Just listed: 22 Roble Road, otherwise known as the McDuffie Villa, in the Claremont neighborhood which was built for Duncan McDuffie in 1924 as his personal residence.
Originally a country estate designed so suit a lifestyle replete with servants and grand entertaining, the property is sited on nearly one acre with extensive gardens.
The home is, apparently, no longer quite as grand as it was, however, and is described by the listing agent as “a work-in-progress”. It seems that the current owner’s ambitious remodel was stopped in its tracks, perhaps by the economic downturn. There are “incomplete” bathrooms and areas “framed in” for bedrooms.
Duncan McDuffie began his career as a real estate developer in 1905 by urging businessmen to flee San Francisco for Berkeley, “a setting such as all the Mediterranean shores cannot excel“. McDuffie developed Berkeley’s Claremont and Northbrae sub-divisions, as well as St Francis Wood in San Francisco, and was a pioneer of the “residential park” neighborhood concept where curving, tree- lined “parkways” followed the contours of the hills.
Priced at $2,850,000, this home last changed hands four years ago for $3,160,000. There are no open houses scheduled as of this writing.
