For Mark Sherwood, the dream of restoring the historic Rockridge home at 5380 Shafter Avenue has become a years-long journey marked by setbacks and countless difficult decisions. Determined to preserve the property’s architectural integrity, the road to completion has been far longer and more complicated than expected.
At the moment, Mark, his wife Stephanie, and their three children are living in a rental home in Encina Park off Pleasant Valley. Their daughters, Cora, 6, and Franny, 4, will attend Park Day School next year, while their youngest child, 9-month-old Julianne, was born during one of the most challenging periods of the renovation process.
The project came to a halt in April 2025 after mounting concerns about delays and management issues with the contractor. Joinery Structures was eventually brought in to complete the job due to their expertise in custom woodwork, cabinetry, and historic-home restoration.
The family has already found the experience to be dramatically better, especially having them closely available due to another job they have down the street. Thankfully, the project is now progressing on schedule and within budget, with an estimated completion date is March 2027.
“I went from being very bad at this to being better at it,” Mark reflected. “We’ve learned a lot. Now we’re working with a team that treats problems as things to solve together, not as a fight. That’s made all the difference.”
Good craftsmanship has remained a primary objective, including the ADU, built by a father-son bricklaying team from Petaluma who used an original brick-laying method. It’s a slower process that uses traditional masonry techniques common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—updated for today’s earthquake safety standards.
“We have pictures from [previous owners] Jerry Roy and Paul Pilgrim, and have been in discussion with Jerry. We have photos of how it originally looked with the asphalt-shingle roof and brick-and-ivy, and we wanted something that that looked like that—modernized with what we were doing.”
Inspired by the images, Mark developed a vision that he describes as “London and Charleston meet California.”
As construction continues, the home is being modernized behind the scenes. Structural improvements have included the removal of two original brick fireplaces (due to earthquake hazard). The house is now almost entirely electrified with heat pumps for heating the home and hot water, rooftop solar is already installed, and infrastructure has been designed to support future battery storage.
“I’m an electric vehicle engineer, so it’s vehicle-to-home ready, which is how things are moving,” explained Mark. “Thermostats are hidden in closets with wireless sensors. There’s no TVs anywhere except the basement because the children don’t watch it much… Cora is a bookworm, every day, all day. She just wants to read Babysitter’s Club right now, that's what she's into.”
Mark did all the electrical work himself and added three meters—one for the ADU, one for the car, and one for the home—controllable with SPAN panels. According to Mark, these “smart” panels control where the electricity flows. This way, during an outage, stored power can be directed to where it is needed most, like the refrigerator or heater, for example.
While pleased with the progress, he deeply regrets the emotional toll the delayed renovation has taken on both his family and the neighborhood. He hopes community members understand the intent behind the project, though he worries the lengthy construction has left a negative impression.
Ultimately, the family wants neighbors to know they have poured immense time, money, and heart into creating a lasting, updated home—one that respects its history and contributes positively to the community for generations to come.
