VIEWS, LOCATION & CHARM

Built for a pianist by Bernard Maybeck’s son-in-law in 1941, the house was originally a one bedroom cottage with a rather large redwood living room that housed 2 pianos. The current owner architect has had it since 1974 and has done several additions and remodels over the years. In an architecturally significant North Berkeley hills neighborhood, almost hidden from the street, and nestled amongst the distinctive houses of the leading architects of the early and mid 20th century, such as Bernard Maybeck, W.C.Hayes, Robert Ratcliffe and J.H.Thomas, is this charming 4 bedroom, 4 bath house. Next door to the Temple of the Wings, its location on the downslope hillside allows for maximum privacy as well as sensational, theatrical views of the ever changing panorama of the S.F. Bay, which includes Mount Tamalpais, the Bay Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. The Campanile feels like one can reach out and touch it. Like many of the surrounding houses, it has an intimate relationship with nature, starting with a beautiful, mature live oak tree, the canopy of which seems to reach over and protect the house. At the street is a 2 car deck with some storage. Enter through the custom-made gate and walk down a handsome curved staircase with custom-made iron hand-railings to a welcoming slate entry deck with magnificent views. The front portico entrance has a coat closet and a bench to sit down and take off your shoes while admiring the views through the windows. The same slate floor on the deck continues into this entrance extending the outdoors inside. From here, one steps into the beautiful living room with vertical-grain clear-heart redwood walls and ceiling, a slate fireplace with built-ins on either side and a floor-to-ceiling window on the north wall. The dining room, which is open to the living room has built-in redwood cabinets with custom designed glass fronts, granite countertops and windows and doors to a deck with magnificent panoramic San Francisco Bay views. At the far end of the living room is the original dutch door to the outside corridor, which connects the front and rear entrance stairs. The remodeled galley kitchen, with granite countertops and wood cabinets, looks out to this corridor and the hillside. A main level bedroom and bathroom sit off the hallway next to the living room and lead out to a deck with the spectacular Bay views and connects to the deck off the dining room. Over the stairway that leads down to the 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms is a sunlit atrium that floods the house with natural daylight and provides multiple sitting options. From the atrium, glass windows and a door lead out to a small deck with the same spectacular Bay views. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, which include the master suite, and a laundry room radiate off the hallway, with its quarry tile floors. A side door off the laundry leads down to a large storage area beneath this level which has great potential for expansion. Large closets line the walls of the master bathroom, which has honey onyx countertops and a luxurious shower with a seat and skylight. Each bedroom is carpeted and has its own bathroom. Most of the windows and doors throughout the house are dual pane. The location is superb – minutes from U.C. Berkeley, Chez Panisse and its amenities as well as Tilden Park. Codornices Park, Glendale La Loma Park and the Rose Garden are all nearby.