WaterSmart Makeover: Escondido Couple Living Large in the Yard

Yannick Claerman and his wife Erlinde Cornelis created a found family with the purchase in 2021 of their midcentury-modern home on half an acre in Escondido. The couple, who are from Belgium and moved here about 13 years ago, are now U.S. citizens and have led a pretty eclectic life — one that in no way incorporated gardening.

Claerman is co-founder of Yūgen Kombucha, in Belgium, a fermented tea company that he helps operate remotely. He’s also an award-winning boomerang maker. Cornelis is associate professor of marketing at San Diego State University’s Fowler College of Business, where she teaches sustainable marketing strategy and the undergrad sustainable business consulting program.