Columns

The housing market in Sonoma County in 2024 has been impacted by high interest rates that have kept some buyers out of the market, resulting in slower activity, especially at the higher end. However, with the Federal Reserve recently cutting interest rates, the future looks brighter as we move into the final quarter of this year.

This Week in H’burg is a weekly column featuring photos and fun facts from local photographer Pierre Ratté. Each week we’ll feature a new photo from Ratté along with a fact about the subject matter of the photo.

Yard art around town comes in many forms. Whimsical. Creative. Unique. Here are a fun few. These cacti sporting sunglasses and straw hats are out on Dry Creek Road. The water-saving rock spiral lawn with pink flamingos is along University Avenue. If you look closely,...

Ski resorts transport people up mountain sides in elevated moving chairs—literally. A suited butler-ish person greets, holds the chair, making sure passengers are comfortably and safely seated. Thank you, Jeeves.  Generally, pleasant music is playing for this interchange, and then in the next magical moment,...

Ahhhhh. The sweet smell of petrichor last week was a welcome joy. Petrichor? Yes, petrichor: the pleasant, earthy odor that follows gentle rain after a dry spell. Cool word, isn’t it? Pictured above are a few drops highlighting the Crocosmia crocosmilflora, or Coppertips Montbretia....

'We are fielding a lot of questions these days about our upcoming Building Modernization Project. The planning stage of the project is nearing completion and we still anticipate a start date for construction around Sept. 1...'

Back in the ‘Burg. Here’s the Plaza’s beautifully decorated tree. And here’s another digital tree, beautiful in its simplicity at Healdsburg Community Church.  The Plaza’s tree is 43 feet tall and hails from Oregon. The sign next to the tree tells its story. Left in...

100 years ago – July 19, 1923 Ball Fans ‘Kick’ Against Aviators Many complaints have been made by spectators attending the baseball games against the airplanes which, almost every Sunday, do flying tricks over the crowded grandstand and bleachers. During the Napa game a plane swooped down...

"Announcement has been made this week in 1975 that the Healdsburg House, a restaurant at 25 Grant Ave., has been sold to the former chef of the Golden Bear Lodge in Kenwood and his wife. Gene Boulware, who has been chef at the Golden Bear for 20 years, expects to re-open Healdsburg House soon. He purchased it from its original owner, Augustine Tito..." The restaurant later became known as Giorgio's.

Macadam refers to a road-surfacing material and a method of construction. Developed in 1820, it’s named after inventor John McAdam. His method and material was a major breakthrough improving on Roman stone and cobble construction. McAdam’s invention relied on small angular rocks compacted by traffic to create a self-locking stable and relatively smooth surface. This and other Fun Facts in the latest Snapshot.