Tasteful Friends: Beautiful mid-century modern house in Greenbrae, CA

It very California-ish.

Interesting -- 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and apparently 1/2 a kitchen.

There *is* a lot to like, though, OP.

Why do American houses always have so many bathrooms? Why would anyone need more bathrooms than bedroom?

R4: The formula in the U.S is 1 bathroom for every bedroom + as many extra bathrooms as you can afford

Americans are horrified that anyone might have to share a bathroom with anyone else. More horrifying still is that guests might ever have to pass through a bedroom to find a bathroom.

In my country there's no more than two bathrooms per house. Three if the house is huge.

Outhouses don't count.

My house is only 1300 sq. ft. and they managed to cram in 3BR and 2.5BA.

I like the size and configuration of the kitchen, r2. I hate those McMansion monstrosities where you get your 10,000 steps in by making three meals a day.

The small kitchen would be a big problem for me, plus any theoretical reno could not entail expansion of same as it's buttressed by windows on one side and brickwork on the other. Taller custom cabinets perhaps but that's it.

Not expecting McMansion-size, R9, just something closer to the scale of the house. A 3-bedroom, 2400+ square foot house warrants a bit more to accommodate its inhabitants.

I don't like glass walls. There's no privacy and glass doesn't keep out the heat and cold. Also, can't someone smash those glass walls to get in?

That kitchen is certainly large enough, and was big for the era. My mom cooked for a family of 5 in a 60s tract house kitchen less than 2/3 the size of that one. My grandma cooked and baked for decades in an apartment kitchen with no counter space at all, just the table and a washing machine between the sink and the stove - they took out the only cabinet and put in the washer as soon as they could afford one. The current American suburban ideas of “necessary” really are bizarre.

R10, looking at pic 31, removing that peninsula might help -- at least you wouldn't have to take turns entering or exiting.

And I made do with a hotplate in my college dorm room, R13. I'll still bet your mom and grandma would have loved more space if it was possible.

[quote] Why do American houses always have so many bathrooms?

In the olden days, everyone shared the same privy but they had different buckets.

My mom & grandma would have taken one look at that pool and STFU about the kitchen R14.

Seriously that’s one gorgeous house, big without being purposelessly McMansion huge. And that “tiny” kitchen has an adjacent “reception area” with an indoor Brady Bunch grill for Chrissakes. As you correctly point out there’s actually plenty of room to expand the kitchen if you want to. The cultural ideal back then was for women to be able to spend less time in the kitchen than previously, so compact but efficient layouts were what in vogue.

R14 obviously doesn't cook. Because of Covid, people have turned to cooking at home and we need counter space.

Oh, I cook, and I cooked before COVID. My point is, this kitchen is too small for the size (and almost $2 million price tag) of this house. My post at R14 was a basic/minor reno possibility in response to R10 and, looking at the pictures, it seems there's enough counter space on either side of the sink and stovetop for prep work. Losing the peninsula would at least allow for more than one person at a time in the kitchen (without worrying about the potential hazards of open refrigerator, oven, or dishwasher doors).

And I agree 100% R16, my mom would've *loved* a view of a pool from the window in our galley kitchen (about the size of the kitchen at the link, but think avocado-colored appliances).

$2 million seems like a bargain for a gorgeous property like this in a prime location. Compare to the average crap you get for this price the closer you get to Silicon Valley.

Horrible staging.

This bedroom and the hallway look cheap.

When I look at the floorplan, the kitchen looks small, but looks like you could get rid of that counter and expand the kitchen.

[quote] Outhouses don't count.

Well, excuse me!

It's a "bargain" because it's right near San Quentin State prison. Wake up one morning and find hot cagemeat swimming in that lovely pool. A DL dream!

^^^ hot ESCAPED cagemeat ^^^

Blech no, not my style

Pass. MCM houses have disproportionately large living rooms and bedrooms the size of a monastic cell. And I had a better kitchen in my first apartment.

Love it, love it, love it. I'll take it as is.

Mid-century post and beam is my absolute favorite, throw in a pool and a view and I'm home. Being a non-cook who only uses the kitchen to store, heat and serve the kitchen is fine

That kitchen is more than big enough. What the hell are you guys doing in the kitchen? Are you that fat?

My Juanita would be exhausted from keeping those windows clean. And who needs to be a display for every voyeur in the county?

It's not my style but I often find things to like about MCM simply because they are at odds with what I do like, and opposite things can have a pull.

This one, however, has a nice site. Otherwise I can't offer much in its favor. The plan is fairly typical of the ideas expressed in MCM houses, but here there's no boldness, no shock of the new, no big gesture, no focal points, no richness or deftness in use of materials (which here are rather dreary.)

I don't mind the size of the kitchen at all, but I hate its placement, center stage so that its seen from everywhere but not at all a design advantage or focus.

This reminds me of a Slim Aarons house, where he photographed the beautiful by the pool. Maybe it is.

R32 No. This is that house.

For those who think you're living in a fishbowl, there really isn't any neighbor who could look directly in, but if you're that worried put in some verticals that can retract all the way back. The house, the view, the pool and the location seem like a real bargain to me

Don't you have drapes or curtains in America?

I like it. Not a fan of the old blue sink and toilet and the pool area needs something, maybe just updating? Looks plain and I like the newer pools with foliage and waterfalls.