Golden Home Rx
By Jeannine Patané • 03 January 2007

     Idyllic San Diego life on the yacht has been treating me well, but when the opportunity to housesit in La Jolla during the holidays for friends presented itself, I seized the chance. I love to take care of the homes of people whose company I enjoy and appreciate.
     The Golden Rule applies to home caretaking, just as it should to other aspects of our life. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Others’ homes become my home during my stay, and the longer my stay, the more I commit to the care and tend to the home’s needs. I develop a relationship with the home. The more I know the homeowner and their relationship to their property, the more I can cater to tasks at hand, but there are some tasks I consider universal.
     Whether I stay for a few days or a few years, there are regular tasks that I enjoy making time for. I have a tendency to notice things that need repair and maintenance first, and I make a mental note to what can be fixed in my length of stay, but that’s not the most crucial priority. Most important is to keep the house flowing; it’s a living entity and management is about inflow, processing and outflow.
    A few regular home inflow aspects are utilities, deliveries, groceries and supplies. The La Jolla homeowners didn’t have a properly designated spot for their mail inside, so I placed compartments above an interior foyer door. Now, upon entering the home there is opportunity to physically stretch and recognize their correspondence.
     Already having a basic understanding of the homeowner’s lifestyle, I look around a home the first day I’m there to become familiar with where everything is. If something is lacking I begin a Needs List for the homeowner. It might be cleaning supplies, a well-suited broom or mop for the floor surface, a screwdriver or adjustable wrench to fix a loose fixture or whatever may be an excellent thing to help keep that particular home easily maintained. Without the proper supplies or tools, tasks multiply in difficulty, decreasing chance of the task ever getting done.
    One great tool any house can have is a well-placed calendar for scheduling, and an organized home includes readily available utility & service numbers and information on the area’s recycling/garbage pick-up. I want to know what I can recycle, where to take the trash and when it will be picked-up on the curbside. The calendar is also a great place to note when routine home maintenance is scheduled such as housekeeping or landscaping.
   Outside, I look at the exterior of the house, outbuildings and landscaping, and I observe what might need maintenance or how space can be improved. If the homeowner has fruit trees or other edible plants, I ask when the best time for harvest is and what they do with their harvest. I share a dialogue of suggestions with the homeowners, and their feedback dictates the size and kind of projects I can accomplish for them before they return.
     Just before the homeowners return, I enjoy adjusting the temperature to warm the house up (or cool it down in the tropical climes) by keeping the home fire burning. If the homeowners are scheduled to come back in the evening, I turn on the exterior lights. If any bulbs are burnt out throughout the house, I have made an effort to replace them. It’s a comforting experience to approach your house like you never were away, and a good home caretaker does this by setting the atmosphere as it was before you left, if not by setting the atmosphere better.
     For me, home caretaking goes beyond TLC. It becomes an intimate understanding of a living, structural entity and its users, and the healthy relationship we all have formed together.