A 1947 home on land once owned by famed Berkeley architect Bernard Maybeck is asking $1.5 million in its first sale since it was built.
The three-bedroom, three-bath home at 113 Purdue Avenue was built on land that Maybeck subdivided and sold only to frugal young couples who didn’t drink and agreed not to build a white house, SFGate reported. Bob and Ollie Shaner met the requirements and the home has remained in their family ever since.
113 Purdue Avenue in Kensington (Red Oak Realty)
“Bob was always a tinkerer and could still be seen well in his 90s climbing onto his roof to make repairs and carving wooden bears in his driveway,” Red Oak Realty listing agent Todd Hodson told the publication. “He led historical tours of the neighborhood, sharing the history.”
Maybeck died in 1957.
Natural light floods the 2,247-square-foot home, lighting the brick and wooden floors. It’s been updated with modern touches that include wood paneling and a contemporary kitchen.
The “club house room” has an indoor-outdoor feel, with large windows and wooden sliding panels. The room also has a wood-burning stove, brick floor and a wrap-around deck. It’s near Tilden Park and Wildcat Canyon, which can be seen from the deck.
Last year, a Maybeck-inspired 3,150-square-foot three-story home in Berkeley listed for $1.65 million, according to Dwell.
Maybeck, among the most renowned Bay Area architects, worked briefly in New York and Kansas City, Missouri before moving to San Francisco, where he became the first professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.
He’s associated with the Arts and Craft design movement, which often consists of exposed beams, open floor plans and an embrace of imperfections. Among his works are many that still stand in Berkeley, including the First Church of Christ, Scientist, a national landmark and San Francisco’s domed Palace of Fine Arts.
[SFGate] — Gabriel Poblete
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