House rental in Cotati, California - The Sage Hen - Property 220218

The master bath has a spacious, tiled shower, elegant curved vanity with granite top and ample light from two windows. The half-bath features a demi-lune vanity with granite top, antique mirror and fragments of stonework from a church in San Miniato near Florence, Italy. The laundry room, with its large capacity washer and dryer, showcases some Lu Watters memorabilia, including his personal table, carefully refinished to preserve the decorative burns made by many an unattended cigarette, where Lu held forth as a first-rate story teller noted for his wit and irrepressible good humor. Lu built his home in what he called 'the wilds of Cotati' when he retired from performing in his famous Yerba Buena Jazz Band. This is one of three homes on the estate, each with its own secluded gardens with trees that Lu himself planted decades ago. Lu chose to build his house on bedrock, unlike the fancy architects of San Francisco who built mansions on landfill along the Marina.

The Sage Hen takes its name from 'The Sage Hen Strut,' a popular song Lu wrote on September 11, 1944, on his way to Hawaii on the SS Antigua, three days prior to composing Hambone Kelly. Lu had had his fill of celebrity by the time he settled in Cotati, preferring to open his home to the wild bird population rather than his two-legged fans. Lu was on a first-name basis with the coastal gulls, as he took regular trips to feed them hot dogs while he combed their beaches for stones and driftwood. His grounds are still a sanctuary for wild turkeys, mockingbirds, hummingbirds and raucous bands of blue jays, which Lu distinguished as 'the west jays and the east jays.