View of the proposed Acheson Commons looking NW, including, in foreground, a proposed new 10-story UC Berkeley office building. Rendering: courtesy Equity Residential/Kirk E. Peterson Architects One of the first projects to be built under Berkeley’s recently adopted Downtown Area Plan will be Acheson Commons which will transform the entire city block bordered by University Avenue, Shattuck […]
Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
Posted inCommunity
Friends set out to help renovator save her historic home
Jane Powell, who has restored dozens of historic homes in Berkeley and Oakland, now needs help saving her own home By Linda Hemmila Jane Powell is the bungalow queen. A master restorer, she has helped dozens of East Bay homeowners bring their vintage homes back to life with wit and style. Now Powell, who bought her first bungalow […]
Posted inFire
The Sequoia Building: At heart of Berkeley’s rich heritage
An undated view, probably from the early 1960s, shows the Sequoia with the Cinema Guild theatre marquee visible at far left, on the commercial façade. Photo: Courtesy Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association By Steven Finacom Telegraph Avenue’s Sequoia Apartments building, seriously damaged in a fire on Friday, November 18, 2011, is a stately and historic edifice […]
Posted inCity
Historic urns restored in Berkeley’s Thousand Oaks
One of the two newly installed urns, at Great Stone Face Park. Photo: Ira Serkes By Jane Tierney Some things are a hundred years in the making. On Saturday, a dedication will be held to celebrate the restoration of three giant urns, signature features of the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, which were originally installed in the early 1900s. […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley settles contentious library lawsuit
The city of Berkeley has reached an agreement with Concerned Library Users over a lawsuit the group filed to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the South and West branches of the Berkeley Public Library. In a closed session on Tuesday evening, the city council voted to settle the lawsuit by creating a $100,000 fund […]
Posted inArts
Book details secret staircases of Berkeley and Oakland
This view is your reward when you explore the stairs near the Lawrence Hall of Science Photo: Charles Fleming Staircases saved Charles Fleming’s back. In 2006, as he faced his third invasive spinal surgery, Fleming decided to walk. A longtime Los Angeles resident with a slew of best-selling books to his name, Fleming had his […]
Posted inCity
Rally planned to draw attention to library lawsuit
Benjamin Bartlett has helped BHS students organize against CLU lawsuit Dozens of church leaders, community activists, students, and library supporters plan to stage a rally outside city hall on Tuesday to call attention to a lawsuit they believe could stop construction of new libraries in the southern and western parts of Berkeley. The group, which […]
Posted inEvents
BAHA’s Spring Tour will focus on villas of Arlington Heights
An Arlington Heights home. Photo courtesy BAHA. The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association‘s annual Spring Tour, which takes place on Sunday May 8, will this year be devoted to the villas of the Arlington Heights neighborhood in north Berkeley. Always a popular event for architecture enthusiasts, the tour will include homes designed by architects including Bernard Maybeck, […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley buildings honored for preservation efforts
The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) has once again honored those who have invested time, money and effort into renovating homes or buildings with historical preservation in mind. This year’s Preservation Awards highlight thirteen Berkeley properties — eleven homes, one commercial building and one institutional project — all of which, in the words of BAHA […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Mitch Kapor’s Berkeley home: The debate continues
This last few days, Berkeleyside’s inbox has been filling up with copies of letters from north Berkeley neighbors — addressed to council members and/or the city mayor — opposed to the construction of a new home at 2707 Rose St., the application for which, made by Mitch Kapor, has been approved by Berkeley’s planning board, […]
Posted inEvents
Julia Morgan homes the stars of BAHA’s spring tour
Detail of a Julia Morgan home in the Claremont. The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association’s annual spring tour will this year focus on homes designed by architect Julia Morgan in the Elmwood and Claremont neighborhoods. The tour, which takes place on Sunday, May 2, 1-5 pm, is titled “Looking at Julia Morgan: Early Residences in Berkeley”. BAHA […]
Posted inCommunity
Excavating Berkeley’s New Deal past
On Wednesday, Gray Brechin will give a talk entitled “A New Deal for the East Bay: Excavating the Buried Civilization of the Great Depression” in which the historical geographer will look at how New Deal public work agencies put thousands of men and women to work to transform Berkeley and its sister cities within less […]
