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 The nice thing about remodeling an older home in a neighborhood of such homes is that you need simply walk around the area with your eyes open to find ideas for exterior architectural details.
That's what Aaron Raymond did when he remodeled his 1942 French Normandy home in the Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles. While previous owners had taken off the decorative corbels on the front porch, Aaron noticed them on other homes in the neighborhood that had similar architecture. So he asked his carpenters to re-create them.
He used a similar tactic when thinking about his second-story addition. In other homes of likewise vintage, he noticed the second story hung over the first by several feet, with decorative corbels visually tying the two together. See that here.
We're not all lucky enough to live in neighborhoods with older homes, but if we are so fortunate, the homes themselves can be a great inspiration.
See the whole story of Aaron's remodel.
(After photo: Jay L. Clendenin, Los Angeles Times; before photo: Aaron Raymond)
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 Do you ever feel you spend too much time outside enjoying yourself? I do.
While the dishes and laundry and dust are building up inside, I can usually be found outside watching the birds, fiddling with a fountain, pulling weeds, keeping track of my polliwogs and frogs, contemplating the garden, pondering my fall plantings.
And sometimes I feel a tinge of guilt about shirked responsibilities inside the house.
Well, no more. My newest excuse to be outside: I'm preventing disease.
I'm referring to a story in Monday's L.A. Times, Sunshine may be nature's disease fighter
Here's what the article says: A study released today found that men who are deficient in the so-called sunshine vitamin -- Vitamin D -- have more than double the normal risk of suffering a heart attack.
Just last week, another study found that low levels of Vitamin D increase the risk of diabetes, and a study last month linked deficiencies to an increased risk of dying from breast cancer.
The findings join a growing body of evidence indicating that an adequate level of the vitamin, which many people can get from 20 minutes in the sun, is crucial to maintaining good health.
So spending time outside is not a vacation from household duties. It a duty to one's health. Don't you agree?
(Photo: Kathy Price-Robinson)
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I'm not a cat person so I can't judge this home-improvement innovation. Would your own kitty like a "cat run" like this for sunbathing, bird watching, tree climbing?
And all without the danger of getting eaten by coyotes and other howlers? I mean, why should dogs have all the fun in their runs?
What would your kitty think of all this?
See the whole story and more photos in the Home section.
See a cat feeding station.
(Photo: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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 Question: I was recently building a children's playhouse and began to put the walls up. As I did, the neighbor who lives behind me came over and said that we were blocking her view. The view she has is of the back of our house. The playhouse would be approximately 8 to 9 inches above her 9-foot fence. She said she was going to find out if she could stop us from building it. Is this possible from a legal standpoint? Thanks, Marcus
Answer: From Pardon Our Dust's "resident builder" Alon Toker:
It depends on what exactly is being constructed. Is it built to function like a treehouse or a kid's playhouse? Or is it built as a permanent structure that could be used as a spare bedroom or office?
If the former, this is not a building-and-safety, planning or zoning issue and the city is likely to stay out of it. If it's the latter, however, plans and permits would be needed as well as inspections, and if these were not secured, the neighbor might have unwelcome leverage.
The noted 9-foot fence, by the way, might be counter-leverage that works to your advantage, as it too might not be legal. The typical maximum fence height allowed is 6 feet.
To read for yourself what the City of Los Angeles building code says about accessory buildings, pergolas, retaining walls, excavation in cemeteries and more, click here.
Alon Toker is president of Mega Builders in Chatsworth. If you have a building-related question, e-mail it to podblog@aol.com and include "Resident Builder" in the subject line.
(Photo: Playhouses.com)
See more Q&A
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 Dear SoCal Gardeners: My mother-in-law gave me this Chinese elm tree (click photo to enlarge) and I planted it about five years ago.
It's never done that well. It grows fast but the leaves get blackened and the branches break off.
The latest break took off about a third of the tree, and it looks as if it's rotten inside. There are little reddish marks along most branches, which I imagine are some type of pest.
I don't want to fight these pests with chemicals. Maybe I don't water it enough? But I don't want a tree that needs a bunch of water. Maybe my climate is too humid or cool for an elm to grow easily? I'm a few miles from the ocean and we get the marine layer. If it's the climate, I'll just take the rest of the tree down and allow the volunteer oak underneath it to grow up instead.
Fellow SoCal garden enthusiasts: Any suggestions? Insights? Experiences with elms?
(Do you have a SoCal gardening question for this forum? Please send an email to podblog@aol.com or post below.)
(Photos: Kathy Price-Robinson)
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At the urging of reader "tarbubble," I asked the designers at Pamela Burton & Company what lawn substitutes they used on their award-winning Malibu landscape (which was featured previously on this blog).
I got a response from Burton associate Stephen Billings. First of all, regarding grasses in lieu of lawn, he recommends referring to the Sunset Western Garden Book for a list of alternatives to turf for lawns.
As for this particular landscape, three of the ornamental grasses we used are:
• Muhlenbergia capillaris
• Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'
• Nassella tenuissima
And here's more info I dug up:
Muhlenbergia capillaris (left): As summer is winding down and with it your blooming annuals and perennials, Muhlenbergia capillaris (Pink Muhly Grass) is springing up — giant puffballs of cotton-candy pink, so airy you expect a breeze to carry them away. A source of late-season color, this native grass is effortless to grow and tolerant of just about anything Mother Nature throws its way. The grass forms a nice little hedge, edging, or middle-of-the-border ribbon of color from spring through summer, but when the rosy-pink plumes arise on 4-foot stems, it grabs the garden spotlight. Tolerates heat, humidity, poor soil, and even drought. See a white version called White Cloud. (From home Depot)
Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light' (right): A beautiful grass whose white margins on its very narrow leaves give it a creamy-pale green from a distance. Blooms late and doesn't tend to self-sow, although it may do so moderately in moist areas. Grows to 6 feet tall. (From Home and Garden TV)
Nassella tenuissima (left): Also called Mexican feather grass, it is soft and shiny in the spring garden. Nassella tenuissima should be trimmed severely in the later part of the summer as the seed heads start to dry. Once matured the seed is very fruitful and can become something of a pest. The florets are very prone to sticking in socks or the fur of your pets. This is not recommended for gardens near wild areas as the Mexican feather grass can easily escape. Sometimes sold as Stipa tenuissima. (From California Gardens.com)
(Photos: Muhlenbergia capillaris: Home Depot; Miscanthus sinesis: HGTV; Nassella tenuissima: California Gardens)
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 What's the best part of a vacation? It's coming home, right?
So why not make the whole vacation the best part and stay home in the first place. You save $50 to $120 on each tank of gas you don't use. You save $15 on each piece of luggage you don't put on an American Airlines plane. And think of the carbon credits! Get out the halos.
But staying home for vacation — a staycation — requires a little preparation to make the place feel special. Here are some tips to make your home a destination:
• Wash the windows. That alone could make many homes feel resort-like.
• Place pots and vases of flowers around the place. Act like some company's coming that you want to impress with your gracious lifestyle.
• Plan a few creative projects: Make the gumbo you've always wanted to attempt, or a stained-glass window, or a gravel pathway through the garden.
• Buy a new outdoor grill. You could spend your tax rebate on this. And when you cook on this throughout the summer, and avoid heating up the house with indoor cooking, the carbon credits just keep on coming.
• Stock up on books and read them. Maybe that's why people fly so much, to justify a few hours reading. Just calculate how much time you spend packing, driving to the airport, parking, standing in the ticket line, going through security, waiting for your flight, getting your flight cancelled, waiting in line to reschedule your flight, waiting for that flight, missing your connecting flight, waiting to use the restroom, and so on. It adds up to quite a few chapters.
• And finally, set out some bird seed and watering dishes and sit back and enjoy the show.
Read more on staycations at MSNBC, Consumer Reports and the Wall Street Journal.
Your plans?
(Photo: Kathy Price-Robinson)
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 Pamela Burton & Co. won an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for the gardens and hardscape (seen above) at a Malibu beachfront home.
At first, the owner wanted lots of bright green turf. But the designers explained how that would be out of place with the sand and chaparral of the local natural geography and would need gobs of water. Eventually, the design team —Pamela Burton, Stephanie Psomas, Andrea Zurik and Stephen Billings — persuaded the owner to plant a sustainable landscape with sandy trails and low-water-use plants.
See more pictures and the whole plot plan, which includes a permeable driveway.
(Photos: Bruce Botnick)
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 A proposed amendment by the Canton City Council in Ohio could put homeowners who let their weeds and grass grow too high in jail.
As the law stands now, according to The Repository in Canton, more than 8 inches constitutes high grass or weeds and first-time violators face a minor misdemeanor, which carries up to a $150 fine and no jail time.
The new law would make a second offense a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $250 and up to 30 days in jail. Ouch!
But here's the rub: With an increasing number of homes in foreclosure, and owned by the bank, there's no one to throw into the pokey.
I mean, you can't jail a bank. Can you?
What do you think about this proposed law? Do you have a few neighbors who could use a wake-up call on their weed issues?
(Photo: Kathy Price-Robinson)
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SoCal swimming pools don't seem as popular as they once were. Maybe it's the $40,000 to $80,000 or higher price tag?
But how about looking at a photo of a pool? That I can afford. And color studies have shown that we are tremendously affected by the colors we observe. Blues and greens make us feel cooler, while oranges and reds make us feel warmer.
So in honor of today' scorching temperatures, I present you with the pool in the Los Olivos backyard of Michelle Griffoul and Michael Byrne. I feel cooler just looking at this, and I welcome you to use it as a screen saver.
And no, those aren't real stingrays, but ceramic tiles that Michelle made (she's a tile designer and manufacturer) and embedded in the bottom, along with other ceramic critters. If Michelle is not traveling, I'll bet money she's in this pool today.
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The nice thing about remodeling an older home in a neighborhood of such homes is that you need simply walk around the area with your eyes open to find ideas for exterior architectural details.
