It was off the market! The seller actually withdrew the cabin with the idea of putting it back up after the first of the year. But I was giving a tour to a nice couple a few weeks back and their wish list described this little cabin tucked away. I happened to know where the keys were and their dream came true!
Right before escrow closed, the buyer got a nice four wheel drive truck… Did you see the forecast???? A tease of a dusting tonight! Perfect timing!
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor, waiting with sleigh bells…
Dreaming of sitting ’round your woodstove, decorating a tree, cut from your land? How about filling up the cabin with family, friends and hot chocolate for all!? We have a fun forest fixer that is looking for a new family to freshen up and enjoy.
Bruce and Lola Graves came to Palomar and built this cozy cabin to stay in while they designed and built the ‘Big House’ across the road. They had such a wonderful time with their little kids, picking out the location to build both, while insuring the privacy of each. They finished the cabin in 1971. It had a big loft bedroom upstairs and downstairs a sliding door out to a covered patio. Later that was enclosed and is now the sleeping room. Bruce and Lola were very active in those early days of our Volunteer Fire Department and the PMPO. Neighbors thought it would be a good idea to have a Palomar Mountain Land Owners Association. Later that name was changed to be the Palomar Mountain Planning Organization. Bruce was chair for that board for several decades.
Lola enjoyed so much her time on the mountain and and loved having family and friends up for special mountain memories. She made her homemade soap, creative crafts and many pies for fund raisers for the building of the fire department. So the cabin owner has some history here these past 50 years and the PMPO and other organizations are always looking for more folks to volunteer on our favorite mountain. It will be fun to meet the next owners!
Paul Donica saved the day! He lives in Valley Center and loves to come up to Palomar. We were so pleased with his professionalism, service and such a pleasure to deal with. Five Stars!!!
Give Paul a call for all your electrical needs 760-207-4417
Like to search for something on Palomar Mountain News? Maybe you’d enjoy scrolling through the archives? You can also subscribe and the news of your favorite mountain lands right in your Inbox. Simply check out PalomarMountainNews.
Come away to the Cuca Ranch. Look up to see the occasional beauty of snow capped Palomar Mountain in the winter with a bit of a dusting for you.
Wake up every morning to beautiful sunrises and wind down in the evenings watching the sun set over the valley. Do you work from home? Great internet awaits. Would you like a place for the kids to run around and play in the big outdoors? How about your own well for a farm? Or, are you a car buff? Lots of room to add garages, an ADU or two, a big barn or whatever would make your dreams come true.
The Smith Mountain Boys had to cancel their concert at Lazy H tonight. Dutch has that bad flu bug going around. So we’re all staying in and hope to see you at one of the other concerts real soon.
Over the last five decades, mountain men Dutch Bergman and Bruce Druliner have been strumming their guitars and singing along.
The first time we heard them sing was about 1975. Thompson’s Summit Grove (now Mother’s Kitchen) had Saturday Night Steak Dinners for $3.95. True story. But, it wasn’t just the great dinner that drew so many people to the mountain on those summer nights. Being locals, we knew to show up early as there was always a long line outside to get served and enjoy the fun music with the band.
About once a month we still have a great time meeting up with friends at one of the venues.
Looks like we’ll be at Lazy H this Thursday with other mountain friends. Like to carpool? Share our table? Love to have you. Just let us know.
You have three options for December:
December 2022 Smith Mountain Boys Gigs from Denise Bergman
Thursday, December 1, 2022 5:00pm – 8:00pm Lazy H Ranch Pauma Valley, CA 760-742-3669 email = info@lazyh.com **Reservations recommended by email
Friday, December 16, 2022 6:00pm – 9:00pm Heroes (formerly Wynola) Pizza Julian, CA 760-765-1004
Saturday, December 31, 2022 6:00pm – 9:00pm (9pm Borrego midnight) American Legion Post 853 Open to the Public !! New Year’s Eve Borrego Springs, CA 760-767-4001
Tom Mendenhall, Operations Manager at Bailey’s Resort, is inviting the community to an evening of old-fashioned fun.
Bundle up and meet up at the historic Bailey Dance Hall. It will be a delightful evening to enjoy a private showing of the Christmas classic, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.
The Resort is hosting the fun get-together. We are all invited to make up a batch of our very favorite cookies to share. You can enter to win a cozy Bailey’s fleece throw. How fun is that!?!
Directions: State Park Road to Bailey Meadow Road. Drive to the end and you’ve arrived!
Saturday, December 10th from 6pm to 8pm
Thank you Baileys! We’re going through our recipes!
Would you like to join us ’round our table for Thanksgiving tomorrow? This is a real invitation. Realizing most of you have big plans, just wondering if anyone might be by yourself or maybe not motivated to cook this year and like to come on over. We have a few last minute extra seats. We’d love to have you with other mountain neighbors for our favorite holiday.
There is something very special about living on this beautiful mountain. This has been our home for 27 years now. The View from my Desk could never grown old. Love the four seasons, lifestyle and all our wonderful friends. I often say being on Palomar is like going back in time a hundred years or so. Simpler times.
If turkey, all the fixings, pies and of course eggnog (‘Milk of Human Kindness’ for all you Scrooge fans), interests you, we have a place for you.
Properties I’ve had the pleasure in selling since the beginning of the century have some stories to tell. Thought I might share a bit. Just thinking about a cabin that sold a few months back. It sold it for the fifth time and it has quite a fun history:
An old scrapbook was hidden away with the first page dated 1952. (No, I didn’t sell to them … that was the year I was born!!!) Click to see a sketch of their cabin, ‘Hutch’s Hideaway’ and read some delightful guest entries. I’m guessing they sold to a very nice couple I had the pleasure in meeting one day, Harold and Marie.
About 20 years ago on a Sunday afternoon, we’d just gotten home from church and I needed to run out to Birch Hill. Driving along, there was a little couple standing outside their cabin, holding hands. They looked like your favorite grandpa and grandma. We’d never met, so I pulled over to say hello. They hadn’t contacted me at all but were expecting me and introduced themselves as Harold and Marie Overgagg. “We knew you’d come, we’d like to have you sell our cabin”.
So sweet, they shared wonderful stories about how much they enjoyed their time on Palomar and all the friends they’d made over the years. Oh, their vintage furniture was so charming. The sofa and rocker were a split wagon-wheel style, covered in naugahyde. They were very proud to tell me that they purchased the set from ‘Sears and Roebucks’. It looked just like new.
Artist, Gail Rose was their buyer. She saw the potential to design the perfect places to show off her leaded glass windows, add beautiful hand-made tile and breathe in new life to this little gem she named ‘Mountain Rose’. Her next door neighbor and our Mountain Contractor, Tom Fortney, waved his magic hammer, doubling the size, and making the cabin a charming getaway.
Gail lived there about 10 years or so and moved out of state when she sold to Dick and Pat. After escrow closed, they told me they had a company do a feasibility study on vacant land across from their cabin. They wanted to buy the land and build out on the rim. The Rose was so close and they had such a great time walking back and forth, watching the construction. They also had fun updating the cabin with new flooring and some big picture windows to enjoy the views even more.
When Dick and Pat moved to their new home, their buyer, was so pleased to move to Palomar because of the ‘dark sky’ as he was a star enthusiast. However, his commute to work off the mountain, got a little much so he sold to John Washburn, the most recent seller. It had been 10 years since the remodel, so John had quite a bit of work done with repairs and new paint. One fun discovery with all the cleanup, was a pretty nice, vintage sidewalk and stone edging that saw the sun for the first time on my shift the past 22 years.
So, why did John want to move? He came over wanting to talk about ideas to add on to his house. He was dreaming of a garage, workshop, enlarging the kitchen and adding a master bedroom downstairs, too. He really appreciated the craftsmanship of his home so asked my opinion on having Tom take on his remodel. I said, “You should buy Tom’s place! He has been talking about selling for years! It has everything you have on your wish-list including a great garage and you wouldn’t have to live in a construction zone!”
Well John was curious about his idea so went ahead and had Tom take a look. They went over some options then Tom said, “You should buy my place instead!”
Now the rest is history. We sold John’s home to a nice young family (stay tuned!) and he packed up and moved next door!
Yes, Real Estate is always interesting on our favorite mountain. Ah, the adventures on Palomar!
Always glad to connect to do my part to help with the new chapter in your life.
Recently I ran to take pix of my newest listing. The sun was slipping in the sky. I had to slow down a moment to appreciate the beautiful setting and just breathe…
Here is the latest fun that had us out of breath!
So many potential new neighbors and investor buyers were intrigued with the 9 acres for sale on South Grade. It is the listing with the 100 year old home, purchased for $1.00 and brought to Palomar in two pieces. Crestline neighbors decided to make an offer but it would be contingent on selling their cabin to own that Rim-of-the-World view!
Well, a client came to see cabins. Joseph loves Palomar. After years on the coast, he really wanted to live in the forest. I showed him what was active and then realized my new-listing-in-the-wings might be perfect. He fell in love with that view, too. He wanted to make it his own, but his purchase would be contingent on selling the home he inherited in Oceanside:
We called Nathan (my broker and son) who was on his way back from another run to Missouri. Nate met up with Joseph a couple days later, listed the house and had a ton of offers. We recently closed concurrent on his Oceanside property and his home on Palomar!
So, we have some happy sellers and buyers. Rim-of-the-World folks are finishing up their due diligence real quick:
Palomar Mountain News 