Call the Landscaper or The Bear Gets Teeth
Every July 4th, Smokey Bear rides the fire truck down Highland telling us only we can prevent wildfires; last year, Piedmont started acting like it believes him. January 1, 2026, Smokey got teeth.
“Wildfire is a very real threat to Piedmont now,” Fire Chief Dave Brannigan warned as the City Council voted on December 1, 2025, to designate the entire city as Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and adopt California’s new WUI fire code—rules that will solidly impact how every serious remodel and new build in town gets done from here on out.
In practice, that means any new house or major remodel now has to use fire‑resistant roofs and exterior materials, ember‑resistant vents, and meet defensible‑space/vegetation standards around the home—not just in a few mapped “high‑risk” pockets, but citywide.
Existing landscaping is now part of the wildfire conversation, and the rules have gotten stricter; enter the teeth. Piedmont can require you to clean up vegetation and add defensible space, and if you ignore notices, the City can do the work, bill you, and lien your property.
In the Other News
In plain English, landlords must provide and maintain a stove that safely cooks food and a refrigerator that safely stores it in order to legally collect rent.
This seems like common sense until you think about the hotplates (dating myself) and microwave kitchenettes that seem so common in yesteryear’s college towns.
Reader Question
This week’s reader question brings to mind one of FDR’s classic bon mots:
“There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Interview, N.Y. Times, 22 Jan. 1911
Q: My neighbor’s fence is falling into our yard and a couple of their trees are coming over to our side of the property line. They’ve been promising to “do something about it” for a few years now, but nothing ever happens. What can I do beside keep asking them to do something?
A: If your neighbor keeps promising to fix the fence or trim their trees and nothing happens, stop waiting and start acting.
In California you can trim branches back to the property line and you can always send written notice and involve the city if needed. But before you escalate, be honest about whether the problem is really worth the time, attorneys, and aggravation—it’s usually cheaper to handle repairs yourself, ideally with your neighbor’s cooperation.
The smartest move is a calm heads‑up. Let them know you’re planning to shore up the fence and trim the trees at your expense and ask them to work with you; it typically saves money, time, and, quite literally, mends fences.
Did You Know
We all know where Mulberry’s Market is, but Piedmont’s first “Mulberry business” wasn’t selling coffee and sandwiches—it was raising silkworms.
In 1885, the Ladies Silk Culture Society launched Piedmont’s first real “industry”.
A 15‑acre silk farm planted in mulberries near what are now Dudley Avenue and Littlewood Drive, where young women lived on site, tended silkworms, and reeled cocoons in a two‑story workhouse overlooking open country. It was a bold attempt to create respectable, self‑supporting work for women, but local labor costs couldn’t compete with cheap imported silk from China, and the operation shut down after roughly ten years.
Mulberries themselves, however, got the last word—some of the best remaining trees now stand at Hampton Park in front of Piedmont Play School, designated as Heritage Trees and offering a living echo of the city’s brief, unlikely silk era.
Real Estate Roundup
December 18, 2025 – January 18, 2026
Piedmont’s turn‑of‑the‑year market was small but sharp, and here’s the headline: every closed sale this period logged zero days on market, which means none of you ever saw them.
The mid‑market around $2M didn’t close anything but quietly reloaded with new listings as sellers decide to ride lower rates and thin inventory into an early spring.
At the top, anything over $5M mostly sat or withdrew after long days on market, a reminder of how discerning the ultra‑luxury buyer pool really is, One stoic mid‑tier listing finally went pending after more than a year—proof that there’s a buyer for every listing.
By the numbers: median sale price (heavily skewed by one 8‑figure deal) was $7.375M, with 2 closed sales, 1 pending, 8 active, and 3 withdrawn.
Ellen and Charlie’s Favorite:
Last week Ellen (she hadn’t got back from a silent retreat in Soquel before press time) wasn’t able to comment. This week Charlie decided to let her “off leash” so to speak—it turns out her favorite property never made it to the MLS—and her response is classic Ellen, concise, pointed and appropriate.
I caught up with her at the park Friday and when asked to comment on properties not making it to the MLS?
“Unfortunate.”
She refused to comment further but if you know you know.
Questions? Comments? History? Tips? Favorites? I want to know. america@grubbco.com
