Proud Victorian

Passing this beautifully maintained genuine, not some builder's modern version, Victorian house as we were on our way to the Urban Tree Farm, set me to reminiscing about the old neighborhood on Magnolia Street in Berkeley where we lived for 45 years before moving to Santa Rosa.

There was a big Victorian on the corner, probably the first in the neighborhood a mile west of the University of California campus. When the house on the corner was built, probably around the turn of the 20th century, there  were  only two buildings, North Hall and South Hall on the campus. My father was born in a house a few blocks away on Hillegass Avenue  and our family history is entwined with Berkeley's and that of the University of California. I was the fourth generation in my family to graduate from the university after my grandmother and her four sisters, their father, and my father.

Our house, a California craftsman designed by John Hudson Thomas might have come next on the block in 1907, the year after the San Francisco earthquake and fire,  followed by Berkeley brown shingles (four rooms upstairs around a central hall and four rooms downstairs) and finally by stucco prairie style homes inspired by Frank Lloyd Wrigiht.

We used to walk our dogs around the block before bedtime on the well lit streets of our block and enjoy speculating on what was going on in the houses built so close to the pavements in this neighborhood. I loved the architectural diversity that could be found in Berkeley.

Now we live in a mid century modern style house. Not particularly distinguished architecturally, built in 1964, but  with an open plan and lots of windows and doors to the garden. It is on a rural road which is rapidly disintegrating due to the fact that it has become a highway for heavy vehicles, and dump trucks. We have a wonderful view due to the fact that the house is at the top of a steep driveway well above the street. Night time walks are out of the question because there are no street lights and it is pitch dark at night,  but we do have almost three acres of field and garden to play around in.

Our neighbor, Janet, whose lot on the driveway side of our house was cleared last week, came by to tell us that she and her husband Paul have decided to rebuild. John and I needed no further excuse to bring out the wine and toast their decision. We are delighted that they will once again be our neighbors....We sat outside in the sun discussing. our somewhat convoluted property line and the possibility of putting in a water tank on the hill between our properties.

Janet is a woman who can Get Things Done, and we need her energy in our wounded neighborhood.