Architecture Wednesday: Berkeley Craftsman

I love a good Craftsman and I love Berkeley and I love Chez Panisse in Berkeley, so this one is a win-win.

The home was previously owned and rebuilt by Kip Mesirow, the artisan builder of Berkeley’s most famous, Chez Panisse, and this house is an architectural extension of that restaurant, with the use of rich redwood interiors and exteriors, handcrafted details, walls of wood windows and French doors, along with Mesirow’s artistic copper light fixtures with Japanese influences.

Inside, the kitchen, dining area, and living room all share the same vaulted ceiling and open floorplan with walls of windows, a fireplace, and two large signature copper light fixtures. At the back of the home is a large family room—that was used by Mesirow as his design workshop—with rows of copper lights, a fireplace framed with copper and a wall of wood French doors opening to the back patio area where wisteria drips down from the balcony above.

Outside is a beautifully landscaped patio and garden planters for the urban farmer that is accessible from French doors off both the dining area and the family room. Upstairs is the primary with a fireplace framed by original Earnest Batchelder’s tiles, a wall of wood French doors opening onto a balcony with views of the city and beyond.

It really is a perfect house … it’s small, it’s Craftsman, it’s Berkeley, and it’s near Chez Panisse and if you have ever eaten there, you know what I mean.

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