A modernist home influenced by the Bauhaus tradition is up for sale for the first time. Architect Donald Olsen built this house as a demonstration project, and his own residence.
Donald Olsen
Remembering Berkeley architect Donald Olsen
Donald Olsen. Photo: courtesy UC Berkeley School of Environmental Design Donald Olsen passed away on March 21, 2015. He is survived by his wife Helen and their son Alan. While modernist architecture in the Bay Area is often characterized by a natural and historically referential Bay Region Style, Donald Olsen stood out from the other […]
Donald Olsen: A Berkeley architect of high modernism
The Metz House in Point Richmond, designed by Berkeley-based Donald Olsen about whom a new book has been published. Photo: Rondal Partridge The homes designed by Donald Olsen stand out as remarkably durable achievements within the Bay Area’s post-war architectural heritage. The architect, who was a professor at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, was inspired by Bauhaus, […]
Modernist Donald Olsen house in Berkeley sells for $1M
Donald Olsen’s glass house in North Berkeley sold this week for the first time since it was built in 1952. Photo: Berkeley Hills Realty/EBRD An architecturally distinguished mid-century modern home in north Berkeley changed hands this week for the first time since it was built in 1952. It sold for just over $1 million. The […]
Open house pick: Donald Olsen mid-century modern
Another newly listed Berkeley home with historical interest today — this one designed in 1956 by noted modernist architect Donald Olsen. The home, at 123 Fairlawn Drive, displays Olsen’s penchant for boxy volumes and lots of floor-to-ceiling windows providing plentiful natural light. There’s also indoor-outdoor living possibilities, a more recently added “gourmet” kitchen, as well as […]