This Japanese-Inspired Mid-Century Modern Berkeley Home Is Truly Zen

When you get really fixated on a certain architectural or design style—say, mid-century modernism—you start to get used to seeing the same old motifs over and over again. Obviously, homes that belong to the same design school will share a lot of similarities, but the less innovative examples can look a little plain after a while. That’s why it’s exciting to see how an architect takes a style and develops it when they’re working on something that’s a true passion project.

For example, I could describe the following property in the San Francisco Bay Area as just “a mid-century modern home,” but that basic description wouldn’t do it justice. This was the home of mid-century modern architect Frank Hunt, who took the basic principles of MCM design and turned them into something timeless.

Home is where the heart is, and when a skilled architect designs and builds your own home, there is a lot of heart in every detail. As realtor @rolandosage explains, the home’s architect and original owner, Frank Hunt, is best known for building the 50-room Squaw Valley (now Palisades) Lodge for the 1960 Winter Olympics, a functional but elegant, mid-century modern architecture. Frank Hunt used the same basic structure and layout of his Olympic masterpiece in the design of his own home, but put great care into creating a beautiful, timeless home that still feels fresh and contemporary today.

Related: This ‘Luxury’ Mid-Century Modern New Construction Simply Took Our Breath Away

Marrying classic and modern styles

The house (located at 56 Roble Road in Berkeley’s Claremont neighborhood) was built in 1959, at the height of the mid-century modern era. This is an MCM home very true to its essence, with a generous open floor plan, huge floor-to-ceiling windows on most exterior walls, and a functional, minimalist design that incorporates lots of custom millwork, built-in storage, and closet space to keep clutter out. to a minimum. Still, most of the house doesn’t feel outdated (well, except the kitchen, but honestly I thought it was kind of fun) because everything is so simple. There’s not a lot of vintage ornamentation to root it in any time period—in fact, there’s little need for tons of decor, while those incredible views from the windows speak for themselves.

That’s not to say there isn’t any ornamentation here, but that’s where this home’s staying power shines. Hunt incorporated many traditional Japanese design motifs into his home, such as shoji paper screens and carved ornamentation in places like the front doors and lacquered wood dividers. White walls and cool-toned wood paneling, divided with stone accent walls and black moldings and moldings, follow the color schemes used in traditional Japanese housing. Even the backyard has an area that would be “great for a Zen garden”, as Roland highlights.

These are classic design motifs that have been used for hundreds of years in Japanese architecture and interior design, and because they are not rooted in a contemporary school of design, they imbue the home with a timelessness that ironically helps it feel contemporary even even to this day. Hunt doesn’t overuse these influences, either—he subtly incorporates them, giving the house a complete character distinct from standard mid-century modern architecture without feeling like a pastiche of authentic traditional Japanese design.

Mid-century modern architecture may seem outdated (although I even think most of the more outdated examples are still charming), but the best examples stay true to the basic principles of design while not aesthetically rooting themselves in any era. Frank Hunt’s old house was clearly a passion project that he put a lot of thought and care into, and it looks as beautiful today as it would have done in 1959.