Charming Stone and Tudor home in "Gourmet Ghetto" neighborhood of North Berkeley
House • Berkeley CA United States
7 Guests
4 Bedrooms
4 Beds
3 Bathrooms
4 Car spaces
2 Cars available
Primary home
Exchange types accepted
Simultaneous
Non-Simultaneous
Non-Reciprocal & Globe
Hospitality
Statistics
Listed June 2024
Views 879
General overview
We live in a newly remodled, unique, stone-walled "hobbit castle" house in North Berkeley. It's a cute 3 bedroom house situated at the very base of the Berkeley Hills, just a couple blocks from the "Gourmet Ghetto", Solano Avenue, Live Oak Park and the Berkeley Rose Garden. We have a peaceful backyard with hot tub and outdoor shower.
We are a half hr drive from San Francisco, 45 minutes from the coast, and can offer tons of amazing day trip recommendations.
Walking distance from cafes, restaurants, farmers market and great grocery stores. Happy to trade cars as well.
Cool trivia: One of the members of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) used to own and live in this house!
The space
The living room is light, airy and very calm. and the kitchen is also very zen with beautiful marble and wood touches. When I redid the house I wanted to create a feeling of warmth and calm so everything is soft and neutral. I love it and hope you will too!
The backyard is heaven, our own little sanctuary with 2 fire tables, a hot tub, outdoor shower and sofa to lounge. We are visited by hummingbirds, butterflies ,squirrels and deer. At night you will hear the peaceful whoo of our neighborhood owl friends!
Two floors, 1450 sq feet. The main house will comfortably fit 5 people. Two more could fit in separate side unit, which is connected to the main house but with no door between the two. Access from one to the other is via some outdoor steps.
Two bathrooms, one with bathtub/shower (upstairs), one with shower (downstairs)
Separate side unit also has its own bathroom
Spacious living room with stone gas fireplace.
Master bedroom with vaulted ceilings with exposed wood beams and its own stone gas fireplace. Cal King sized bed.
One bedroom with a twin (single) bed. This is our daughter's room.
Guest room/play room/TV den - You can choose between either a twin or queen sized inflatable mattress for his room, both high quality and very comfortable, and/or one person can sleep on the sofa, which is surprisingly wide and comfortable itself. The sofa is not a pull out.
TV is equipped with Apple TV and sound bar. Cable high speed internet and wifi (Sonic).
Dining room with 4 chairs plus one extra in the upstairs room and folding chairs that can be brought in from outside. Dining room table sits four, or six if you add the leaf
Fully equipped kitchen w/ Bosch dishwasher, Bosch fridge, Wolf stove. You are welcome to use any of food currently in the kitchen.
Laundry room with stackable LG washer and dryer and industrial sink.
The main floor is the kitchen, dining room, living room, den and bathroom.
Upstairs is the master bedroom, bathroom and 2nd bedroom.
***Note that if desired there is also a separate side unit with a queen bed and full bathroom w/ shower.***
Guest access
House is not wheelchair accessible.
There are about 7 steps to reach the front door, then a normal 14 step staircase between the 1st and 2nd floors.
Keypad locks on the back doors so you never have to deal with keys if you don't want to.
Features
Washer
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Oven
Microwave
Coffee machine
Fridge
Iron
Hair dryer
Heating
Air conditioning
TV
WiFi
High Speed Internet
Bathtub
First aid kit
Wheelchair accessible
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Workspace
Fireplace
Home cinema
Toys
Gym
Sauna
BBQ
Pool
Hot tub
Balcony
Garden / yard
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Covered porch / verandah
Kosher home
Meat-free kitchen
Gated community
EV Home Charger
Bikes
Camping gear
Kayak
Tennis court
Standup paddleboard
House rules
Unsuitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets not allowed
No smoking
Allergens
Cat free
Dog free
Smoke free
Low allergen
Hypoallergenic
Dates of Availability
Click on availability periods to see exchange types and descriptions.
Neighbourhood
Our neighborhood is special. You can walk to a beautiful park with a creek running through it and tons of eateries. Sushi, Italian, a wonderful jewish Deli, Thai food and the famous Chez Panisse are all in walking distance about 5 minutes, And the amazing Cheeseboard with specialty pizza and delicious pastries daily. 2 coffee shops, gelato and a high end food emporium - there is a reason they call this neighborhood the gourmet ghetto.
Plus is it full of beautiful gardens and is a pleasure to walk around, We are fiends with all of our neighbors so you will have a built in community and we are happy to introduce you.
Getting to my home
San Francisco airport (SFO) is about 40 minutes drive and Oakland airport (OAK) is about 25 with no traffic.
BART (train), Uber or taxi available from either airport.
BART stops about 15 minutes walk or 5 minute Uber ride from here.
Public bus (AC Transit) stops 1 block away.
Nearest airport
Oakland (OAK) is 25 minute away and San Francisco (SFO) International is 45-60 minutes traffic depending.
San Jose (SJO) is also feasible as an airport but is a bit over an hour drive with no traffic, longer at busy times of day.
Getting around
You can walk, rent a car, use our cars or Uber. If you want to take road trips out of Berkeley a car is recommended.
Map of Approximate Location
People Like Us Local Guide
offer suggestions for food and excursions, meet for a drink, introduce to friends
Rivka's was a great host. Her house is splendid and well located in the Berkeley neighborhood. Very nice terrace with a spa and beautifull flowers. It's a perfect place to explore San Francisco, the Bay Area and Muir Woods.
Thanks Martin - so glad you enjoyed our home and our beautiful Bay Area!!
We absolutely loved staying at River and Nialls' gorgeous and unique home! The home was so clean, warm and welcoming and the backyard was such an incredible garden oasis with hot tub to thoroughly enjoy relaxing. Hidden fact that I didn't know is that the weather in Berkeley is so much cooler than the surrounding areas of Napa, Sonoma, San Jose. Although we stayed during a heat wave in Northern California, the weather was so much cooler and comfortable here. It was an easy drive to visit the sites here along with Napa, Sonoma, Sausalito and San Francisco. Our initial contact was so warm and friendly that I know we will remain friends!! Please remember us in the future if you ever want someone to simply home sit. Your location was just perfect. Thank you so very much to allow us to stay in your home!! Kindest regards, Barbara, Kathy, Rhea and Susan!
We loved having you all - a perfect first PLU experience. I know Barbara is a friend for life! We loved all the photos and seeing you all enjoy our backyard oasis. That made me so happy!
Amazingly, we connected last minute (which isn’t my usual way of travel) for a non-simultaneous weekend exchange with Rivka and her family. We were able to meet them briefly when they arrived and show them around. Rivka is a great communicator, took excellent care of our house and we very much look forward to spending a weekend at their place sometime in the future, we return to a clean house and homemade chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Thanks Stephanie - what a wonderful last minute connection. It was so special to meet you and Scott and enjoy your amazing home for the weekend. It was just perfect for some serious family connection time before we launched into the school year. You are so generous and I loved our text messaging throughout the stay. Cant wait to host you at our place soon!
Rivka and her family were perfect guests. Although their stay was short, she took quite a tour of Oahu and sent me some with smiles all along the adventures. The house was very clean, and our beds were made for our return. Communication throughout was ideal from the beginning to today. I highly recommend Rivka. Aloha, Victor.
Stephanie is so lovely and her house is just amazing, This was a last minute exchange and it could not have been better. The home itself is gorgeous with the most comfortable beds and lovely decor. The outdoor pool and spa area is so peaceful and we just relaxed the day away. Stephanie is so gracious and made us feel so welcome and at home. We were lucky enough to arrive before she and Scott left town so we had a nice in person meeting and then Stephanie and I continued to text throughout the weekend. I cant wait to host them and to be as kind and welcoming as they were to my family.
Staying at Victor‘s place was an absolutely incredible experience. His home is magical and is my favorite area in Oahu. There was some mixup with the dates at the start of our proposed exchange and Victor was so kind and thoughtful and making sure he did everything he can to work it out with us. We were so happy That we got to enjoy his beautiful house. He connected us with his previous guess and now I have also found new friends in them. We had a lovely FaceTime call before we Left for Hawaii and everything was in perfect order when we arrived. Victor was a wonderful communicator and sharing many things about Oahu that made our trip so incredibly special thank you so much for being a beautiful host and we most certainly hope to come back and stay again. The most special part about Victor‘s home is the view from the upstairs bedroom where I would wake up every morning to watch sunrise as the sky turned all shades of orange, red and pink, and the birds would welcome me to the day. Pure magic.
Martin was a perfect guest! We had a lovely FaceTime and it was so nice to connect live before his family stayed at our house. We came home to a perfectly clean home and had great communication with Martin throughout their stay. Another win from People Like us! We are so happy!
Barbara is an amazing person and guest. I reel so lucky to have hd her as our first PLU exchange. She is lovely, communicative, helpful and just an overall wonderful person. Our house was in pristine condition when we returned plus she left us some lovely thank you gifts. Her friends are wonderful and I am so excited to have found a new friend and connection in her!
We absolutely loved our stay in your gorgeous home and thoroughly enjoyed your outside oasis with all the plants and cozy couches and chairs with fire pit out back. The location was perfect for exploring Berkeley, Sausalito, SF, Napa and Sonoma area. I loved our immediate friendship and for sure we will stay in touch!
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