Turtle House

June 2006

Location

217 2nd Street

Phone

(530)759-8440

Website

MySpace Profile

Capacity

basement: fits 25 sitting, 50 standing, house/yard: fits tons more

Residents

Current Residents: Rob Roy, James Schwab, Katie Delwich, Dan Masiel, JuliaRoseFurman and Audry Nicklin
Former residents include Eric of Legubitron and Gonzalo of GnarToon

The Turtle House was named after the large turtle once displayed outside the upstairs balcony. In Fall of 2003, someone stole said turtle and the house hasn't been the same since. A large music note graced the balcony before the turtle, and at that time the house was known, appropriately, as the "Music Note House." The house is still refered to as "Turtle House," though some call it the "Ex-Turtle House."

From 1993 to 1996, the Turtle House was inhabited by members of the band Knapsack (some of whom went onto the Jealous Sound while Rob landed in Portland and played with The Hospitals). Knapsack filmed a video in the basement of this house for the debut single from their first album on Alias Records in 1995. The video was first played on MTV's "120 Minutes" and later was repeatedly aired as a "buzzworthy" video. Members of Shove and Skyscraper also lived in the Music Note / Turtle House in the 90's.

In 1998 the Turtle house residents invited the San Francisco based jam band Tea Leaf Green to play in the basement. Engagements at the Turtle House, and elsewhere around Davis, followed in the subsequent four-year period. Perhaps most notable of these was a series of collaborations with the noted Davis blues artist, and UC Davis art professor, Mike Henderson. During this period the Turtle House also played host, and occasional recording studio, to several locally active bands including 11-11, Uncle Harlen's Band, the Animal Liberation Orchestra and various combinations of the members of the Free Association.

In June, 2005, the Turtle House was sold. It was vacated due to a long, long list of health and safety issues that were discovered during the City of Davis' required resale inspection. The long-time absentee landlord had done 30 years of maintenance on the house but had neglected either to get or close the permits on the work. The new owner, former City Council member Michael Harrington, remodeled the house into a 3 unit rental for student/workforce housing.

As work progressed on the house over the summer, the true condition of the house became apparent and the house had to undergo multiple organ transplants. Most of the repairs and substantial upgrades (new central air, new sewer, plumbing and electrical, internet and completely renovated bathrooms) have been completed. The basement is cleaned up and ready for entertaining, with new electrical outlet strategically placed for convenient use.

There was delay on replacing the porch when City Planning required a 500 foot notice to neighbors before resuming work over the Christmas holidays. The porch was completed May, 2006, coinciding with construction on the back of the house that replaced illegally-built back bedrooms with City-approved ones. The yard has been cleaned up and a new plan for the yard is being created.

Upcoming Event:

• email Rob Roy at <robroy AT ucdavis DOT edu> if you are interested in booking the Turtle House.

Past Shows:

• Canseco, The High Speed Scene and Legubitron

• The Zim-Zims, who also recorded some tracks in the Turtle House basement in 2003

• GLUG - Picnic Day 2006, performed on the porch which rocked the neighborhood.

• The www.myspace.com/redevent with Radio Astronomy and Julie Meyers on Feb 10, 2007.

The old Turtle House. You can see the outline of the stolen turtle above the balcony. Photo 2004.Summer of 2005. November 6th of 2005. December 21st of 2005, Mike Harrington standing outside.

Naming

There was much debate about the naming of this house given the winding history. Some people feel that the name should be "taken" from the house, while others simply go on calling it the Turtle House.