M Y   B I O G R A P H Y

   After having flown over one million miles in the United States over the last twelve years, I find it hard to believe that I spent so much time away from my home and life in the Oakland Hills. Like most road warriors you are always homesick, but for me, I had a million reasons why I should not leave my life in Oakland. The weather alone is reason enough to never hop on a plane again; not to mention our proximity to the Wine Country in a short forty-five minute drive, or our fifteen minute commute into San Francisco, and a relaxing thirty minute drive to the beaches of the great Pacific Ocean among many others.

   I now commute three minutes up the hill from my home in Crocker Highlands to The Grubb Company in Montclair Village. Working in Montclair is a great location for traveling five miles in any direction to cover my primary area of focus. This includes my own neighborhood, the cities of Piedmont and Berkeley plus other Oakland Hills neighborhoods like Montclair, Rockridge, and Glenview.

   I am a thirteen year resident of Crocker Highlands in the Oakland Hills. Crocker Highlands is a neighborhood of stately homes and bungalows with traditional, architectural designs such as English, Spanish Mediterranean, Tudor and Swiss Chalet. We are one of the few neighborhoods in the Bay Area that has sidewalks and old-fashioned street lamps with all electrical wires underground.

   As you can see from the pictures to the right, living in your backyard is also a way of life due to our near perfect weather. You will not find air conditioning in any of our homes in the Oakland Hills, Piedmont or Berkeley; no matter if the home costs $400,000 or $4,000,000. Our air conditioning comes from the famous San Francisco fog that rolls in each evening. Thankfully, it usually covers San Francisco for the night, but rarely makes its way over to us.

   I share my life and home with my partner, Dr. Lee Hambrick who is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist. Lee is a founding partner of OBGYN Partners for Health delivering babies and doing surgery at both Summit Hospital in Oakland and Alta Bates in Berkeley. As you might have noticed from pictures on this website, our home is filled with eighteenth and nineteenth century English, French, and Asian antiques. Shopping for them in New Orleans, Nashville, and Atlanta is a passion of ours. We also share our home with two miniature schnauzers that keep us busy walking the neighborhood at least three times a day. Like the owners, the dogs are very social and know a lot of the neighbors. Plus, Lee has delivered at least thirty babies in the neighborhood so it is hard to go unnoticed on these walks.

   I was born and reared in Columbia, Tennessee, which is located forty miles south of Nashville in the beautiful rolling hills. Columbia is very historical as it was the home of the Eleventh President of the United States, James Knox Polk. San Francisco even named one of their largest streets after President Polk. To this day, I am a history buff of the South and have now begun to use those skills on the West Coast writing historical articles on the Oakland Hills, my home and will now focus on Piedmont. I am a member of the Piedmont Historical Society.

   If I did not have to earn a living selling real estate, I would work full time on gourmet shopping every day and preparing great meals at home inviting good friends and neighbors over to enjoy my cooking. However, I do have busy weekdays and weekends and living with an obstetrician/gynecologist, we have to work hard to enjoy and maintain our good, quality lifestyle. I work out regularly at Club One in downtown Oakland, still cook a few meals at home, participate as a member of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, and am a member of Piedmont Community Church.

   If you are looking to move to our part of the world, you have made an excellent choice. If you are a resident of this part of the Bay Area, you are a very lucky person and hope that you are making the most of your life here.