From a reader: “A wonderful mid-century modern by an unknown architect, in perfect architect-restored condition.” (From us: remodeled in 2002 with redwood bookshelves, black walnut floors, Italian kitchen cabinets, and modern appliances.)
UPDATE (9/7): The sale of 7 Cameo Way closed escrow on 8/22/07 for $1,550,000 (3.7% over asking).
is it just me or does the exterior look very … ‘Brady’
“is it just me or does the exterior look very … ‘Brady'”
And that’s what makes it cool!
Wow, the section with the garage reminds me of my (read: Parents) old house in Des Plaines IL. Weird.
Tony Soprano called, he wants his bannisters back.
What a nice looking house in Cupertino! Wait, what? That house is in San Francisco? Does it come with an RV pad too?
“is it just me or does the exterior look very … ‘Brady”
Yeah… but style seems to be “in”. When I look through a “Design within Reach” catalog or “West Elm” catalog or “Wallpaper” magazine, it seems that mid-century modern is totally in.
I’m always about 5-10 years behind on the latest in fashion. To me, I had always thought of mid-century stuff as dated… but this place sure looks nice.
More importantly, the inside looks pretty cozy and comfortable to me!
I’m not one for the European modern kitchens, especially given their price (they look like Ikea to me)… but it fits in well with this type of home, and is certainly better than Avocado green appliances!
Looks great, very comfortable. Granted, the staging does leave a lot to be desired, but you get the idea. Bravo to the owners who kept the original details intact.
What neighborhood is this? Sorry I’m not from around here.
this is what happens when good staging goes bad
come on guys!
you really needed some color here
this place will never see the sun and it should have been decorated to make up for that fact
It’s in Diamond Heights.
Could it be an Eichler? (famous mid-century modern architect) We lived in an Eichler in Diamond Heights for a year. A bunch of Eichlers up there.
i think this one proves it’s what’s on the inside that counts. However use of the word “masterpiece” in this case is hyperbolic, the bad staging contributing to boot…
The staging on the first floor is 100% compatible with the exterior; Noguchi coffee table, Eames lounge chair, etc. The kitchen does look like a file cabinet, though, and they fell down in the bedroom (knotty pine armoire?). Mid-century is very au courant in one segment of the market (see also: apartmenttherapy.com, Dwell magazine, etc…). Someone who wants a house like this is going to expect the interior to be restrained, minimal, and furnished with leather and natural wood tones.
Eichler was the developer. I am 95% sure that, by the time Eichler did Diamond Heights, Claude Oakland was his supervising architect.
I’m a Eichler fan (lived in one for 1/2 my childhood), but they don’t create a good urban streetscape. Their fronts are generally little more than a garage door and a wall (albeit a glass wall for this house). That’s why many, myself included, like them in Palo Alto but find Diamond Heights offputting.
By the way, if you like this house and are up for a field trip, you’ll see this design approach expressed to much better advantage in a comparably-priced neighborhood in Palo Alto built just a couple of years before Diamond Heights. Look up “Los Arboles,” on Cork Oak Way and Holly Oak Drive — in my humble opinion, the best looking Eichler neighborhood of all.
I like the website layout.
I love it… great lighting and use of mixed materials. Nice blend of modern and traditional. It is 100% for sure not an Eichler. There are several independent architects in that area who did custom home. The Eichlers are much more box-like, don’t have those type of ceilings, or the Asian influence. Definitely a great house for someone looking for a classic, updated mid century modern house.
I dig the vaulted ceilings and mixture of modern w/ some Asian flair. Plus, it’s got a hot tub [Removed by Editor]!!! Perfect for those San Francisco nights w/ a nice bottle of burgundy.
Plus, that kitchen is huge! Looks like a good place for entertaining w/ all of that open space.
I am not sure the word “masterpiece” is appropriate here. The house is O.K., but if this were in the San Fernando Valley (where there are about 300,000 of this type of house) I think it would rather standard vs. exceptional. Still I give them credit for the clean staging and keeping the “Eichler” look.
I like the neighborhood of Diamond Heights. It is quiet, yet still part of the city. I think this house has unique and gorgeous architecture.
I am a big fan of open space and this house certainly has that. What is it about the kitchen that people are turned off by? Isn’t anyone sick of dark granite countertops and Lowe’s cabinets by now? Yuck. I think the modern and simplistic style is refreshing.
The exterior may be a bit Brady, but that just adds to the charm.
It is absolutely not an Eichler! That should be obvious to anyone who has lived in one (as I have). And as said above, Eichler was a developer, not an architect. This is a custom house, not part of a tract. And it was on the market last fall, if memory serves, and taken off, presumably either after not selling or a sale falling through. Anyone know the story? Yes, very Brady elevation, but it looks nice and warm and spacious inside.
The open space and vaulted ceilings create an atmosphere perfect for entertaining – rare to find in SF! I dig the fireplace and the owners clearly kept it’s original character.
P.S. The Brady Bunch is my favorite show.
if memory serves me well, mike brady was an architect….I can’t speak for this place as I haven’t seen it, but I don’t think it’s an Eichler. I do like what I see in the photos and its openness is attractive. Might be worth a look!
Shout out to Johnny Bravo…
I dig the retro vibe!
Nobody even blinked at the “Word Up” reference in the title of this post. Socketsite obviously caters to the 30 plus crowd.
On a separate note, Diamond Heights is OK. It’s awfully foggy. It also has some of the ugliest large condo developments in the city. It is however close to Noe/Castro/Glen Park and the Safeway is pretty decent.
this house is awesome…it is very zen like and cozy. a place you’d never wish to leave! whoever owns it is one lucky person. Groovy!
This house is muy fabuloso! I grew up in an Eichler in Palo Alto and love this style home. The only draw back is that there is no view.
M.R.
Looks like a very liveable house with open space that is inviting … great surrounds for entertaining. The wow kitchen is a work of art!
” This is a custom house, not part of a tract. And it was on the market last fall, if memory serves, and taken off, presumably either after not selling or a sale falling through. Anyone know the story?”
Can’t say I know the story of last fall but it did sell it July 05 for 1.4M.
http://sfarmls.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Sanfrancisco&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=AdaL458IXScIFlkHFutUNG%2B9v%2F0z2FxlYIxxMWjUwgA%3D&KeyRid=1
That song will be in my head all day. I hate you.
This is one of 3 or 4 semi-custon zero lot line houses in a row. Whoever took the photos didn’t really know what they were looking at because they miss some of the wonderful details – the battered concrete garden wall along the street, the heavy timber bench on the balcony, the two custom paneled doors on the balcony dividing the master suite from the rest, the folding accordian doors in the master and at the ground floor study, with their hidden pockets, the pegged treads on the open stairway, etc. It is much more interesting than it looks in the web photos.
word up? 40 year old virgin? cameo? Liz, you’ll really hate this if you were thinking of cameo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_7Kp_TapA4
Eichler did develop a number of custom and semi-custom houses that were more high end than his tract developments. Some friends of mine just sold a huge one on the Stanford campus. It’s not at all out of the question that this is an Eichler.
I think this would be termed a “Likeler”… there is a tract of Streng houses in Sacramento that are called those.
And it is not professionally staged, just the furnishings the current owners happen to own. I’ve seen worse.
Can anyone cofirm that this sold in ’05 for 1.4m? That would make the listing price close to where the they would be loosing money in the sale of this property at least. Interesting period we are going into right now.
This house is in Diamond Heights, an extremely foggy, windy neighborhood in the city. Diamond Heights is renowned for its hideous 1970’s wood-shingled condo developments.
“Can anyone cofirm that this sold in ’05 for 1.4m? That would make the listing price close to where the they would be loosing money in the sale of this property at least. Interesting period we are going into right now.”
The link from the SF MLS isn’t good enough for you?
Asking and selling prices are two different things. Ask the same question, if and when it’s sold.
This is not a custom Eichler. It is a stretch to call it a Like-ler just because it has open beam ceilings. Eichler was very consistent in how the custom built homes he built matched the mass-built homes in material and detail if not in scale. In particular, you can always spot an Eichler by its sliding glass doors (after around 1959, they go to the ceilng if an 8′ ceiling, or with a glass transom fitted directly to the metal top rail of the door if before that year or to a higher ceiling) and its window detailing. I know Eichlers, and this is no Eichler 🙂
The mass built Eichlers that are right next door and across the street are built in the same year, 1964, as this house, and the differences in its materials, details, massing, and roof is striking. I’m sure the city has a record of the builder.
Found this online with google search for ’05 sale:
http://www.natalierome.com/pdf/7Cameo.pdf
anon is talking some serious smack. why so angry, anon? it’s just a house….
The first thing I did was play the Brady Bunch theme song when I saw the pictures. Interesting house – I agree with the others though; badly staged, especially the upstairs. Curb appeal is horrible as well, but interesting property, nonetheless.
And it’s now in escrow…
This house is not staged. It’s really refreshing to see people’s real furniture and things. The owners have nice taste. So everything they have doesn’t match perfectly. The house looks even better in “person” than on the website and it’s already sold.
BTW, the houses across the street from this house are not Eichlers – they are either Ray Galli or Hayman houses from 1962. Further east, where Cameo loops back to Duncan St., there are 4 Eichlers on the other side of the street. On the same side as 7 Cameo, there are a number of Eichlers also, as well as one house from the 1940s.
There is an awful Pit Bull that lives accrost the street from 7 Cameo, the dog owner has actually cut a hole in the fence so the dog can stick it’s head out and bark continuiously all day long. Very ghetto.
I grew up in an Eichler down the street on Cameo Way. This house is NOT an Eichler. It was built by another developer several years after the Eichlers in the neighborhood were finished. Yes, Haymen built the homes across the street from this house and my house. Galli built homes in the neighborhood, but not on Cameo.
More on this house: The photo of the outside doesn’t do it justice. The side yard, shown on the right in the photo, is like a secret hideaway. The house was custom built in the 60’s, along with the house around the corner on Amber.
7 Cameo Way closed escrow on 8/22/07 for $1,550,000 (3.7% over asking).
UPDATE: Word Up by 2.3 Percent per Year