May 6, 2004

STREET SCENEBerwickshire Way

In a peaceful, quiet Almaden neighborhood, residents enjoy the tranquil setting of their homes on Berwickshire Way. The tract houses, built in 1972, are located on a unique private street. Only residents and visitors drive the street as the only egress is McAbee Road and Camden Avenue creating a private enclave.

“I’m a little surprised that you’d be featuring this street,” said Arnie Lawrence, a 16-year resident of Berwickshire. “We don’t have block parties and not a lot of excitement though we’re very comfortable here. It’s a nice neighborhood.”

But perhaps this is what makes the street so special. Neighbors know their immediate neighbors and those who move to the street, stay. Arnie and Diane Lawrence moved to Almaden to raise their son when he was just 4-years-old in a good, solid family area. Their son attended Randal Kindergarten, Los Alamitos Elementary, Bret Harte Middle School and Pioneer High School. He would have transferred to Leland High but was on the varsity golf team and played soccer.

And the street may not have block parties, but neighbors are there when you need them.

“In the 1989 earthquake, the people on the street really came together,” said Diane Lawrence. “It was the first year we lived here, one neighbor brought macaroni and cheese, another had wine. One person had a cell phone and I called Arnie in Santa Clara to let him know we were alright. Another neighbor checked my house to make sure it was OK.”

Diane Lawrence related how her dachshund terrier dog, Carrie, got out of the backyard when part of the fence went down in a recent storm. Their neighbor, Terry, spotted the dog on Camden Avenue. The escapee wouldn’t come to her, so she walked the dog to the Lawrence’s home. Now that’s being neighborly. They’re also the kind of neighbors who pick up your mail and watch the house when you’re on vacation or let you know you’ve left your garage door open in the middle of the night.

Lawrence also told about the time Carrie encountered a skunk that came out of a storm drain and received the spray square in the face. After a few baths, the dog was fine but probably a bit wiser about the black and white animal. Other animal encounters have been tamer. The family witnessed two deer on their front lawn who wandered down from the Quicksilver Park.

Ron and Diane Lane have lived on the tranquil street since the mid 1970s, raising four children who graduated from college and have careers of their own. Retired from bio pharmaceuticals and drug development, Ron enjoys the Almaden Senior Center sharpening his skills in computer database and digital cameras. So proficient in computers, he now coaches the class.

“They have very good classes,” Ron said as he watered his manicured lawn on a warm spring afternoon. “It’s a good way to spend time. We’re over at Vineland Library now until the new center is built.”

Jean Steer lives down the street. Her husband, Cliff lived with a transplanted heart after a 1985 operation. His second heart came from a 23-year-old accident victim. He was known as the “heart man” as he spoke to many young people in schools and the juvenile correction facilities advising them against smoking and drinking. To drive the point home, he showed his old diseased heart as an example of what alcohol abuse and cigarette smoking can do to your body. His kidneys failed in 1995 due to the immunosuppressive drugs taken so his body would not reject the heart and Jean donated her healthy organ. Cliff died last year, but his video lives on teaching responsible and healthy living choices. A copy may be obtained at cjsteer@aol.com.

Jean Steer spends some of her time with her longtime neighbor, Diane Lane, going to Curves and Tai Chi classes.
Stan and Roma Rhamy moved to Berwickshire Way in 1978 and raised two children on the family-friendly street. Roma was greeted by Welcome Wagon and was so impressed with the organization she joined and is now a past president and vice president.

“People who move here, stay,” said Roma Rhamy. “It’s a quiet neighborhood. We know our neighbors on each side and across the street and that’s about it. There used to be a lot of children, but most have grown and left. Only a couple of little children now.”

Stan Rhamy had other stories about Berwickshire Way. He remembers when Armand Tiano lived next door to him and would see him in undercover narcotics attire complete with long hair, goatee, shabby clothes and sandals, jumping into an old, beat up van. Tiano, a 26-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was convicted of child molestation charges and is now on trial for an alleged charity scam. Rhamy still believes Tiano was innocent of the abuse charges.

Rhamy laughs about one Halloween when one of the neighbor kids dressed up as the villain from the “Nightmare of Elm Street” movies. So convincing was the garb, a very serious police sergeant showed up at Rhamy’s door asking if they had seen Freddie Krueger.

Only one house sold on the street this year. A four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home sold for $720,000. No doubt they will be there a long time. Many of the homes have been remodeled, with windows added, new beveled glass oak doors and intricate brick work. The turnover rate is slow; people who move to Berwickshire tend to stay. Perhaps Jean Steer said it best.

“We were one of the first ones to add windows in the front of the house to let light in,” Jean Steer said. “Now quite a few have done the same. I was thinking of moving since Cliff is gone and it’s a big house. But it’s a good neighborhood and a nice house, so why move?”

—By Jeanne C. Lewis

Would you like your street to be featured in Street Scene? Drop us a line at Julie@timesmediainc.com or call 494-7000 x 216 and your street may play a starring role in an upcoming issue of the Almaden Times Weekly.