Frankenberry
Well-known member
This will follow my adventures in developing "The Manor at FiglandiaWest". Apparently lockdowns and a pandemic made me go alittle crazy.
Background: The house was build in the late 80's, it is a three story nine bedroom, four bathroom 5200 ft² house on 5 acres about a half mile from the ocean on Californias Central Coast. It is a few miles south of Pismo Beach and the sand dunes. On average the properties there sit on 100+ ft of sandy soil. The weather is very mild if not considered on the cooler side. Average temps are around high 60's. The Central Coast is known for its Mediterranean type climate. Grapes (wine), strawberries, broccoli, various lettuce, avocado, berries etc are grown in the area. If you see strawberries etc from the Santa Maria Valley it is from the area just south of the property.
A friend raised her family here since the early 2000's. The family moved and the house was rented for five + years. The house was rented to a farm worker group (all with work visa's, inspected by the state etc) for five years. One year into their rental, while they were gone for the off season over winter the house had a pipe rupture and it flooded the house for at minimum 1-3 months. This destroyed the kitchen and most of the downstairs. Repairs were done but lets say that it wasn't done well nor completely. It was functional though. Along comes me...
I was offered to buy it a few times over a couple years. Finally, a few years ago I pulled the trigger and purchased it. The workers group paid the mortgage and alittle extra with space in the back to plant and play. Well, not so fast! I was smacked in the head with an HOA conflict that was much worse then what was put forth. Well, fast forward a year and the farm workers left Dec 2022. OK, crap! Now what.
With an empty house that is functional but barely presentable what to do... Who's going to rent this Big House? And now the inflation sunami and housing scretching to a slow crawl, the only offers to purchase it are from vultures for less then what its value is. I didn't want to do short term rental of it (air b&b). This was a terrible time! Stress to the max trying to figure this out! This big mortgage can only be carried for so long...plus repair costs.... I was screwed!
Then the house went a direction I didn't expect. Randomly I had a room renter, then another, and another. It became clear that there was a need and this house filled it, but the property offered so much more then just a room. It offers space, quit, lifestyle, land etc that is missing from most peoples modern life in California. Initially I had a few renters staying in the house during construction. This helped with bills. Still needed more but also needed to finish up downstairs. Eventually we filled each room and completed the "inside" construction. now we are focusing on the outside spaces. long term I forsee a mix of long and mid term renters. Occasionally having short term renters, holding events there etc as well (figs and chocolate , weddings etc.)
Construction:
The entire downstairs had drywall repair, replacement or texture needing to be done. The kitchen is bare but functioning. As we all know, things are crazy expensive and the last I checked, I haven't won any lottery nor been given a ginormous inheritance so blood sweat and tears it is..
After weeks of internal repairs, rewiring etc, drywall repair ensued. This also took a few weeks..
the old cabinets were cut down to a smaller size. Makes the room feel bigger and more open.. day by day, projects were getting done.
No trees went in ground on the property until 3/15/2023. Accompanied by a small ceremony, the first figs ( Cherry Cordial and Prusch Capri with a Filmore grafted branch) went in ground and Figlandia West was started.
Happy day!
So much more work was done and still left to do! Let the adventures begin! If you are visiting the area or passing through, let me know. I will be open for a tour... or just a hello!
We approched renting the rooms out differently then is traditionally is done. this was from my "house liason":
*******
The Manor @ Figlandia West
From Shaun McGinley - house liaison:
Come live with me on 5 acres in Arroyo Grande
The rental market is insane and if you’re not making a relatively high salary, renting a place on your own would be stretching things to thin for comfortability. Renting a room in someone’s home is more affordable, but can be a strange and isolating dynamic. So, when a friend I work with (the owner) posed this opportunity, I couldn’t refuse!
Available now are the rooms shown in this post. Light magically fills the space with warmth, soft grass and fruiting trees decorate the landscape, fresh eggs can be had from the chicken coop out back and time seems to stand still in the tranquility of this manor.
Sitting at the end of a private road, shared with three other homes (each on acreage), I fell in love with the glow and serenity.
You won’t live with your landlord, which means this is an opportunity for you to co-create a space for the price of a room rental.
We get to create community, establish harmony, rest and play in a beautiful pocket of the universe!
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, reach out and we’ll go from there. So excited to share this with y’all, especially the young professionals who want a place to rest and relax without breaking the bank!
Background: The house was build in the late 80's, it is a three story nine bedroom, four bathroom 5200 ft² house on 5 acres about a half mile from the ocean on Californias Central Coast. It is a few miles south of Pismo Beach and the sand dunes. On average the properties there sit on 100+ ft of sandy soil. The weather is very mild if not considered on the cooler side. Average temps are around high 60's. The Central Coast is known for its Mediterranean type climate. Grapes (wine), strawberries, broccoli, various lettuce, avocado, berries etc are grown in the area. If you see strawberries etc from the Santa Maria Valley it is from the area just south of the property.
A friend raised her family here since the early 2000's. The family moved and the house was rented for five + years. The house was rented to a farm worker group (all with work visa's, inspected by the state etc) for five years. One year into their rental, while they were gone for the off season over winter the house had a pipe rupture and it flooded the house for at minimum 1-3 months. This destroyed the kitchen and most of the downstairs. Repairs were done but lets say that it wasn't done well nor completely. It was functional though. Along comes me...
I was offered to buy it a few times over a couple years. Finally, a few years ago I pulled the trigger and purchased it. The workers group paid the mortgage and alittle extra with space in the back to plant and play. Well, not so fast! I was smacked in the head with an HOA conflict that was much worse then what was put forth. Well, fast forward a year and the farm workers left Dec 2022. OK, crap! Now what.
With an empty house that is functional but barely presentable what to do... Who's going to rent this Big House? And now the inflation sunami and housing scretching to a slow crawl, the only offers to purchase it are from vultures for less then what its value is. I didn't want to do short term rental of it (air b&b). This was a terrible time! Stress to the max trying to figure this out! This big mortgage can only be carried for so long...plus repair costs.... I was screwed!
Then the house went a direction I didn't expect. Randomly I had a room renter, then another, and another. It became clear that there was a need and this house filled it, but the property offered so much more then just a room. It offers space, quit, lifestyle, land etc that is missing from most peoples modern life in California. Initially I had a few renters staying in the house during construction. This helped with bills. Still needed more but also needed to finish up downstairs. Eventually we filled each room and completed the "inside" construction. now we are focusing on the outside spaces. long term I forsee a mix of long and mid term renters. Occasionally having short term renters, holding events there etc as well (figs and chocolate , weddings etc.)
Construction:
The entire downstairs had drywall repair, replacement or texture needing to be done. The kitchen is bare but functioning. As we all know, things are crazy expensive and the last I checked, I haven't won any lottery nor been given a ginormous inheritance so blood sweat and tears it is..
After weeks of internal repairs, rewiring etc, drywall repair ensued. This also took a few weeks..
the old cabinets were cut down to a smaller size. Makes the room feel bigger and more open.. day by day, projects were getting done.
No trees went in ground on the property until 3/15/2023. Accompanied by a small ceremony, the first figs ( Cherry Cordial and Prusch Capri with a Filmore grafted branch) went in ground and Figlandia West was started.
Happy day!
So much more work was done and still left to do! Let the adventures begin! If you are visiting the area or passing through, let me know. I will be open for a tour... or just a hello!
We approched renting the rooms out differently then is traditionally is done. this was from my "house liason":
*******
The Manor @ Figlandia West
From Shaun McGinley - house liaison:
Come live with me on 5 acres in Arroyo Grande
The rental market is insane and if you’re not making a relatively high salary, renting a place on your own would be stretching things to thin for comfortability. Renting a room in someone’s home is more affordable, but can be a strange and isolating dynamic. So, when a friend I work with (the owner) posed this opportunity, I couldn’t refuse!
Available now are the rooms shown in this post. Light magically fills the space with warmth, soft grass and fruiting trees decorate the landscape, fresh eggs can be had from the chicken coop out back and time seems to stand still in the tranquility of this manor.
Sitting at the end of a private road, shared with three other homes (each on acreage), I fell in love with the glow and serenity.
You won’t live with your landlord, which means this is an opportunity for you to co-create a space for the price of a room rental.
We get to create community, establish harmony, rest and play in a beautiful pocket of the universe!
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, reach out and we’ll go from there. So excited to share this with y’all, especially the young professionals who want a place to rest and relax without breaking the bank!
