If you are interested in homes and architecture, and want a taste of something completely different, you could do worse than visit the newly listed home at 2633 Marin Avenue this weekend.
The two-bedroom, two bathroom home is a rare example, for Berkeley, of what is known as organic architecture — more commonly seen in Big Sur and Marin County. Designed and built by Mark Hajjar in 1975, the home, which is priced at $749,000, is effectively a giant tree house perched on rough-hewn tree trunks from Cazadero.
As the listing agents explain in the home’s brochure, it makes generous use of recycled materials including salvaged wood and castoffs from both Victorian houses and a WWII era factory — a green approach that was ahead of its time.
The detailing is astonishing and includes inlaid panels and stained glass. Plentiful views of the bay from not one but three large decks come with the territory. If you are visiting, note that Marin at this juncture, almost where it meets Grizzly Peak, competes with San Francisco’s for steepest gradient street.
For more information on this style of architecture, check out the recently published “Handmade Houses” by Richard Olsen.
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