Berkeley: Think Beige is Boring? Then This One’s For You

Color in a home can lead to all manner of outcomes. I still recall a particularly nasty shade of what I termed Thousand Island dressing on the walls of the bedroom of a London apartment I shared with a boyfriend who rapidly became my ex soon after we moved in. I don’t think the two facts were unrelated.

Like most people I favor neutrals – a bit of taupe, some whipped cream maybe a spot of sage. So I was surprised how much I liked this small but perfectly formed Edwardian on Woolsey Street. For this house is an unapologetic riot of uncompromisingly loud colors.

The outside announces itself with a bold combination of egg-yolk yellow, screaming green and deep purple. Inside on the main level there is a mauve living room and a crimson dining room (apologies to the designer if I have misinterpreted the hues – color is such a subjective matter as well as a potentially dangerous one). The good-size kitchen, which gives onto a compact but nicely planned back yard, is well thought out and has a lovely slate floor. A stylish spiral staircase leads to a (deep sea blue) carpeted lower level with another bedroom (lime green) and bathroom.

The whole impression is that someone has spent a lot of time, money and care on giving a characterful house more than a dash of contemporary “va va voom”. It’s been done with panache and the standard of workmanship looks good.

Even if the vibrancy is not to your taste and you wanted to tone it all down, the fundamentals, including hardwood floors and well-designed kitchen, are there.

I wondered about the safety of the neighborhood. The house is in the southernmost part of Berkeley, just east of Sacramento Street, close to the Oakland and Emeryville borders. Some of the surrounding streets look a touch seedy. The house is also a little too close to the main thoroughfare of Adeline Street for my liking.

I expressed my concerns to the realtor at the open house. Her response: “You can always drive your car straight into the garage”. Funnily enough, this did little to reassure me.