Part One: Your First-Time Homebuyer’s Guide

Taking a break for pizza on moving day

Couple enjoying their new modern kitchen

JohnnyGreig/Getty Images


Introduction

As shared in the second edition of Your First Home, written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan:“Buying a home is a big decision – particularly your first home – but it is one of the best choices anyone can make. It’s a place that is entirely your own. Something you can paint, renovate, and live a full life in. Secondly, the reality is that homes are an incredible way to accumulate generational wealth. Because home isn’t only where your heart is, it’s where your money is, too. There are few places you will treasure more than your home and no place that will add more to your…

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The Home Cloister at 2900 Buena Vista Way in the Berkeley Hills, designed by architect John Hudson Thomas

High in the Berkeley Hills is an extraordinary residence whose architecture, setting and history make it unlike almost anything else in the East Bay.

Known as "The Home Cloister," the residence at 2900 Buena Vista Way was designed in 1927 by noted Berkeley architect John Hudson Thomas. Its design draws heavily from medieval European monasteries and castles, combining massive stonework, soaring interior spaces, arched openings and a central cloister-style courtyard.

The home contains approximately 7,526 square feet of living space with 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. Over the years it has undergone extensive restoration and updating while retaining many of the architectural features that define the original design.

While "castle" may not be its…

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This truly exceptional home is aglow with light from virtually every corner of the room, and offers the beauty and serenity that is seen above.  

Located on a private tree lined street at 1967 Tunnel Road in the Claremont Hills of Berkeley, it features 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms in a very generous 3134 sf of living space.  

A sweeping arc of floor to ceiling windows captures the varied colors and serenity of the many old growth trees that surround the home, allowing an everchanging view, as the days and hours change.  

A large, centrally located fireplace provides a perfect centerpiece for creating one's favorite seating configurations that encourage pleasant conversations on a lazy afternoon, or before a formal dinner. 

This…

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