Inside the House
The house - built and designed by Arlo - is not only a work of art to look at from the outside, but just as much from the inside. After entering the house through the front door you have the living room and the circular staircase leading to the upper floor to your left. Straight ahead you can see the kitchen and the dining room table. Arlo and Robyn's bedroom and a little office space with a computer are located to your right. The upper floor consists of different small niches, which the four kids used as bedrooms. There is also one room on the second floor that is slightly bigger, nicknamed 'the rock room', where Arlo stores numerous Native American artifacts of the Maidu tribe that he found on the property while farming in the fields. There is one more staircase reaching the third story which only contains one room, this room is used as a small office or guest bedroom.
The two videos above will give you an impression of the layout of the house: The first video (03:15) shows you in detail how colorful, winding, and personalized the rooms are and lets you discover smaller artwork and collectibles; the second video (06:32) gives you a better overview of the layout of the house and the arrangement of the rooms in general. It takes you on a tour though the entire house and consists of only one take.
Like the driveway, the living room is a social place where people meet and talk, especially if it is too hot or too cold outside. There is a big filing cabinet filled with artwork from the 1960s, which Arlo and Robyn happily showed us one afternoon.
There are visitors almost every day at Olala Farms, they visit to play cards with Arlo, or to have enriching conversations with Robyn, or to help out on the farm or hang out. Often the guests stay for either lunch or dinner, enjoying what Robyn has prepared for them. Here you have the chance to see how a typical lunch or dinner looks like.
Robyn is one of the broadcasters of the radio show 'The Garden Forum' at the local radio station KVMR, which airs every first Friday of the month. Based upon years of her own experiences as a farmer, Robyn is answering listener's questions about gardening, farming, and homeopathy. We had the chance to accompany her to the radio studio in Nevada City and to see her in action.
This cabinet is located next to the kitchen and contains everything from canned vegatables, spices to dried herbs, and even seaweed for making sushi.
There is always something cooking on the stove: rice, mush, or stir-fry (always filling the house with a delicious smell).
The water coming out of the taps (in the kitchen and the bathroom) needs to be filtered before it's drinking water. This is due to the water coming from the ponds and springs located on the property.
The supply cabinet is located on your left, next to the fridge. The path ahead leads to the back door and to the second kitchen where Robyn prepares her homeopathy tinctures and salves.