For residents of new Petaluma project, communal living is ‘cozy’

Keller Court Commons, a new development, encourages residents to meet their neighbors.|

The best part of Dee Ballantyne’s new pocket neighborhood home is her front porch.

She had one before when she was living near Healdsburg for 30 years, but this one is different. It’s inviting in ways her old one wasn’t. In fact, it’s those differences between her old porch and her new one that encapsulate why Keller Court Commons has been such a fit for the former therapist.

“My old house, I had a huge terrace – about 125 feet long. It was very formal,” Ballantyne said. “I had no desire to go out (because) it was in full sun. I could see the outside from indoors. But here, it’s cozy the way they built it. And I’m close to the flowers.”

Ballantyne is one of the first residents to purchase one of the eight colorful homes at Keller Court Commons, an infill development that offers “upscale downsizing.” The complex sits off West Street, five blocks north of downtown, on a hill that overlooks Sonoma Mountain.

Ballantyne lived in Alexander Valley on 10 acres of land she and her husband used to own. They had two separate homes on the property, totaling about 7,000 square feet, she said.

But maintaining all that land became burdensome for the sprightly 78-year-old retiree after her husband’s death seven years ago. While conducting an extensive search for a more practical living situation, exploring every sort of modern housing setup there is, she saw an ad in The Press Democrat for KCC and attended a neighborhood open house.

Within 15 minutes, Ballantyne was signing paperwork to secure a home in the clustered housing complex. She officially became the neighborhood’s first homeowner on June 15.

It was KCC’s unique concept - one that forces neighbors to walk the sidewalks and connect with each other - that really drew her in.

“I knew I wanted to downsize and find the right size,” Ballantyne recalled. “So I started thinking, ‘Well, what would that be?’ I had considered housing that was unique … but there wasn’t the concept of neighborhood. Everybody drove into their garage and you never saw who even lived there. The chance of knowing your neighbors and working together was it (for me).”

KCC is the brainchild of Jim Soules, a Napa native and Petaluma-based developer, who unveiled his community-oriented concept in Seattle, where he built 79 homes across seven neighborhoods using the same model.

“This is for people looking for something different,” he said.

The homes are lined by a shared garden, and form a “C” around a courtyard and community clubhouse. Each residence is two stories tall, with two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The interior design is sleek and modern, with a “heavy emphasis on the views,” Soules said. The kitchen features ceramic backsplashes and Spanish porcelain countertops that can’t be burned, heated or scratched.

MAD Architecture, led by Chris Lynch, brought Soules’ vision for these homes to life with three different floor plans. The exteriors are built with low maintenance materials like wood and metal. The only exterior element that’s painted is the door, which matches with a corresponding mailbox at the walkway into the neighborhood. The deck is made with the same material used on floors in chemical plants so spills can be washed away easily with a hose.

There was no ductwork done and there is no air conditioning. The homes are warmed with radiant heating. Solar panels provide about 75 percent of the energy for each residence.

However, the catch is each property is between 1,400 and 1,600 square feet, with a price tag of about $1.4 million. Five homes are still vacant.

“We’re really focusing now on basically letting people know – if you’re interested in community and you’re interested in living in Petaluma close to downtown in a very unique, one-of-a-kind site, come and see us,” Soules said.

KCC was recently recognized with a Gold Nugget, a community planning award, for best residential detached clustered housing, an honor Soules said was gratifying and helped provide some validation that he was doing something right.

“It’s a personal kind of a mission to build this unique housing to show what’s possible,” he said. “That’s what these were. When I did the first ones up in Seattle, people all thought I was crazy.”

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)

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