This handsome Crocker Highlands home, with its Mediterranean grace, is located at 740 Calmar Avenue.  Perfectly situated, and surrounded by other homes of equal quality and appeal, it offers 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, expansive rear garden space, and 2052 sf of living space.  

The curb appeal on this home is extraordinary.  This appeal of the lush greenery, which has been carefully conceived, welcomes guests, and enhances the entire home with its beauty.

This softly colored living room is anchored by a handsomely tiled fireplace that is paired with a large, white mantle and matching lamps.  The complimentary color of the wooden flooring contributes to the restful beige and white ambiance that characterizes this space.  

This…

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The Berkeley hills are alive with distinctive and imaginative homes.  A lot of this effect has been due to the unique development of the Arts and Craft movement, which found a home in the Bay area due to the influence of well known Bay area architects, and the University of California's School of Architecture.

This home, to be seen below, located at 91 Tunnel Road in Berkeley, was designed by renowned architect Walter Radcliff, and handsomely updated for today's living.  

It offers 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and 2048 sf of living space.  

There is no doubt that the living room is centered around, and enhanced by, the dramatic floor to ceiling multipaned leaded glass curved window at its far end. 

It has been carefully restored to its…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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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High up in the Berkeley hills is this truly splendid home that is remarkable in every way.   Designed by one of Berkeley's most accomplished architects, John Hudson Thomas in 1927, it was custom made for its original owners, and has been extensively restored over the last seven years in its structural details and amenities. 

Called "The Home Cloister", it is located at 2900 Buena Vista Way, and  features 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and 7526 sf of living space.  

While it may not truly be a "castle", its design conception is certainly that of an early 13th century castle or monastery, as will soon be seen below. 

If you are one who enjoy gracious living, quiet solitude, and unsurpassed beauty, this residence is more than worth your…

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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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