Berkeley Hills Mid-Century

Real estate agents Matt Vance and Peter Ashbaugh discovered a rare mid-century modern home in North Berkeley and recognized its potential. The house had been designed by architect Elwood Hanson and offered a well-organized floor plan with vaulted views from the living room. Matt and Peter hoped to re-invigorate the minimally touched house and reached out to Eisenmann Architecture.

The original 1964 kitchen was centrally located but enclosed by four windowless interior walls. A single skylight provided the only natural light in the landlocked space. Furthermore, a bulky elevator had been added, separating the living and dining rooms. The priority was to better integrate the public spaces while honoring the intent of the original architect. 

Removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room proved difficult because the slender roof sandwich could not accommodate an upturned beam. We resolved this by installing a large beam sideways, creating a seamless ceiling between the kitchen and dining room. Eliminating the elevator significantly improved the experience of the home by making it possible to see from one end of the house to the other. Glass accordion doors to the back yard and a large kitchen skylight improved the quality of light and connection to the garden. 

Matt and Peter were willing to be bold with our recommendation of black painted cabinets, white-oak accents, and quartz countertops—all selected for dramatic contrast. We also developed design solutions to mitigate structural oddities. For example, the dining room dry-bar conceals a bulkhead over the basement stairs, and a floating shelf named the Infinity Loop provides playful storage that engages with a wall jaunt. 

In the bathrooms, skylights improve the daylight, illuminating the rich colors in the Fireclay and Heath tiles, and wall-hung fixtures were selected to help maximize the perception of space. The master bathroom has the added touch of several floating walnut shelves that lap over the mirror, which is flush set into the hex tile, and wraps the corner to visually enlarge the room.

“Stacy, Amber, and Jos were great to work with on a substantial remodel of our 1964 mid-century modern home that was in original condition.
We really appreciated their attention to detail, and their recommendations helped us create the vision we wanted for our home. Stacy was knowledgeable on current trends, and made great suggestions that improved the aesthetics and functionality of our remodel. We love our home and can’t thank Eisenmann Architecture enough. Her team was also very familiar with codes and requirements in Berkeley, which was invaluable.”

-Matt (Client)