A Mid-Century Modern Classic Tucked Away in Sausalito, California

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Location: Sausalito, California Price: $2.825 million

Award-winning architect Joseph Esherick designed the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Cannery near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. He also designed many private homes in the Bay Area.

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"The ideal kind of building is one you don't see,'' Mr. Esherick liked to say, according to his 1998 obituary in The New York Times. His designs were meant to blend into their surroundings and not shout his name as their architect.

Tucked quietly into a Sausalito hillside, this classic mid-century modern home by Esherick certainly fits into his blend-right-in design aesthetic.

The circa 1951 house is very private, with wide-angle views of San Francisco Bay from many of the rooms.

"There are no real rooftops in the way," said Deborah Fletcher of Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty. "Everywhere you look, it’s either into the garden areas and brick patios or out to the mountains and the bay."

"You’re in your own little world because there is nobody on either side of you," she said.

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In 1998, there was a remodel/addition by Michael Rex architects.

The 62 windows in the house, along with 10-foot ceilings in many rooms, give it an indoor-outdoor feel.

The 17-by-14-foot master bedroom has access to an intimate deck with meandering brick pathways and gardens. 

The Stats

The 3,070-square-foot house has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and one half bath. It sits on 0.231 acres.

Design Pedigree

In 1989 Esherick was awarded the gold medal of the American Institute of Architects, making him one of only 47 recipients since 1907 and putting him in the company of design giants like Frank Lloyd Wright.

Esherick, a faculty member at the University of California at Berkeley for more than 40 years, designed Stevenson College at the University of California at Santa Cruz and many buildings at Stanford University and Mills College in Oakland. 

Amenities

The house has a large deck, wine cellar, landscaped gardens, and a fenced yard. The living room has a wood-burning fireplace. There is also a 585-square-foot two-car garage with interior access to the house. 

Neighborhood Notes

"The neighborhood feels very European," Ms. Fletcher said. "All of Sausalito has a very European feel because it’s hilly."

"Even though the lots are small, you don’t see each other because the houses are angled for views and privacy," she said. "There is so much foliage–it’s not like the regular neighborhoods on the East Coast, with their big houses and big yards."

Downtown Sausalito, with its many stylish restaurants, is theoretically walkable from the house, Ms. Fletcher said, "but then you’d have to walk back up."

Agent: Deborah Fletcher, Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty

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