With some rather nice woodwork throughout, we only wish the kitchen had followed a bit more in the direction of the Arts and Crafts movement as well. Regardless, we note upgraded systems and seismic at $580 per square ($1,415,000) for the well kept home.
∙ Listing: 274 20th Avenue (3/2.5) 2,438 sqft – $1,415,000 [274-20thave.com] [MLS]
Nice house, very odd kitchen layout…(the sink)
I’ll add it to my short list since it has a pot filler.
The exterior color scheme is a little much for me.
Did anyone catch the part where they state that some of the light fixtures and TREES are not included with the sale of the house? Light fixtures, sure I guess I can see that, but taking some of the trees out of that beautiful Zen garden seems, well, very unzen like. Nice house though…
The front door to the house looks like it belongs on an outhouse. Agree with Lori’s comment about the exterior color scheme (both front and back – ugh). While the Zen garden is pretty it’s totally unusable space. I’d rather have grass or at least an area for a grill, some heat lamps, and an outdoor table. The kitchen doesn’t match the rest of the house.
Other than that, it’s a nice place but for that location it wouldn’t be my first pick.
anybody see the before?
is this restoration of existing woodwork or contemporary arts and crafts overkill like that guy over in bernal was doing with the victorian vernacular. fireplace sure looks new.
I’ve been in a lot of arts and crafts homes in Berkeley and this is not the look achieved by originals.
I’ll lay bets that the main floor trim is new..there are components to it that are clearly not Arts and Crafts, but more “post-modern”..Just doesn’t look quite right, even though beautifully crafted.
Why is the second floor trim all painted? It doesn’t relate at all to the main floor?
I do think it’s a bit cheesy to not include all light fixtures with the house, unless perhaps they were of “sentimental” value or had a family history. You can duplicate all those fixtures at Rejuvenation Lighting or other sources.
Not including all trees? Seems odd. The Zen garden, while perhaps charming, lacks a professional design touch. too many little touches here and then, instead of a more focused plan. Comes off rather home-made.
The interior is nice, but there is something wrong with the front of the house. Was it one of those poor houses that was stucco’ed in the 50s? It would be nicer if it had a traditional Arts and Crafts facade.
As someone who has gone through a lot of homes in this neighborhood, it is obvious that this particular builder used a lot of gumwood throughout his craftsman homes. I have not been into this home but, from pics, I would guess that quite a bit of the gumwood was restored and it looks like there are panels behind the shelves by the fireplace that may have been added (the wood grain is a little off). My guess is that the rounded off cabinet in the dining room was added later.
Overall, Kudos to the owner for refinishing the woodwork instead of painting it!
What is gumwood ?
I can never quite understand why people will take the time to type a question when they could just as easily get the answer with a quick google.
actually I did try to look it up though confined my search to wikipedia. There gumwood is defined as an uncommon species from isolated islands in the south pacific. I was thinking “no way this is what they used in California homes”.
Thanks for the link diemos. I guess gumwood has a different meaning in the USA : mostly sweetgum. And it also includes the notorious liquidambar which ironically I am just about to depart this morning to cut a 30′ specimen down.
anyone want some fresh gumwood to mill into arts and crafts trim wood ? 🙂 Otherwise I’ll buck it up in 18″ chunks that are useless for woodwork. Be advised that liquidambar is loaded with water and sap !
How did we ever live before wikipedia?
MoD,
I’ll take it. I can pick it up.
Can you say Eucalyptus tree? There is plenty of south Pacific wood in the San Francisco area…
sparky-b : I bailed out on the job. The tree was too tight in with other trees, a fence, and a garage. I don’t have the skill to drop the limbs precise enough to avoid breaking anything. Plus there was a power line in the mix too.
I’m amazed that anyone would use liquidambar for finish detail. It feels like junk wood, soft and wet.
Don’t know about liquidamber but eucalyptus is starting to be used more and more as a finish wood.
http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=52&C=638&P=6
As for the trees, you could always make an offer contingent upon them staying, but in my opinion the yard is more Kitsch than Zen and needs a complete redo anyway.
I wonder if there’s anything in the real estate code that addresses the tree issue. I mean, the trees are planted, so shouldn’t they be included as simply a matter of fact?
I assume the “trees” are actually smallish japanese maples and the like. Specimen trees can be quite expensive, and also quite rare. I can easily see a gardener wanting to keep his special plants, particularly if he’s not sure that the next owner will care one way or the other. That’s painful for a gardener to contemplate….
The sale of 274 20th Ave closed escrow yesterday with a reported contract price of $1,425,000 ($584 per square foot). Don’t forget those invitations to the housewarming.
Even though this is not an apple because they did permitted work on the kitchen, this is a big win for the seller. Good work by the agent! The prior sale was at $1.15M in 2002. This is 2.7%/year nominal. The real increase is much lower, about 2% over the whole 8 years when you exclude inflation, which is 0.3%/year. That’s great in this economy.
Funny that they claimed the seismic work on the listing. The prior owner did some permitted seismic work in 2000, but not this seller.