Santa Rosa is the northwestern entry point for California’s famous wine country. It’s home to lush vineyards, shopping, nightclubs and theaters. Main Street is an eclectic mix of restaurants, businesses and boutiques. The city is known as California’s cornucopia for its Mediterranean climate, rich vegetation and variety of wildlife.
Needless to say, it’s a pretty cool place. At Ongaro and Sons, we think it’s also a pretty cool place to offer the best products available and professional services.
Santa Rosa’s History
The sunny city has a rich history that goes back to the days when it was home to Pomo tribes that called themselves Bitakomtara. When the Europeans arrived, smallpox swept through the tribe, killing almost everyone.
Settlers from Spain built adobe houses and raised livestock, founding the town in 1833 and naming after Saint Rose of Lima, the first lay person born in the Americas canonized by the Catholic Church.
Santa Rosa was a small agricultural community until 1850 when Wells Fargo established a post and general store. Shortly thereafter, in 1867, the city of Santa Rosa was incorporated.
The 1906 earthquake destroyed most of Santa Rosa, doing more damage proportionately than was done in San Francisco. Following World War II, the city grew in part because it was the location for Naval Auxiliary Landing Field. Abandoned by the Navy, it was later reopened as a civilian airport, which closed in 1991. It served as a film site for the movies Diehard and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!
Speaking of movies, Alfred Hitchcock filmed the thriller, Shadow of a Doubt, in Santa Rosa’s downtown in 1943, but many of the buildings in the movie were destroyed by the earthquakes of 1969. Still surviving are the rough stone Northwestern Railroad Depot and the Empire Building with its gold-topped clock tower. The Man Who Wasn’t There, a 2001 film by the Coen Brothers, is set in Santa Rosa of the 1940s.
Today, according to Wikipedia, Santa Rosa is the largest city in California’s wine country and Redwood Coast, as well as the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area and the 27th most populous city in California.
Things to Do and See in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa has plenty of opportunities for both visitors and residents. Within the city, across from the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, the Charles M. Schultz Museum and Research Center honors the creator of the Peanuts comics. After coming to the area in 1958, Charles spent over 40 years writing his Peanuts comic strips. The museum houses his collection of comic strips and drawings, photographs, books, and many other treasured media items and memorabilia.
The Luther Burbank Home and Gardens is open to the public to display Santa Rosa native’s horticultural introductions. The Sonoma County Museum showcases local artwork, unique jewelry and other objects native to the area.
The Safari West Wildlife Preserve is home to more than 1,000 animals The Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra has been performing for more than 85 years, but now they do it at the new Green Music Center. The North Bay Theater Group combines 40 theater companies and also performs in Santa Rosa.
While located in wine country, Santa Rosa also hosts a number of breweries and brewpubs. These include the Russian River Brewing Company, Iron Ox Brewing Company, Third Street Aleworks, Bear Republic.
Speaking of cold drinks, Ongaro and Sons is expert at keeping people cool in their homes and businesses. We’re a family-owned business since 1932, proudly serving Marin, Sonoma & Napa Counties with honesty and integrity.
Santa Rosa Tubbs Fire
In 2017, the Tubbs Fire destroyed some 5200 homes and historic buildings, burning nearly all of Coffey Park on one October dawn. The entire state of California has experienced a tremendous increase in wildfires; besides the destruction of woodlands and property, the smoke is a significant source of air pollution. Besides irritating the eyes and lungs, high levels of smoke particulates can cause serious problems for those with poor health conditions. When outside air is potentially dangerous, Ongaro and Sons has the products you need to breathe easier indoors.
Santa Rosa Flood Threats
Another unfortunate side effect of wildfires is that the destruction of trees and ground cover makes the area particularly susceptible to flooding. Residents near burn areas need to be especially vigilant during heavy rains.
Flood water damage to basements and home exteriors can easily overload plumbing systems. If water is not thoroughly and properly removed, furnishings and carpeting deteriorate over time due to the likely growth of mold. Severe flooding also overloads water tables, which can affect the quality of drinking water. Ongaro and Sons are expert in recommending and installing home water filtration systems that help ensure safe drinking water.
Outdoors in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa enjoys perfect weather for being outdoors almost all-year round. Perhaps the only drawback to going outdoors is seasonal allergies. For most of us, it’s annoying to endure a runny nose or headache caused by allergies. For some, however, allergies can pose significant health risk.
Ongaro and Sons offers a set of tips to help relieve your allergy suffering. Regular maintenance of your heating and cooling system, including changing air filters, is particularly important to making it easier for you to breathe at home.
Ongaro & Sons Services Santa Rosa
Ongaro and Sons provides a full range of plumbing and heating and cooling services to Santa Rosa. When Santa Rosa residents call us, they know they’ll receive quality workmanship and incomparable service.
Plumbing
For any and all plumbing jobs related to your home, Ongaro and Sons provides a variety of residential services including inspection, installation and repair. Our technicians are experienced with drain cleaning and maintenance and repair, including installation and repair of garbage disposals. Experienced certified plumbers carefully and thoroughly explore your plumbing, using drain line cameras when necessary, so that we can identify the problems and fix exactly what is wrong.
HVAC
Ongaro and Sons designs a Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) system using a diagnostics approach to provide the highest levels of efficiency and comfort. Ongaro and Sons technicians are trained for all residential makes and models of forced air and air conditioning repair. Our fully stocked trucks have replacement parts on hand for most required repairs, and if we don’t have the part on hand we can get the part quickly so that you’ll be up and running in a very short time.
Boiler Repair
Ongaro and Sons technicians make use of the latest diagnostic equipment and years of experience to determine a problem quickly and get you back up and running as soon as possible. They are highly trained in boiler repair and regularly attend boiler manufacturers training courses. We work on most all major manufacturer models. Regular boiler system maintenance and annual tune-up ensure longer lasting equipment and lower utility bills. Should your boiler need replacement, we carry most major brands.
Duct Cleaning, Repair and Replacement
Central air conditioning and heating are the top energy consumers in most California homes, so ensuring the efficiency of your entire HVAC system can yield big improvements in energy efficiency. When we think about saving energy, we usually focus on the furnace and air conditioner units, but a leaky duct system can reduce your climate control system’s efficiency 20 to 30 percent. These leaks also bring unwanted dust, unconditioned outdoor air and humidity into your living space and take money straight out of your wallet.
If your home is over seven years old, have your ducts professionally tested by one of our certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) technicians via an energy audit. If needed, we can do a thorough and effective cleaning, repair or even replace leaky ductwork.
Indoor Air Quality
Ongaro and Sons puts the “V” back into the HVAC. Ventilation is the process of bringing fresh air into your home to replace stale air filled with indoor pollutants such as cooking smells, pet odors and/or tobacco. Proper ventilation is not only key to the efficiency of your home heating and cooling system, but to your indoor air quality and you and your family’s health. While air filters and air fresheners remove particles from circulating, they don’t bring in fresh air. One simple way to correct this is to open doors and windows, but this is not always practical. It also allows outside allergens and pollutants into the house.
Ongaro and Sons offers a number of solutions to increase the quality of your indoor air, including everything from a filtration system to a complete home purification system and fresh air exchanger system. We’re a family-owned business. No one knows better than us the importance of protecting the health of you and your family.
Contact Us
Santa Rosa is about enjoying all life has to offer, but residents still experience everyday headaches when it comes to maintaining their properties and fixing problems. Ongaro and Sons is here for Santa Rosa residents as well as commercial businesses to provide full-service heating and pooling, plumbing and boiler installation, maintenance and repair. Contact us with any questions or discuss your needs, and experience 100 percent customer satisfaction.