Almost a decade as renters didn’t dampen Alexandra Andorfer and George Croton’s love of San Francisco. They made probably the most of their 950 sq. toes, even discovering methods to develop their household — now with two canines and two cats — of their two-bedroom simply off Buena Vista Park, close to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
However a number of years spent having fun with food-and-wine weekends with pals within the bucolic Sonoma Valley, about 50 miles north, impressed one other risk: Might the couple go away the town and discover sufficient of what they cherished about it in a small-town setting?
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It was, partially, a query of background. Whereas Ms. Andorfer, 33, had principally grown up in massive cities (Pittsburgh and Baltimore) and attended faculty in Chicago, Mr. Croton, 32, was a product of Santa Barbara, Calif., and its rambling atmosphere. “Santa Barbara has that sort of ‘small metropolis, massive city’ factor occurring,” he mentioned. “It’s very lovely, plenty of out of doors stuff, but in addition plenty of facilities and eating places and enjoyable issues to do.”
Mr. Croton was hotter to the concept of leaving San Francisco, the place the couple met in legislation faculty. Each of their jobs as attorneys had been within the Bay Space, although every may telecommute a number of days per week, leaving room to think about a unique way of life. And Ms. Andorfer was considerably shocked to search out how a lot she seemed ahead to their getaways, particularly to the city of Sonoma, a foodie haven with 11,000 residents set within the vibrant coronary heart of Sonoma Valley wine nation.
“I in a short time may see myself residing there,” she mentioned. “It doesn’t have metropolis vibes, but it surely has eating places and tradition — plenty of issues occurring. I like to prepare dinner and I’m in a bunch of wine golf equipment, together with a number of proper in that space.”
It was Ms. Andorfer who urged visiting some open homes in Sonoma — “only for enjoyable,” she mentioned. Mr. Croton added a wrinkle when he proposed together with Marin County, about 30 miles south of Sonoma, with its coveted mixture of rural really feel and higher-end facilities.
At an open home in Marin County, the couple met Kristen Perry, an agent with the Kristie Martinelli Group at Coldwell Banker who beforehand was an government at a number of tech startups.
“It’s all the time fascinating when individuals go away the town,” Ms. Perry mentioned. “Some take a really very long time to get to the purpose of really being prepared to maneuver. However Alex and George moved in a short time as soon as they realized that they felt fairly positive about it.”
The couple scouted open homes for weeks, in search of a spot with an ethereal really feel and distinctive structure. They hoped to stay inside strolling distance of outlets and providers, as they had been in San Francisco, and needed both an enormous yard or park entry for his or her pets.
With some assist from Mr. Croton’s mom for a down cost, they capped their finances at $1.35 million.
Amongst their choices:
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