Newsoms may have bought a nightmare

I hope Mistermayor and the Missus love their new home just the way it is, because just changing the drapes might result in a public hearing. News broke in June that the Newsoms planned to purchase a 3,200-square-foot home on Masonic Avenue from fancy-pants designer Candace Barnes.

But just seven months earlier, in November, Barnes wrote a letter to the Planning Commission complaining of a two-year ordeal in which a neighbor filed seven complaints related to renovations at the Masonic Avenue residence. (Here's the letter: Download Candace_Barnes.)

According to the letter, Barnes was attempting to make some ordinary changes, but a neighbor contested everything, including sidewalk repairs, tree removal and dimensions of a new fence. All told, resolving the issues cost Barnes in excess of $80,000 and caused “feelings of oppression, revenge and harassment,” the letter said.

And though I have been unable to contact Barnes for confirmation, a source close to the matter tells me that she also blamed the renovation nightmare for her divorce from Mr. Barnes.

In light of all this, plus the housewarming gift of feces left on the front steps when the Newsoms moved in, perhaps they should forgo the feng shui consultant and hire an exorcist.