Oakland: It’s All There But Is Something Missing?

The border between Berkeley and Oakland can be difficult to fathom in certain areas. I know people whose postal address is in Berkeley but who pay their taxes to Oakland. The son of a friend says his bed is half in Berkeley and half in Oakland. This might raise some interesting discussions when he applies to local high schools.

Alvarado Road twists and winds its way up into both the Berkeley and Oakland hills. This imposing colonial-style house has an Oakland zip code for those for whom that matters. It was apparently rebuilt after the Oakland fire following the original 1922 plans of the architect Warren Charles Perry.

Personally, while I’m all for restoring former glory, I would have taken the opportunity to tweak those plans while I had the chance.

The layout is a little odd. The front door leads into a small hallway flanked on both sides by bedrooms. Ahead is a corridor which itself leads pretty much nowhere.

Things get better as you climb upstairs, probably because the house has been configured to take advantage of the fabulous Bay views which improve the higher you go. The second floor includes the living areas and kitchen as well as a pleasant sun room with views of Golden Gate Bridge on one side and a nicely landscaped, steeply terraced garden on the other.

The top floor is by far the most attractive with a grand master suite and another capacious bedroom that leads onto a deck with more wonderful views.

Nice though much of it is, the house lacked flow for me.

The realtor talks gamely about the home’s proximity to the College Avenue shopping district. Unless you’re in training for Iron Man, it’s unlikely you’ll be making that trip by foot on a regular basis.