I remember seeing this home a couple of years back (or perhaps it was only last year that I saw it?) and what stuck out was the bounty of architectural pedigree.  So much history surrounds this house and so much of Maybeck can be seen.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Berkeley/2601-Derby-St-94705/home/2026444

New on the market is a home worth looking at.  This 1915 Henry Gutterson home, listed by Gene Millstein with Millstein and Associates, is located in North Berkeley and features 4+ bedrooms, 4 baths, and over 3801 sf of living space.  

Most notable are the intricately carved paneled walls and high ceilings made from carved California redwood. The yard boasts “lovely gardens” on a private setting on more than 1/3 acre.

It will be open this Sunday from 2-4, worth a visit I would think.  http://www.millsteinassociates.com/715TheAlameda/715TheAlameda.htm

Bernard Maybeck was certainly a visionary and eclectic connosieur of chamelionesque design within the Arts and Craft movement of the 20th century.  He moved to Berkeley at the age of 30, acting as a mentor to some of the most esteemed architects, including Julia Morgan and William Wurster.

Some of his larger homes can be found by his old stomping grounds near Buena Vista Way and La Loma in Berkeley, a fact memorialized by Maybeck Twin Drive off of Buena Vista above La Loma.  Maybeck was known for his ability to build on the land, in harmony with the surrounding landscape.  One of his most inspirational works is perhaps the First Church of Christ in Berkeley.  In it he combined personalized historicism – combining oriental, classical, Romanesque and Gothic motifs and indiustrial materials integrated to a powerful new whole.  In the words of Kenneth Cardwell, Maybeck’s biographer, “no other building demonstrates so completely Maybeck’s imaginative architectural genius [...] with its masterly handling of space, structure, color, and light.” 

In May the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association will be hosting their 34th Spring House Tour and Garden Reception featuring “Maybeck Country, the Hillside Houses of the Early- and Mid-20th Century,” Sunday, 3 May 2009, One to Five o’clock

What better way to appear all cool and sophisticated at your next cocktail party than to impress those around you with your knowledge of architecture by using obscure architectrual terms?  Here are a few key interesting ones to remember- click on the image for a larger view.