Tasteful Friends: on original Julia Morgan house inn Berkeley —Southside

big *dorms

A superb house, OP.

Modest in scale and simple detail, but rich in its conception and careful thought. Cleaerly, it´s an architect´s own house, and a good one, with a balance of bigger and smaller spaces, more articulated and siompler spaces,, a hierarchy established immediately inside the front door, the clever situation of the side elevation as the entry facade, Inside and outside, it´s understated but very elegant in in placing concept above all - and succeeding at it (where a lesser architect might lose his way with his own concept Morgan is very confident here.) The plan packs a great deal into its 2555 square feet, and perfectly so. Nothing is too large or showy, no space is sacrificied to another or to the floor plan.

Though it´s presented as a four-bedroom house, the usual rule applies that more expensive the house, the less likely that it´s a house that will have four beds in four bedrooms occupied. The kitchen will rule out a number of buyers who insist on the modern idea of huge family kitchens and a superabundance of large bathrooms everywhere. This house doesn't waste its energy on that modern taste, yet it´s a great kitchen plan, perfectly adequate in terms of space, especially with the internal pantry cupboard and the adjacent kicthen hall providing additional storage and a division of functions. The bathrooms are all big enough, and in some cases to the credit of a later architect, very well planned and nicely fitted.

I think most owners would use the pricipal bedroom above the living room as their own bedroom, and take the adjoing bedroom as a dressing÷sitting room, leaving two small bedrooms on the other end of the house for guests or kids. The upstairs family room is accessed through one bedroom, or vertically by the stairs from the larger of the two spaces designated as offices downstairs. (The small one adjacent the living room is brilliant and would be mine.)

There is very little I dislike about it, and nothing important. That the (larger) downstairs office doesn´t communicate with the other rooms is a pity, but would work well for me -- as an adjunct to the separate buyer that was an artist´s studio. There´s space enough to punch through the kicthen >(at the seating area with shelves above, between exterior wall and the refrigerator. It appears that you could also put the refrigerato in the space a foot ro two away that´s now a door into the triangular closet from the dining room, and open a doorway where the refrigerator now is to connect to the larger office and put it to use as another family room or something. I don´t mind the long skinny lots framed by shared alleys/driveways with the neighboring house/s, but probably it would enrage and break teh deal for 99% of Americans.

My couple dislikes: the upstairs seems to be a hash of original narrow florosboards and later parquet square in the main bedroom. The light fixtures are a little too origami for me: white shapes in paper or something like. And that there are only a couple bookcases in the house as I would want one room as a library.

For $1.875M, it seems a bargain for a Julia Morgan house.. A Google search shows a nummber of claims that this was her first design after establish, although this was evidently her first design after establishing her own architectural practice (post degree, post work with Maybeck, post two years in Paris, post her solid connections with the Hearst family, post work designing various university buildings at Berkeley (for Phoebe Apperson Hearst), and post earthquake. She appears to have had a very productive few years working in her own practice before this house was built in 1908.

$1.9 mil for that house in Berkeley is a bargain. I'm thinking there must be something unpleasant about its street etc.

It's lovely, many attractive features. I have seen (and don't like) the shingles painted white in some "it used to be outside but now it's inside" space.

It is “busy” only for a side street in the outer Southside. Outside of any “rush hour,” that neighborhood between Piedmont/Warring & College Ave is quietly nice.

I lived ion College for one year, and on Piedmont for over three years…the only student crowds were on Big Game day or when Cal had a ranked football team (the latter a rare occasion 🌞).

I was about to post this and thought I would search first. This is my absolute favorite Tasteful Friends listing ever. Everything is just simple, beautiful and harmonious. I had the same reaction as r3. It's practically a steal.