2528 Hawthorne, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Romney O’Connell, Berkeley Hills

Today we feature a home that began its life as a fairly typical period revival bungalow but sometime in the 50s a second floor was added with a decidedly modernist flavor. It was designed by one of our favorite local architects from the period, Paul Hamilton. Hamilton was only in the Bay Area for a short time but the residential work he did here was influential. Most of the homes he designed are in Orinda where he lived but he had a number of commissions in the wider East Bay as well. This one is a nice example demonstrating his ability to find creative solutions to complex design problems.

1091 Creston, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of John Seravic, Compass

Another week, another lovely Roger Lee residence. This one was designed for author Beverly Cleary and her husband Clarence and it remains in beautiful original condition. Most of the living space is carefully laid out on the second floor in true Lee fashion, but there is a singular office below that one can imagine Cleary using to write her early novels.

189 Highland, Kensington

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Colleen Larkin, Grubb

This charming post and beam mid-century is one of four spec homes built together from the same Roger Lee plan. Lee built a number of notable speculative homes around the East Bay including the Reed Place cluster in his own backyard. In many ways, Lee’s spec work epitomized the economy and emphasis on the grid that he brought to all his designs. The repetitive quality of these particular homes made strict adherence to these principles even more integral to their success.

264 Saint James, Piedmont

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Mickey Huey, MB Realty

Our featured home today is an exceptionally well-preserved residence designed by local Bay Region modernist John Hans Ostwald. Ostwald’s homes tend to be angular, highly logical, and full of carefully conceived spaces. This example is no exception with its prow-shaped living room and public and private axes that intersect at the spiral entrance stair. It is an excellent demonstration of Ostwald’s clarity of vision and great talent as a residential designer.

1770 Highland, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Annie Walrand, Grubb

This lovely Bay Region residence is part of the first home designed by Bernard Maybeck in Berkeley. It was commissioned by Charles Keeler whose book “The Simple Home” would codify much of what would become known as the First Bay Region Style. After it narrowly survived the Berkeley fire of 1923, Keeler would stucco the exterior of the home and shortly thereafter it was subdivided into a number of units, only one of which is currently on the market. Even so, the portion available provides ample demonstration of Maybeck’s immense creativity which was clearly fully developed very early in his career. It is a rare opportunity to experience the home that in many ways formalized the architectural movement that that would come to characterize design in the Bay Area for most of the 20th century.

88 Kensington, Kensington

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Bebe McRae, Grubb

Today we feature a beautiful Bay Region mid-century designed by local standouts Campbell and Wong. Worley Wong and John Campbell were both Bay Area natives hailing from Oakland and San Francisco respectively. They met in the army during WWII and their collaboration would go on to become one of the longest and most productive in the region.

This particular example is exceptionally efficient with loads of great detail packed into a relatively modest package. Public and private spaces remain entirely separate while both opening to the sheltered yard and long views across the bay.

3360 Dwight, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Bebe McRae, Grubb

Our featured home today is a particularly creative residence designed by Robert Ratcliff. Here, the public spaces are sheltered under a sprawling pavilion supported by a singular steel column while the private spaces extend out over the carport under a low slung gable. The detailing is predictably thoughtful with the architect’s deft hand apparent throughout. Ratcliff designed quite a number of homes on Panoramic Hill including his own. Each of them, like this one is a distinctive statement in its own right, carefully tailored to the site and to the unique needs of the original owners.

3075 Buena Vista, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Bill Grimason, Winkler

Dmitri Vedensky was Bay Region through and through. He was born and raised in Berkeley and would continue his education at Stanford and Cal before beginning his career in Joseph Esherick’s office. After opening his own practice, Vedensky would focus mainly on residential design and we are fortunate to have a number of his creative homes here in the East Bay. This particular example is characteristically thoughtful with its nearly symmetrical massing and a roof raised slightly over the living room to create a stirring change of scale while also allowing in a bit of additional light.

1860 Meadow, Walnut Creek

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Judy Olvera, Windermere

We are always pleased to see a Karl Kolbeck home come on the market. They are without fail thoughtful and carefully detailed. This particular example from the late 50s already demonstrates a number of the trademarks of his later work including a move away from woodsy Bay Region materials coupled with massive overhangs and a raised roof over the living area. It demonstrates very clearly Kolbeck’s distinctive voice and willingness to experiment with the prevailing idioms of the period.

872 Arlington, Berkeley

Click picture for additional photos and complete listing courtesy of Ira Serkes, Compass

This charming First Bay Region residence is an early and fairly understated design by Julia Morgan. The exterior is an interesting combination of Prairie and Shingle styles with what looks like a bit of Tudor half timbering for good measure. Inside the detailing is reserved but still demonstrates Morgan’s immense creativity and attention to detail