A City of Berkeley Landmark building belonging the university is scheduled to be demolished on Monday. The Cheney House (above), which was built in 1885, is located at 2241 College Avenue within the campus boundaries.
According to Archeological Research Facility News, the building is notable for both its distinctive Eastlake Stick Style architecture and historical associations:
It has been a Berkeley City Landmark since 1990 and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. As recently as 2004, the University’s Long Range Development Plan described the house as “a rare survivor of southeast Berkeley’s early private residences”.
In October last year, UC Berkeley put the house and its neighbor up for sale for the princely sum of $1.00 each. The catch then was that the buyer would had to move the homes as well, including negotiating a number of mature trees that surround the buildings.
Separately, in January, Cal put on the market a nine-unit property on Rose Walk designed by Henry Gutterson. Its original price tag of $3,680,000 has subsequently been reduced to $3,550,000.
Update: I stand corrected on my last remark about Rose Walk. Laurie Capitelli writes in to say the property is not currently owned by the university. In fact, a little digging shows that Cal sold 2501-2527 Rose Walk in March 2007 for $2,720,000. Apologies for the error. [3.21.10]
Photo: Daniella Thompson/Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.
