“Buying a place in West Marin is not an option,” says Lourdes Romo. “We are considering Portland, Oregon or Olympia, Washington. Ideally, we would have some land and a few animals: chickens, two or three horses, geese. A trampoline. I’d like a place within walking distance from work and from the girls’ school.”
Above: Lourdes and Carlos Romo by Erika Romo; Above right: Clarissa on the Trampoline by Ramon Ramirez; Right: Lourdes and Julissa by Rosalyn Mille
Lourdes shares a house in Petaluma with her husband Carlos Ramirez, their two daughters Clarissa and Julissa, and Lourdes’ sister and brother. The family commutes to Point Reyes for work and school. Carlos does landscaping, construction, and automotive repair in Point Reyes and Inverness. Lourdes is the Family Advocate for the Shoreline School Readiness Program, preparing families and toddlers for preschool.
Lourdes was twelve when her family moved to West Marin from Jalostotitlan, Mexico. They lived at the Mendoza Ranch, where her father was employed. Lourdes became fluent in English, and at twenty-one she won first place learning English as a second language in the state of California. After she married Carlos, they rented an apartment in downtown Point Reyes Station. “We could only afford a studio, and rent went up every year,” says Lourdes. “We had a tiny garage made into a tiny bedroom for Julissa. There was one window and a French door. We had problems with termites and mold.”
“When we found that Clarissa was coming into the world, we started thinking about buying a house in Point Reyes but the prices were too high.” Lourdes and Carlos bought their house in Petaluma three and a half years ago. “We worked every night and weekends, gutting and re-building it, to make it livable,” says Lourdes. The house is worth much more now than when they bought it. It has a smaller plot of land than they would like, so the family is thinking of moving. “I would miss the community, how beautiful the area is, and how safe I feel there. Instead of moving away, we wish we could buy closer to West Marin,” says Lourdes. However, buying a house there is still out of reach.