Four beautiful Berkeley homes will be on show at this year’s American Institute of Architects East Bay Homes Tour which takes place on Saturday, Aug. 9.
There are six homes on the tour — the others are in Albany, Oakland and Piedmont — and many of them belong to the architects or designers who dreamed them up, so visitors get to see how professionals design for themselves.
The four Berkeley homes offer variety in both style and scale. One, a stunning two-story Oakland house with a Berkeley postal address (pictured top) was built on the site of a home destroyed by the Oakland firestorm. It was designed by WA Design to be a home that feels open to the landscape and the bay view, while providing privacy from the nearby street and sidewalk.
One, an extensive remodel of a 1930s artist’s studio in the Berkeley Hills by architect John Quiter (pictured above), is a study in craftsmanship by an owner-architect and son-builder. With its respect for the site and for the primary materials of concrete, wood, and metal, its spirit can be traced back to noted local architect Bernard Maybeck.
Regan Bice Architects created a streamlined contemporary home in a grove of redwood trees overlooking Tilden Park and the bay in the Berkeley hills. The result feels like an elegant, fortified tree house in the forest.
Meanwhile, architect Joanne Koch has used her expert eye to restore a classic mid-century modern home in north Berkeley, designed originally by Roger Lee, into a beautiful family home that retains its 1952 features.
AIA East Bay, which is organizing the tour on this side of the bay for the fourth consecutive year, said “artistic palettes, careful detailing and strong connections to the landscape are more important than square footage in this year’s crop of sustainably designed, mid-sized homes.”
The Saturday Aug. 9 tour is self-guided, but an architect for each house will be on-site for questions and discussion. Doors will be open from 10:00am to 4:30pm, rain or shine. Tickets are $50 ($60 day-of) and may be purchased online at AIA East Bay, at the AIA office in downtown Oakland, 1405 Clay Street, or at the Bica Coffeehouse, 5701 College Avenue in Rockridge, on the day of the tour.
Related:
Berkeley architects, homes on East Bay home tour (08.08.13)
Lovingly restored mid-century modern opens doors on tour (10.16.12)
Three Berkeley homes featured on East Bay architecture tour (07.30.12)
David Stark Wilson: Design rooted in the great outdoors (07.12.12)
Berkeley buildings are winners in architecture awards (05.03.12)
Five Berkeley homes feature on new architecture tour (07.25.11)
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