Festival Fridays: Oakland’s Montclair Village Fine Arts Festival

The 33rd Annual Montclair Village Fine Arts Festival is being held this weekend, Friday through Sunday, in the Montclair district of Oakland. Montclair Village is nestled in the upper Oakland hills and definitely lives up to its moniker of “village”, not feeling at all like part of a big urban city. The downtown, along Mountain Blvd and adjacent streets, is primarily comprised of boutiques and small businesses, gourmet as well as standard food fare, and a large recreation center. The weather should be nice, so plan on heading over this way, checking out the booths, the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, and then seeing some of the wonderful homes available for sale in the neighborhood.

Location: Montclair Village is located just off of the Warren Freeway (Hwy 13) between Park Blvd. and Moraga Ave.
Date: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Time: Fri 10-6; Sat 10-5; Sun 10-5

Montclair is noted for its low crime rate and good schools, and you can get more bang for your buck than in the Crocker Highlands neighborhood or over in Berkeley. There are approximately 21 homes available for sale in this area, ranging in price from $445,000 to $3,500,000. Five on the west side of Highway 13, 9 on the east side, and 6 that cannot be mapped. There are none known to have an open house this weekend, but that shouldn’t prevent you from driving by and checking them out. Here are the 6 homes closest to downtown on the east side of Highway 13:

Closest to downtown is 1901 Magellan Drive, a 5/2 listed for $905,000 ($437/sf). On the market 19 days, a contemporary home with great views. Close to BART and the freeway.

Nearby is 5905 Zinn, a good example of mid-mod architecture with lots of windows and resulting light. Being offered by the original owner for $777,000 ($568/sf), you get over a quarter of an acre with this home.

There are 3 homes along Colton Blvd, a traditional 3/2 fixer at 6030 listed for $750,000 ($436/sf), an 4/3 updated rancher at 6097, offering great views and a price tag of $899,000 ($339/sf), and a 2/2 contemporary on a substandard lot at 6670, listed for $600,000 ($369/sf).

There is also 3/2.5 of 2,065 sf updated modern home with large airy rooms at 5931 Mazuela Drive listed for $899,000 ($435/sf), which could quite possibly be my favorite of the bunch.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the biggest festival happening this weekend. The 2008 San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade will be taking place Saturday and Sunday. The theme “United by Pride, Bound for Equality” comes on the heels of the historic decision to allow all people to marry, regardless of gender. On Saturday, the celebration will take place in the Civic Center from noon to 6pm, and on Sunday there is the annual parade, with Cyndi Lauper and Charo the celebrity grand marshals, beginning on Market Street at 10:30. The parade is followed by events in Civic Center Plaza from noon to 7 pm. This will be a particularly well-attended event, so plan on using public transit, as parking will be difficult.