Sold: 1620 Le Roy Avenue

Legacies Start Here …

1620 Le Roy Avenue is the kind of home that forms a foundation for lives to be lived.  It has been such a home since it was built in 1933 and it is now ready to support new occupants in achieving greatness.  This grand home’s architecture references the Spanish Mediterranean style as well as Arts & Crafts influences, but what you will notice most is being comfortable, at ease, and in awe of the view.  Everything flows just as you might hope from the very Western and ancient cactus garden in front, to the gated formal entry where the arched, weighty mahogany front door flanked by original Carrera marble urns overflowing with flowers.  As you enter the living room to the left you are greeted by an almost level view of UC Berkeley’s famous Campanile, and, if you look carefully, you might just see one of the falcons who nest there returning home to feed their young.  Turning to the right and looking west, the San Francisco skyline and Golden Gate Bridge are also in view, as are the hills of Marin, anchored by the silhouette of Mt. Tamalpais.  The floorplan flows through the dining room to the great room style kitchen and family room with a convenient breakfast nook, where you might just spend all day looking at the garden, water, the sky and thinking of how twice a year the sun sets right in the center of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Completing this level are a huge view deck, a large butler’s pantry with laundry, a half bath, bedroom/study and access to stairs both up and down.  On the top level there are four good sized bedrooms off of a central foyer, graced by so many linen cabinets and a huge walk-in closet.  There is a hall bath and another one positioned between two of the bedrooms Jack and Jill style.  All of the bedrooms, but particularly the one in the south west corner have wonderful outlooks.  On the lowest level of the home there is a knotty pine style game room with charming decorative gas logs and a legal one bedroom apartment with its own entrance.  The rear garden features mature plants and several distinct areas that will allow even the largest group to find a comfortable place to enjoy the outdoors.  The deck off of the main living spaces flows to a lawn, which in turn steps down to a patio off of the 1 bedroom unit and that in turn leads to an almost secret fireside respite.

No description of this home can be complete without a nod to the amazing location.  Just far enough north of campus to be convenient but not overrun and just far enough up the hill to get a view, you can enjoy traveling to many essentials without a car.  It is mere minutes to some of the best parts of Berkeley – with easy access to Live Oak and Tilden Parks, as well as the Rose Garden and the best music venue in the Bay Area.  And the culinary delights of North Shattuck may be almost too close: Pizza at the Cheesboard Collective is hard to resist even if you don’t have to pass it on the way home and birthdays at Chez Panissemay just become part of your routine!