#8442 Trial Member
Cozy home and garden near the Oakland hills
House • Oakland CA United States
Exchange types accepted
Statistics
Listed February 2021
Views 1697
General overview
We have a sweet 2 bedroom/ 1 bath (100 sq meters) home in the Laurel neighborhood of Oakland, with a view of the Golden Gate bridge from our back deck. The sunsets are wonderful. Our house has a very large garden (front, side and back) with mature fruit trees, and everything blooms in Northern California from February through August. We have high-speed, fiber-optics WiFi, a very well equipped kitchen (we love to cook!) and a cat named Paco who goes in and out, but can definitely stay outside if you prefer. Ours is a quiet residential neighborhood but just a few freeway exits from Lake Merritt in the heart of Oakland. We are minutes from Mills College, 10 minutes from incredible redwood forests, 25 minutes to either Berkeley or San Francisco, and an hour from wine country.
The space
There is a large open room that is a combo living room/dining room (and my home office under shelter-in-place!). One of the bedrooms has a Queen bed, and the other has a double. The kitchen has everything you could want (dishwasher, rice cooker, coffee maker that grinds whole beans, good knives...), and the tub in the bathroom is deep and very nice for baths.
We also have a separate stand-alone office in the backyard (see photo) with a desk, couch, and TV, and an extra "gaming den" downstairs in the basement for our son where the clothes washer/dryer is. You'd have to ask him about his video game set-up. If you count the extra office and downstairs space, the home is actually quite a comfortable size!
We have a new gas grill on the back deck, just off the kitchen, and a carport, though we don't really use it as there is plenty of street parking.
Guest access
The house is essentially one floor, but we're on a hill, so there is a staircase that goes down from the back deck to the garden below. You also need to go down those stairs, or around through the side garden, if you want to use the back office or the laundry room/gaming room in the basement.
Notes
We have great neighbors, and a sweet cat named Paco. If you would be willing to fill his food and water bowl while you are here, that would be terrific, but if that's not convenient, our neighbors love him and will care for him.
You are welcome to eat veggies from the garden (if in season!) or pick blackberries, lemons or apples from our trees.
Features
Washer
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Oven
Microwave
Fridge
Iron
Heating
TV
WiFi
First aid kit
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Workspace
BBQ
Garden / yard
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Travel Styles
Weekend
Adventure
Budget
Family
Foodie
Relaxing
City
Hiking
Cycling
House rules
Suitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets not allowed
No smoking
Allergens
Dog free
Smoke free
Dates of Availability
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Neighbourhood
Our immediate neighborhood is very pretty and quiet (nice sloping hills for walking and checking out gardens and interesting architecture) but you can walk about a half mile down the hill to get BBQ or microbrews and Mexican food. Oakland is a very lively, exciting city with a rich history and diverse communities. You can explore everything from Ethiopian restaurants to taco trucks to Chinatown, visit farmer's markets and hipster bars or Lake Merritt (with a great Sunday BBQ scene!). We are also close to the major freeways, so you can get to Berkeley or San Francisco fairly quickly.
Best of all, there is a great connected system of regional parks very close by (Redwood regional, Joaquin Miller, Roberts Park...) with excellent hiking and mountain biking trails, outdoor swimming pools, and old growth redwood forests. You will be amazed at the beauty in the Oakland hills.
Nearest airport
Oakland airport is a 20-30 minute drive away.
Getting around
We would be willing to leave a car if that seems like a good idea. A car is quite helpful around here, although you can also call Lyft or Uber to take you to local places or the BART station, if you want to take the metro into San Francisco.
Map of Approximate Location
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Feedback
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