I’ve sold lots of homes for lots of different families and individuals since I became a full time Realtor in 2004. After all that time and a couple hundred sales, mostly in Marin and Sonoma Counties but also several in Napa and Solano, I’ll be putting the house I grew up in on the market this spring. I’ve sold homes in Tiburon before, including one for our neighbor at 18 Tanfield Rd, who just so happened to have been my babysitter and changed my diapers! I truly enjoy and appreciate sales like that, working for people I’ve known since childhood.
We’ll be bringing 19 Tanfield on the market hopefully by mid-March. The location is very special. Tanfield is one of the few private roads in Tiburon, and number 19 is at the end of the cul-de-sac. It’s a short street that runs to the top of a knoll, which was subdivided into seven either one- or two-acre parcels, facing the City, Mount Tam and the East Bay. Our house has a dead-on view of Mount Tam, which is perfect for sunsets, and from our deck we can see the Golden Gate Bridge. We used to also be able to see the Richmond Bay Bridge, but too many trees grew too tall, and we wouldn’t want to sacrifice those trees to get that view back. As it was, we had to window an oak in our back yard to get a better view of the iconic red towers joining Marin and San Francisco.
My parents raised a very awesome family in that house, if I do say so myself. It was a very lively home, perfect for entertaining because it had so much privacy. My father was a jazz producer among other talents, and my parents used to throw parties where musicians like British jazz pianist George Shearing would come and tickle our grand piano. I was blown away when I read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and he referred to Shearing as a ‘musical God.’ My father produced the great jazz pianist George Duke as well, and Stephane Grappelli who was known as the ‘grandfather of jazz violinists’ according to Wikipedia. I have clear memories of listening to Monte Alexander play on our family piano at several parties, he was a fabulous entertainer. That was all happening in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
By the late mid to late 70’s and into the 80’s the dynamic changed in the house. When my parents went away, their kids did play. In particular, two of my three older brothers were in several bands and whenever my parents travelled the house it would be filled with sounds of rock ‘n roll jam sessions that often turned into teen parties with zero adult supervision. And that’s really the best kind, right? We survived, and in fact even thrived.
I am eternally grateful to grown up with a wonderful, large family in such a special location. I’m sure whoever lives at 19 Tanfield Rd next will cherish and appreciate the home just as much as we have.