Castro Valley: A beautiful & Scenic 4BR/3BA San Francisco Bay Area home, perfect for families exploring California
Home Description:
Our home is 4BR/3BA 2200 sq ft detached two-story that is perfect for families with kids, but also suitable for a couple or a group of adults. On the second floor there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master bedroom is a very large room (with 4-poster king bed with an en-suite bathroom with bathtub and shower. There is also a Lifecycle exercise bike. The second bedroom which currently has our baby's crib and a twin bed, but this could be converted to two twins. The other room is for our girls which includes bunk-beds (though they are full size and fine for most adults) . The second bathroom is a large family bathroom (with tub and shower).
The ground floor consists of a living room, dining room, a family room, kitchen, small laundry room, full bath/shower and the 4th bedroom (which doubles as our computer room) . The kitchen includes a table that seats six and the dining room table can pull out to accommodate eight. The 4th bedroom includes a nice queen bed and the sofa in the family room opens out to a queen size bed.
We can offer all modern conveniences such as washer/dryer, microwave, Cable TV/DVD/VCR, computer with high speed internet, fully equipped kitchen with lots of gadgets. We have two adult mountain bikes (one is newer Cannondale and the other an older Giant with a kids seat attached) and two girls bikes. We also are a games playing family so you will find many games like Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Cranium, etc, in addition to kids games.
The back garden sports a very large redwood deck and grassy flat area perfect for running around in, ball games, etc. On the deck is a gas BBQ and using this is a favorite pastime of ours in the summer. There is also a nice reclining swing and other tables and chairs to relax on. We have a two car garage, though it has been reduced to a one car garage for storage purposes (bikes, sports equipment, kid things, etc!
We are members of a local swimming pool (3 mins. drive) and can probably share our membership while you are out here.
Lastly, as we have a toddler the home comes complete with stair gates, high chair, strollers, toys, etc.
The Area:
Our home is located on a private road in Castro Valley, California (one of the many suburbs in the San Francisco Bay Area). We are conveniently located for exploring all parts of California. The area requires a car to get around, which, subject to sorting out the insurance details we can offer. We have a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan and a 1998 Ford Taurus (5-seater) for exchange. The minivan seats 7 with some room in the back or on top for extra luggage. However, in some cases the local public transit train called BART can be the best most efficient means. We are a 3 min drive to shops and restaurants and over 40 miles of walking, hiking, and biking trails are located just a couple hundred yards from our doorstep.
The weather here is much sunnier and warmer than San Francisco with summer temperatures in the 70's & 80's and occassionaly the 90's. Depending on your interests here are a million things to do in the Bay Area and here are just a taste of the possibilities:
Castro Valley Area
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- 5 minute walk to local play park and playing field (great for kids)
- 5 min drive to BART train station
- 1 min drive to 18 hole Willow Park golf course
- 10 min drive to free public tennis courts
- 5 min drive to Lake Chabot for fishing/hiking/boating
Greater Bay Area
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- 35 min drive (or 30 min BART) to San Francisco
- Exploratorium – Excellent museum for kids and grownups
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
- 45 min drive to Paramount Great America theme park
- 60 min drive to Marine World Africa USA (animal theme park)
- 20 min drive to Oakland Zoo
- 90 min drive to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk
- 90 min from famous Napa and Sonoma Wine Area
- 4 hr drive to Yosemite or Lake Tahoe
Other Particulars:
We are strictly non-smokers and although we love animals we are quite allergic to cats so anyplace with cats would unfortunately not be a match.
We have family in the area and our neighboors are very nice and helpful. Pickup from the airport may be possible.
Both of us have lived abroad before and welcome adventures in different cultures. We had a great exchange in England in 2004 (references available) and are excited about finding one for 2005!
Our Preferred Destination:
USA or Canada
Dates of Exchange:
Two weeks in July/August 2005
Who We Are:
We are an Anglo-American couple with two well-behaved girls aged (10 and 7) and a well-supervised two year old boy! Marc is a California native who grew up about 25 miles from Castro Valley and works in the computer software industry. Becki comes from Poole, England and she has the true 7x24 job in the house as a full time homemaker.
Both of us came to faith in our late teens early twenties and are very active in our church (10 min. walk away) with Marc serving as a Deacon and both of us involved in Sunday School teaching. We seek to serve and glorify God in all we do.
We enjoy family trips, the outdoors, board games and most sports. Marc is a keen runner and cyclist and enjoys coaching kids sports teams. Becki enjoys cooking, reading, languages (speaking French & German) and teaching Sunday School. The girls enjoy horses, biking, sports, reading and all the usual things young girls like to do.
We would look forward to sharing our home with you and getting to know those who we exchange with.
Contact:
If you are interested in a home exchange with these people, please contact them directly by sending email to marc_b@yahoo.com
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