When Bob Hillhouse opened the doors of Bicycle Works in 1979, mountain bikes had not taken off yet and bicycling was just catching on as a legitimate form of transportation for adults.

It was in the early 1980s, while attending Napa Community College and Pacific Union College, that Karen Alvord’s parents became the full-time caregivers of her sister’s three daughters.

You won’t find work by Aaron Haynes featured in any Napa art gallery. But it can be seen all over town — on storefront windows.

Most real estate techniques that become standard practice are born not by a lawyer in a big building, but by individual Realtors working with buyers and sellers in the field. The short sale is no exception.

Thinking about a kitchen or bath remodel? NV Design Studios opened at 1506 Main St. this week, and the staff there can take care of everything. Owner Christine Teichera started in the business 10 years ago, in the plumbing department at Home Depot.

Main Street Trees is one of the most beautiful carbon-storing small businesses (and well-kept secrets) in town — a by-appointment tree farm where past and future meet under a canopy so lush and wide you’ll forget you’re downtown and suspect you’re in a Napa of long ago.

Dear Len & Rosie, I have a friend who is in her 70s. Her husband passed away three months ago. She and her husband got married in 2008, but had lived together for 30 years. He owned the house in his name alone.