Achtung! $265K Price Cut For East Bay Modern Masterpiece
October 5, 2015
Listed for $2.5 million three weeks ago, the asking price for the four-bedroom modern masterpiece hidden behind a custom gate at 256 The Uplands in Claremont has been reduced $265,000 (10.6 percent), now asking $2.235 million.
Built in 1967, the Bauhaus-style home was designed by renowned Bay Area architect Donald Olsen.
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What’s with the post right in the middle of the living room?
the modernists oft showed the structure of course, and this column was probably considered a “aesthetic yet structural” detail, ie, gives the wall some visual interest, akin to a pilaster in traditional architecture. i take it you’re not referring to the fireplace flu, which, in white, is another modern trick, possibly all dating back to LeCorbusier: Richard Meier does “these details” a lot as well, as in (i think) the Douglas house, etc.
The post in the “right middle” of the room is NOT right in the middle of the room. Its 2″ away the built in cabinetry, and does not impeded with circulation/ function.
I think it is roof drainage as I do not see exterior Rain Water Leaders/ downspouts on the exterior from the fla roof with parapets. Its slenderness ratio (diameter to height) seems to suggest it may not be of any structural value.
Regardless, I think it looks ridiculous standing out separate from the cabinets. It should have been embedded in the cabinets, as a counterpoint to the flue.
Isn’t it a chimney? The fireplace is directly below.
The other pole.
One of the first stripper poles in the Bay Area. Clearly a historic pole of import.
could be a drain….even if tough steel slenderness ratio off? reminds me of a college project, wherein i wanted the toilet drain to run similarly through a breakfast nook. professor didn’t like me in the first place….i said “it could be brass-encased: an accent.” he said, “the breakfast eaters will hear every flush.” have to admit hadn’t thought of that.
It is a stunning building – love the dinning room.
I am wondering if the clerestory glass blocking off the kitchen was part of the original design or if it was added later when someone asked why the painting they had just purchased from the owners smelled like bacon.
I was wondering about that… interesting theory.
It was built in a time when people didn’t think guests needed to see or hear food prep or see your shiny appliances and pasta-pot-filler, so I suspect the glass is original.
Agreed, esp. since there is also a swinging door that can be closed to completely separate the kitchen. Frankly that makes sense for a home of this type; caterers can work in the kitchen without creating too much noise or distraction.
Six Magic Numbers. Six Magic Numbers.
Uh-oh. I just noticed the external (those can’t be original) draperies. Who said a classic design can’t be improved upon.
You mean the roll-down window shades? (From your comment, I went back and looked at the pictures, expecting to see big velvet curtains or something.) Frankly with all that glass, I think some discrete roll-down shades are entirely to be expected and are appropriate (and, incidentally, may aid in saving the house in the event of a wildfire) – and if they weren’t part of the original design, then that was an oversight.
Now that it’s noted I’m not sure I like the glass-enclosed kitchen. Maybe the architect was saying, “Volume within a volume,” but I’m guessing it might make the kitchen “feel” too tall, and I feel it looks a tad odd from the rest of the house. If I was designing it from scratch I would have been tempted to put a ‘lil den or library atop the kitchen, or running walls to the roof with really big cut-outs as is done elsewhere in the space.
I want to live in this house.
UPDATE: The sale of 256 The Uplands has closed escrow with a reported contract price of $2.4 million.