Inside Mill Valley homes
Damp is the through-line. A house on the canyon floor near Old Mill Park can go weeks in winter with no direct sun on it, and that turns up as mildew in the grout, a bloom along north-facing sills, and a musty note in closets backing onto a hillside. Crews carry different chemistry here than they would in a dry inland town, and more of the visit goes on bathrooms and less on dusting.
The second problem is what arrives on shoes. Redwood duff, bay leaves and tanoak litter drift onto decks and travel through the house all year. Homestead Valley and the lanes climbing above Throckmorton are the worst for it. We open those visits at the entries and work inward, instead of finishing at the door and walking the debris back across a floor we have already done.
What we walk into in Mill Valley
Almost nothing here was built to a tract plan. The oldest cottages date to the 1890s summer-camp era, the bulk of the stock is 1920s through 1970s custom infill, and nearly every house steps with the slope: split levels, half-flights, a deck off the main floor. Hardwood and tile dominate and carpet is uncommon. Lots are wooded and narrow, driveways are steep and short, and a number of streets are barely one car wide.