A Visit from the Folks

During the time I was rooming at the Wilsons’, in addition to a contunuing exploration of rural acreage, I also looked at residences in the Bay Area. I recall looking at a home in Walnut Creek, in the area just east of the heart of downtown Walnut Creek, beyond the creek and up the hill a way. As I recall I thought the price was too high, but it would doubtless have been a better purchase than the one I finally made of 931 Seaview.

931 Seaview

The house at 931 Seaview was definitely a substandard house — it had been built sort of piecemeal during the Depression days by an individual who was probably hard put to furnish housing for his family. The house was built on sort of a promontory, which I think was sort of a rock outcrop underneath but close to the surface. To the north of the house the terrain fell off rather sharply into an area extremely subject to slides and to this day I think there are no structures on it.

The house actually belonged to the son of a couple that Jean knew and after the purchase was under consideration and they were aware who the potential purchaser was, talked to Jean about my reliability. I bought the house for $7000, I don’t recall what the down payment was. There was an existing loan to the Bank of America and I also took out a second mortgage (to the parents of the wife of the couple who actually owned the house). Owning and doing the fixing up of this old house was an instructive and interesting experience and I left it in a more presentable appearance and condition than when I acquired it, but it was quilt still substandard in character.

I sold it shortly before Jean and I were married — or the final details may have still be in progress at the time. The pirchaser this time was an individual who sold candy, ice cream etc. from a littl;e panel truck (sort of like the Good Humor man) whom we would see near one of the entrances to Tilden Park. Muriel I think knew a boy from the family at school. He must have been really short of funds as I took a third mortgage for my share of the proceeds — it was paid off less than a year later while I was working in Holland and the bank I was using at the time handled the repayment. The new occupant moved in, expanded the existing structure and probably lives there still. He bought the vacant lot next door (on the non-sliding side of the lot) and carved out two lots. Whether he sold them or built the two houses now there I don’t know.

I had purchased the house early in 1952 and my parents decided to make a trip to California for a couple of months over Christmas that year. I think it was a couple of months — it may have been longer. The visit of course was a change in my life pattern during the time of the visit. My mother of course took over the cooking and I suppose at least some of the cleaning. My father though in the early stages of his Parkinson’s disease was still active and he did considerable work in the yard.

To the north of the house on the steep bank leading down to the slide area was a brambly area of wild berry bushes and my father grubbed most of those out during the visit. In retrospect it may bot have been the wisest thing to do as the bushes served to stabilize the slope and prevent erosion. However I wasn’t around long enough afterward to encounter any difficulties if they did ensue. My father needed a spade fir the work he did on the slope so I bought one for him to use. I still have it and use it almost fifty years later.

This was his preferred implement for weeding, etc. and I have come to agree with him that it is better than any hoe or other cultivation tool ever devised. Although the work he did provided something for him to do during the visit I have wondered since if it wasn’t the wisest thing for him to do with his Parkinson’s. I think when he returned to Iowa he more or less soon became incapacitated by the disease. Was it hastened on by his work on my yard?