Architecture Wednesday: Japanese-Inspired Berkeley Midcentury

Tucked into a steep hillside in Berkeley, California, is a 3,449-square-foot home was designed by noted architect Robert Klemmedson in 1959. The modernist architect—who spent 10 years in Japan and often incorporated traditional Japanese elements into his Bay Area designs—loosely modeled the midcentury residence after the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto, Japan.

The home sits on a private Berkeley road developed by another famed architect, Bernard Maybeck, who was also known for his many prized works in the Bay Area. On the way to the property at 14 Maybeck Twin Drive, you’ll pass by Maybeck’s personal studio, as well as other residences the architect designed for his family.

Situated on a 15,133-square-foot lot with panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay Area, the hillside home includes four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms spread across two levels. In addition to a kitchen, living room, and dining area, there is also a media room, a detached two-car garage, and even a wine cellar … oh, I do love a wine cellar.

In the spacious living room, a wood-burning fireplace sits near sliding glass doors that open to a partially covered deck with Bay views. Traditional wood paneling and an earthy palette are accentuated by high ceilings and wide picture windows. And that’s the one thing I love about the house; the hints of Japanese design and architecture which is sadly missing from the dining room, kitchen and bedrooms; those rooms could be in any house.

And while the property also includes a private patio and a wraparound deck, as well as a peaceful, Japanese-inspired garden filled with greenery, it’s the treatment of the exterior, giving me 1940’s convict vibes … or Beetlejuice … that also bother me.

Perhaps a few tweaks because of its proximity to The City and Berkeley and those views?

As always, click to emBIGGERate ...

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Architecture Wednesday: Panoramic Hill House

Out in Berkeley, California you’ll find Panoramic Hill, the site of four residences designed and built by the late Berton Garey—who built a total of 11 homes during his lifetime—with this, 3333 Dwight Way, his fourth home there, completed in 1981. And while the house appears deceptively simple from the street, its design, and Garey’s story of the house, are quite wonderful.

It all began when Garey rode his motorcycle up Panoramic Hill—a neighborhood notable for homes built by Bernard Maybeck, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Julia Morgan, among others—while attending Berkeley. He drove past a house built by architect Judd Boynton, met the man and went on to become his apprentice; ten years later, in the early 1970s, after working as a carpenter, Garey began designing and building how own homes. With just one assistant per project, Berton Garey built each of his houses by hand, from hoisting beams into place to plumbing and electrical; he also lived in each of his builds while working on the next, and it was while completing this house he met and became lifelong friends with the home’s current owner, artist Bob Joyce. 

From their nearby apartment, Joyce and his then-partner had watched Garey’s homes appear one after another in the neighborhood, and when they found an available lot up the road, they asked Garey if he’d build them a home; he wasn’t interested, but he was willing to sell them this home. Sadly, the home was out of their price range, but  the three men became such good friends that they worked out a deal: Gary would finance half the house with no cash down, just a monthly payment, and the deal was struck and 3333 Dwight Way was sold to Joyce and his partner.

Inspired by the hillside it occupies, Garey designed the house to face the San Francisco Bay, with special attention to maintaining privacy for residents. As such, there are no windows on the street side but the rear of the home opens up to a panoramic expanse with floor-to-ceiling glazed doors opened to the trees and The Bay beyond.

The home embodies Garey’s appreciation for Northern California as translated through his use of redwood, which he called "forest gold." The home features exposed redwood beams, rough sawn redwood board and batten siding, and intricate redwood and mahogany detailing. Every window and every door, every beam, were custom-made by Garey, reflecting the woodworking artistry he developed earlier in his career. 

The main level features the living area, kitchen and dining room, and has soaring ceilings and a wall of glazed sliding doors that offers direct access to the expansive deck, which spans both levels. While the rooms are spacious, the wood details—such as the red-oak flooring and wood-burning fireplace—instill the interior with a cozy, cabin-like feel—though multiple skylights bring the outdoors into the home.

The home also includes Frank Lloyd Wright–influenced elements, such as the low-slung, horizontal roofline with timber-clad ceilings; exposed beams that cantilever out to create deep eaves along the site’s contour; and intricate joinery. On the facade, timber siding with varying patterns connects the residence to the landscape. 

The lower level of the home holds all three bedrooms, two of which open to the lower deck; both decks, with built-in benches, descend onto a stone patio and hot tub deck; along one side of the home is another large deck perfect for watching sunsets over the bay.

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Architecture Wednesday: 1901 Treehouse–like Home In Berkeley

For the first time in 45 years this treehouse-like home in Berkeley, California, is on the market … and for just $1.65 million.

The multilevel 1901 home’s design was influenced by architect Bernard Maybeck, one of the leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement. Situated in the coveted Berkeley Hills neighborhood just a few blocks from UC Berkeley, the property offers an enchanting city escape and tons of period detail. The 3,150-square-foot property spans three levels with four bedrooms and three baths in total.

Approaching the house is like looking for the entrance to the Magic Garden, or as I like to think, of Anna Madrigal’s home in Tales of the City; hidden from the street you walk up to the house along a long gravel path, surrounded by majestic Oaks, Liquid Amber, and flowering plants of every kind.

After walking down the gravel path, you enter the house by ascending the exterior Ipe stairs and deck through a unique Craftsman front door. The interior boasts massive wood beams and nods to a western cabin with several intimate yet connected spaces. There is built-in seating around an original stone fireplace in the living room; a wall of windows in the sitting room. The dining room has built-in cabinets with leaded glass doors and windows on either side.

The kitchen, a departure from the wood of the public spaces, is white and bright, with a vintage stove and oven, but a modern stainless-steel refrigerator and dishwasher; there are original Saltillo tile floors, vintage tile countertops, built-in shelves for dish display and a walkout to a large dining deck with a brick fireplace. There is also a laundry room and half bath on this floor.

Upstairs are 3 bedrooms, the smallest one has a private deck; a hall bathroom has an antique clawfoot tub and shower. Off the spacious primary bedroom is a sitting room, which could be an office, as well as its own deck.

Below the main floor, with its own separate entrance, is an apartment with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and a large living and dining room.

While retaining its history and charm the home features many upgrades, including new dual pane windows, a new roof and a new foundation and seismic work.

Click to emBIGGERate …

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