VH community memoir

Even before I bought my lot at the northwest end of Village Homes (on Oakenshield), I had experience in the early days of the community. My good friends, John and Lynn DeLapp, were building their home at the opposite end of VH, on what is now Evenstar. As John was the general contractor for the job, he did much of the work. And, some of us helped. I remember working on power stapling the shingles on the side of the house and doing some other non-technical chores. At that time, VH was something new — a subdivision that showcased solar energy and energy efficiency. (A little-known fact is that the VH design ultimately became the basis for the City of Davis energy efficiency building code – which, in turn, became the basis for the State of California Title 24 building code.) Since the DeLapp’s house was close to Russell Blvd, we encountered numerous people wandering around to “look at the solar houses” as we heard them say. There were even buses occasionally. Some aggressive people actually walked up to occupied homes and peered into the windows.

When John designed and built my house, I put a fair amount of sweat equity into the job. With a friend, I laid the tile floor, built the fence, and did most of the interior and exterior (trim) painting. Because I worked on campus at the time and could easily get to my house quickly, often when the City of Davis had important visitors who wanted to see an example of an energy-efficient home I would get a call asking if they could show my house. I’d meet them and give them the tour – a small, affordable, well-designed passive solar home with hot water panels. Visitors representing Readers Digest and the Japanese version of Good Morning America came to my home. Another time, then Davis Mayor Sandy Motley (a good friend) brought a group of city officials from the Sacramento area who were meeting in Davis to see my home. It was shortly after I’d moved in and the inside deck was still under construction. I greeted them with forest green paint covering my left hand and arm, as I’d accidentally spilled paint when on a ladder painting the gutters.