Powell, known as “the bad girl of bungalow writing," wrote six books about fixing up Arts and Crafts homes. She bought, restored and sold old bungalows all over Oakland. Powell's final project was the Sunset House in Fruitvale, built in 1905. It was Powell’s dream house, and it was where she died.

 

"Yes she did, right there on that bed," said Powell's friend, Ralph Kanz, standing in Sunset House's master bedroom.

 

Kanz says Powell was a fighter. In the final years of her life, Powell fought to save her home from foreclosure. She also battled chronic lymphoma.

 

"One of the hard parts for Jane was when she first was diagnosed with lung cancer, she was like, 'oh I beat this before,'" Kanz said. "'It might be a little painful, I might get poked and prodded, but I’ll deal with it and we’ll get through it.' But the lung cancer--by the time it got diagnosed it was stage four, and it had gone all over her body. And there was no going back.”

 

Jane Powell died in November. She was 60 years old.