Drew Kelly for The New York TimesBy the time they decided to leave Palm Springs and return to friends and family in Northern California last year, Susan Quillin and Jean Nelsen had already made several moves and learned a couple of things about themselves: They knew what they wanted, and they could act fast.
Both attributes would serve them well in the effort to get back into the San Francisco Bay Area market, with its ballooning home prices and bidding wars. But this time, the two were exploring what was for them new territory in Sonoma County.
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Ms. Quillin, 71, and Ms. Nelsen, 77, met in 1986 when both worked on the organization of Gay Games II, the Olympic-styled event that had launched four years earlier. Since then, they’d lived in three places in and around the oft-chilled Bay Area, then made a six-year detour to the desert of Palm Springs, where the temperature was 122 degrees the day they moved in.
“We wanted something warmer. We forgot to define ‘warm,’” Ms. Nelsen said with a smile.
The two have never been afraid to make a quick decision. Ms. Quillin, a psychiatric nurse, and Ms. Nelsen, an accountant who owned her own practice, retired in the same month in 2017. They bought their three-bedroom Palm Springs home after one visit. And when they felt the tug of Northern California last year, they were prepared to act.
“They were very, very specific in what they wanted, those girls,” said Paula Gold-Nocella of Vanguard Properties, who was referred to the couple by mutual friends. “I wish I had a hundred clients like them.”
The couple preferred new construction, meaning less upkeep, more choices and modern finishes. They hoped for a neighborhood with families, something they had missed while living in downtown Palm Springs. A little yard space for their small rescue pup, Poppy, was an important bonus.
“And everywhere we’ve lived, we have had a view, whether it was the ocean, the lagoon or the mountains,” Ms. Quillin added. “That was really important to us.”
Careful not to overextend on housing costs relative to their lifestyle, they set their budget at less than $1 million and told Ms. Gold-Nocella to focus first on Petaluma, a city of 58,000 (only slightly larger than Palm Springs) that offered a charming downtown and was an easy 30-minute drive from San Francisco. But other areas could come into play.
Among their options:
No. 1
Drew Kelly for The New York TimesThis three-bedroom, three-bath house had 2,450 square feet and was in a new development fronting the Petaluma River. All the bedrooms were upstairs, and the open-plan first floor had a den that could be converted to a fourth bedroom. There was a balcony off the upstairs primary suite with some view, an attached garage and a tiny backyard. The community promised a future riverwalk with paved trails leading to downtown Petaluma. It was listed at $984,294, with monthly homeowners’ fees of $175.
TRI Pointe HomesNo. 2
Drew Kelly for The New York TimesThis three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home from 2021 sat at the end of a cul-de-sac in a newer area of Santa Rosa, a city about 25 miles north of Petaluma known for its wineries. The house had 2,338 square feet and the lot almost twice that, with plenty of yard space for Poppy (though it was artificial turf). The open kitchen had an oversized island and brown cabinets, matching the shutters, that made for a dark look. The property backed up to protected land, with no home behind it, and a public park was just up the street. It was listed at $949,000, with monthly HOA fees of $61.
Golden Gate Sotheby'sNo. 3
Drew Kelly for The New York TimesThe couple liked the sleek, modern look of this three-bedroom, two-and-half-bath new build on a Petaluma hillside. The house had 1,904 square feet and a two-car garage, and the layout was flipped, with the bedrooms on the ground floor and the open kitchen, family room, dining room and den upstairs. The views of the Sonoma Valley were sweeping, but the homes on the other side of the street hadn’t been completed and might affect the view. There was no yard to speak of. The home was listed at $979,000, with monthly HOA fees of $145.
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