This location high atop the Oakland hills is perfectly paired with this striking multi-level view home at 6019 Ridgemont Drive.  The views are extraordinary, and they incorporate most of the Bay area below.  

It offers 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms in a very generous 2391 sf of living space.  

Directly below, the entire South Bay is revealed in this panorama, and is just part of the total expanse to be seen from the home's site.  More below.  

This view of the home illustrates how carefully this home has been designed in order to provide a generous open space that allows easy passage from one living space to another, and then out onto the home's grassy knoll.  

Sunlight flows in through the entire far wall of floor to ceiling windows and…

1071 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

This outstanding three story Berkeley hillside view home, located at 2583 Buena Vista Way, represents the height of Berkeley's architectural history when some of the many famous Bay area architects were creating unique and imaginative living spaces.  

This Mediterranean style home was created and designed in 1929 by Walter Ratcliff, Berkeley's chief city architect for the early 20th century and offers 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2508 sf of living space.  

This room is the on the main level of three floors, is the entry space to the home itself, and is ideal for casual entertaining and relaxation, with the kitchen just steps away to the rear of the home.   

Handsome multi-layered bookcases along the left wall are ideal spaces for displays…

1357 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

This striking home, located at 4378 Arcadia Avenue in the hills of Oakland has immediate and impressive curb appeal with its beautifully landscaped front yard.  

It offers 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms in 2818 sf of living space, and is located in the Oakmore neighborhood-one that includes hillside living and views of the Bay area, easy access to the Oakland, Contra Costa County, and San Francisco via Highways 13 and 580 that are above and below the site.  Montclair Village is just up the hill for shopping and enjoying favorite restaurants.  

This garden patio off the living room continues the theme that is seen above of surrounding the home with beauty and drama, and is ideal for outdoor parties, events and barbecues.  

This…

705 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

This distinctive, and very serene home, located at 5950 Grizzly Peak Boulevard, sits high atop the Oakland hills, and is immediately adjacent to 928 acres of Sibley Regional Park with its many hiking and walking trails.  It offers 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in 2478 sf of living space, and an expansive above ground pool.   

Originally hand built on site using Montana pine, it has been meticulously upgraded to the imaginative present by architect Robert Helton and structural engineer Milton Leong. 

Every element of this home has been conceived to fit together as a relaxing and welcoming living experience.  A spacious front garden welcomes guests as they arrive, and invites various creative configurations of plants, bushes, trees and…

447 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

 

The San Francisco Bay Area is, and has been, one that offers some of the most innovative and classically designed homes in America.  One style of home that has always had a following is that of "Mid-Century Modern".

The Oakland hills has always had a small cache of these homes, one of which is represented here.  Located at 8199 Hansom Drive in the city's Sequoyah Hills neighborhood, this stunning 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom home is currently available, and has some very special qualities that are described in the listing, and reproduced below:

 "Extraordinary renovated, remodeled & reimagined Eichler home in Oakland’s Sequoyah Hills, designed by legendary mid-century modern architect A. Quincy Jones, the “Double-A” is the most iconic & desirable…

801 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

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…

248 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

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…

2847 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

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…

988 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Brooklyn Basin Parcel H Phase 2 high-rise option, rendering by TCA

 For the first time in a while, further steps are being considered by the Oakland Planning Commission as to the future development of housing at Oakland's Brooklyn Basin neighborhood. 

 Recently, the article below was posted by Andrew Nelson on sfyimby.com regarding this progress. 

NOTE: There has been no further information to date as to the results of the meeting, but it is certainly a much needed step for those interested in living in this bayside housing.  

 

By: Andrew Nelson 5:30 am on March 4, 2025

The Oakland Planning Commission is scheduled to review two options for developing Parcel H in the Brooklyn Basin mega-development in Oakland. The developer is seeking approval for both options, which could see the construction of a…

412 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

This handsome Upper Rockridge home has a warm and welcoming ambiance, and a classic home town appearance, with its tall tree at the entrance, and a well groomed front yard surrounding it.  

It is especially well located at 4825 Proctor Avenue, and close to all that the Rockridge neighborhood has to offer in terms of favored restaurants, shopping, and transportation to nearby cities.  

It offers 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in a pleasant 1667 sf of living space.

If ever a home was designed to impress, this one certainly qualifies.  Anchored by a two story tall fireplace with its a dramatically conceived peaked ceiling, the living room is perfectly designed for entertaining, and for easy freedom of movement from any part of the living room to…

725 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post