella Thompson
Friday October 13, 2006
In Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, the only architect worth his salt is the individualist who tosses all historic precedents onto the trash heap. Published in 1943, the novel was a battle cry for the revolution of modernism, which was expected to take hold from then to eternity. -more-

Garden Variety: New Native Plant Nursery Blooms in Cull Canyon

By Ron Sullivan
Friday October 13, 2006
Pete Veilleux wrote something to the California native-plant mavens’ mailing list the other day: “It’s October! Time for squirrel stomach pie—my memere’s specialty. She called it poor man’s toot cake.” -more-

About the House: The Truth About Seismic Gas Shut-Off Valves

By Matt Cantor
Friday October 13, 2006
The anniversary of the Loma Prieta is upon us once again and still so little has been done to prepare for our earthquake. That’s right. Loma Prieta wasn’t ours. It was in the mountains of Watsonville nearly 100 miles to the south. -more-

Seeing Red: The Strategies of Female House Finches

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 10, 2006
I tend to take house finches for granted, as I suspect most birders do. But there’s more to these ubiquitous little birds than meets the eye. -more-