Archive for January, 2010

Welcome Home to Gables End.

All indications are pointing to 2010 as a great time to buy. Between low interest rates, competitive pricing, homebuyer tax incentives and recent news via WSJ of the bay area housing recovery, this is a historical opportunity to own.

New Models! New Phase! New Plans!

In just a few weeks, we will be having a Grand Opening celebration of Phase 6. After much feedback, Gables End is very excited to be able to offer a newly designed 4 bedroom floor plan in Phase 6. Beautifully appointed and very functional for your modern day needs, Phase 6 is sure to be a hit with our new E -plan! (Now Selling w/ Limited Availability!) The New E-Plan is approximately 1873 sq.ft., with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, granite countertops, surroundstone in bathrooms, expanded great room, high ceilings, large dual pane windows, skylight in hallway, side by side garage, and much more!
We posted Plan E on our Facebook page. (Click here to have a look)

What’s it like living at Gables End? Watch our video for a snapshot of life in Mountain View.

If you like beer, you won’t want to miss San Francisco Beer Week 2010.  This year’s beer week runs February 5th thru 14th at various San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay and North Bay locations.

The San Francisco Brewers Guild is putting on an event that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.  They already have 92 published events with more coming.  The event was summed up in one clever sentence – “San Francisco Beer Week Is Like Godzilla, Only Bigger (And Not Angry)”.

We’ve listed a couple of “not to be missed” beer loving events in the South Bay:

Brew On Premise (BOP) Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company
What if you could make your own beer on a professional brewing system, under the guidance of award-winning brewers? During the approximately 5-hour process you will make enough beer for a 13.2 gallon keg or about 5 cases of 22oz bottled beers.

1111 Industrial Road Belmont, CA
February 6 (11:00am – 5:00pm)
Admission: $See Website
Attire: Casual

Beer & Cheese Tasting featuring Firehouse Brewery and the Milk Pail
Firehouse Brewery & Grill
Join Firehouse brewmaster Steve Donohue and the Milk Pail’s Steve Rasmussen as they pair Firehouse beers, and some of Steve Donohue’s favorite Belgian ales, with local and imported artisanal cheeses.

111 South Murphy Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086
February 10 (7:00pm – 10:00pm)
Admission: $TBD
Attire: Casual

You can find the entire South Bay SF Beer Week Schedule – Here

All information can be found on their site. You can also check out all the updates on twitter and facebook.  SF Beer Week even has their very own iphone app. I know…of course they do, right?

So Gables End readers…What’s your brew of choice? Any favorite pubs to grab a pint? Share with us!

Have an interest in all things tech?  Since we are located in Silicon Valley, many of our homeowners at Gables End work and play in the tech industry. It seems fitting that Mountain View is home to the Computer History Museum, the only large-scale collecting museum focused exclusively on the history of the computer.

The Museum was first established on the East Coast in 1979.  Later it was moved to Silicon Valley in 1996 and was housed at the NASA/Ames Research Center, until moving to it’s current location on Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View in 2002.

The Computer History Museum has exhibits on site as well as online to extend their reach to virtual visitors from around the world.

The Museum gets high marks from visitors. We particularly enjoyed this review found on Yelp:

“As a computer geek, I like going to museums like this. i’ve been to Tech Museum as well, and this is far better than Tech Museum. Tech Museum is almost like a children’s museum. There is nothing wrong with it, but it’s not the type of museum that you may imagine when you hear the words “tech museum.”
And yes, admission is FREE!
The last time I went, I ended up buying a Walle book for $40 because my daughter was begging me to buy it for her, but I considered it to be a donation because I like the museum a lot.” – Bobby H.

Read additional Yelp Reviews
Admission is FREE for all visitors; donations are welcome.

Join us this weekend for a little espresso and waffles, as Victoria and Antonio give tours of our new model homes and be sure to get your sneak peek of our new 4 Bedroom floor plan (Plan E)!  After much feedback, Gables End is very excited to be able to offer this newly designed floor plan in Phase 6.  Beautifully appointed and very functional for your modern day needs, Phase 6 is sure to be a hit with our new E -plan! (Now Selling)

Note: Limited Availability! The New E-Plan is approximately 1873 sq.ft., with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, granite countertops, surroundstone in bathrooms, expanded great room, high ceilings, large dual pane windows, skylight in hallway, side by side garage, and much more!

We look forward to showing you our lovely community this Saturday and Sunday from 12-4.

Back in July of 2009, the City Council of Mountain View chose Savvy Cellar Wines, Inc. to lease the replica 1888 Train Depot in downtown Mountain View. Savvy Cellar plans to operate a wine bar out of the building similar to a business it runs in Redwood City.

According to a July 9th  article in the Mountain View Voice, Savvy Cellar plans to serve wine and “light foods” and to sell wine by the bottle. The company may also use the space to teach its highly regarded classes on wine.*

We are pleased to announce that they have started the interior remodel to transform the once-vacant train station into a wonderful wine experience for residents of Mountain View to enjoy.  A Flickr Slideshow of the Savvy Cellar interior build-out can be viewed by clicking on the image above or following this link.

For more information regarding this exciting project, become a fan of Savvy Cellar Wines on Facebook and follow along.  We’ve also made Savvy Cellar a Favorite local business on the Gables End Facebook page. The Gables End Facebook Fan page Favorites is like a concierge of local Mountain View services all in one spot!

* Quote from July 9, 2009 Mountain View Voice article

According to a recent article in the Mountain View Voice, our very own Mountain View could be one of 3 transportation hubs to test a new bike ride share program thanks to a $500,000 grant secured by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The VTA envisions 100 bicycles to be involved in the program.

The program would involve bicycles being available at three major transit hubs – Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose with smaller sharing stations within a three-mile radius of each other.

Bike sharing is a relatively new idea to the United States but there are successful transit models in Paris and Montreal.  Basically it works like this – make bicycles accessible to anyone who wants to use them, without the hassle or worry of bike parking or theft.  According to Jennie Loft of the VTA – “It’s more about the commute versus going to the grocery store”. “They can just kind of leave one (bike) behind and then catch up at the other side.”*

Sounds like a great initiative and wonderful program to add to the livability of our community in Mountain View!

* Quote from January 1, 2010 Mountain View Voice article

Finding balance between work and life is sometimes hard to do.  We get it!  So many of us spend our weeks commuting, working long hours in front of our computers, then dashing to daycare or off to errands, only to begin all over again the next day.  It’s easy to forget to take time for oneself.

If you like the outdoors the way we do, you’ll be happy to know that Gables End offers an ideal location for a variety of outdoor activities.  We are conveniently located just minutes away from The Baylands Preserve.  The 1,940-acre Baylands is the largest tract of undisturbed salt marsh and mud flat remaining in the San Francisco Bay.  Considered by many to be one of the best bird watching areas on the west coast, the Baylands has a substantial resident population of birds as well as being a major migratory stopover on the Pacific Flyway. A complete birding map, covering all seasons for year-around fun, can be found here.

However, the Baylands offers much more than birdwatching. There are a variety of activities to do, whether it is on the land – walking, running, golfing or biking – or on the water, wind surfing, and boating (non-motorized such as canoes, kayaks or small, hand-launched boats and sailboards).

There are fifteen miles of multi-use trails providing access to a unique mixture of tidal and fresh water habitats for the whole family to enjoy.  Especially popular is the duck pond!  By living so close to these community amenities, you can make the most of your free-time.

The Baylands, something for everyone and just minutes from Gables End.