Welcome to Berkeley
Internationally known for its intellectual richness, cultural diversity, and progressive values, Berkeley is a model California city that its residents are proud to call home. With an abundance of restaurants, cafes, museums, bookstores, art galleries, movie theaters, and performance venues befitting a university town, Berkeley has no shortage of activities to stimulate the senses. It’s also an incredibly picturesque city, with tree-lined streets, beautiful gardens, ample parks, and hidden walkways and staircases.
Berkeley’s distinct neighborhoods have a range of architectural styles, including charming Victorians, Craftsman bungalows, California cottages, wooded hillside retreats, and magnificent period revival homes. Much of Berkeley’s real estate is notable for its singular architectural styles, some of which were designed by famed architects Bernard Maybeck, John Hudson Thomas and Julia Morgan.
In addition to being in close proximity to the prestigious University of California at Berkeley, residents also enjoy convenient freeway access to San Francisco, Oakland, and Silicon Valley. Three BART stations (Ashby, Downtown Berkeley, and North Berkeley), as well as the AC Transit bus system, serve the city. If you’re looking for an escape, Tilden Regional Park offers 2,065 acres of trails, meadows and forests, just minutes from downtown. You’ll also find biking trails, a botanical garden, picnic areas, an 18-hole golf course, and a lake for swimming. For kids, there’s a carousel ride, petting zoo, steam train, pony rides, and an environmental education center.
Berkeley Hills
With its spectacular bay views, ample trees, and impressive homes, the Berkeley Hills is one of the most desirable places to live in the East Bay. Architecturally, it’s a rich smorgasbord of Craftsman bungalows, ranch houses, Italian-style villas, Spanish farmhouses, and Tudor manors. (The neighborhoods around Southampton Avenue are particularly abundant in period revival architecture.) Renowned 20th-century architects such as Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, and John Galen Howard made contributions here, imbuing the landscape with a sense of history and permanence.
Although there is little in the way of commercial businesses in the hills, an extensive network of pathways and staircases link hills residents to amenities in North Berkeley. Hills residents also have access to numerous parks and green spaces. Locals can often be found rock climbing at Indian Rock Park, enjoying Bernard Maybeck’s fragrant Rose Walk, or picnicking at the Berkeley Rose Garden, considered by many to be the finest rose garden in Northern California.
Other area favorites include the UC Botanical Garden and the Lawrence Hall of Science, where children can enjoy hands-on educational activities. Tilden Park, which has a delightful merry-go-round and steam train, is considered by many to be the crown jewel of the East Bay park system.
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When the fog rolls in off the Pacific, shrouding the hillside in a mysterious mist, no place else feels more tranquil or transporting.
Claremont
Claremont/Uplands is the pinnacle of upscale California living. Nestled in beautifully wooded hills just 12 miles from San Francisco and a few minutes from busy College Avenue, this historic area is characterized by stately homes, tree-lined streets and hidden pathways.
The area’s best-known landmark is the world-renowned Claremont Club & Spa. Originally the site of an English-style castle, the hotel opened in 1915 as a fogfree retreat for wealthy San Franciscans. Those seeking the good life are still drawn to this area. Two upscale shopping areas serve local residents with specialty stores.
Claremont/Uplands real estate includes a range of architectural styles, including English and shingled cottages and prairie spreads. Custom-designed residences are equally as popular, with numerous contemporary dwellings and magnificent Italian- and Spanish-style revivals to choose from. These impressive residences are often accompanied by equally wonderful gardens, adding even more allure to this picturesque area.
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Elmwood
Home to some of Berkeley’s finest old residences, Elmwood offers the selfcontained, community-based character of a small town. With its close proximity to downtown Berkeley and the UC Berkeley campus, and access to San Francisco via Rockridge and Ashby BART, it’s also one of the best commuter neighborhoods in the East Bay.
Elmwood developed just before the turn of the 19th century as a fashionable suburb for transplanted San Franciscans. A few Victorians were erected before 1900, but the real boom came a few years later when a mixture of bungalows, shingled boxes, and period revival homes filled the neighborhood’s quiet, tree-lined streets. Some of Elmwood’s most sought-after real estate is the stately shingled homes inspired by West Coast Arts and Crafts architects Greene & Greene and Bernard Maybeck.
College Avenue, Elmwood’s main shopping corridor, is home to dozens of shops and restaurants.
Gourmet, North Campus
Spanning the portion of Shattuck Avenue bordered by Rose Street to the north and Hearst Avenue to the south, the area known as the “Gourmet Ghetto” or “North Campus” includes some of the finest neighborhoods in the Bay Area.
Conveniently located near UC Berkeley and the seminaries of “Holy Hill,” this area is particularly popular among professors and graduate students of these renowned educational institutions. It’s also home to the world-famous “Gourmet Ghetto” — and, specifically, Chez Panisse, which opened in 1971 and sparked a food revolution based on organic, seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. The original Peet’s Coffee is here, too.
Vibrant Shattuck Avenue also has plentiful art galleries, a fabulous Art & Crafts Cooperative, a sidewalk music series and festivals every summer and fall.
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks is a North Berkeley suburb in an idyllic natural setting. The original town planners created the neighborhood in harmony with the hillside environment: Roads decorated with lush plants and colorful flowers wind around large granite boulders, while landscaped walking paths connect streets dotted with mature oak trees and bucolic parks. With sweeping views of the bay, Thousand Oaks is a rustic retreat for all those who call it home.
Thousand Oaks’ magnificent real estate includes Craftsman bungalows and shingled lodges, built in the early part of the neighborhood’s history, as well as period revivals in Spanish, Tudor, and French Provincial styles, which came between 1910 and 1940.
The area’s shopping district can be found on Solano Avenue, a charming, tree-lined boulevard of predominantly locally-owned shops and restaurants. Residents enjoy an array of dining options, including Nepalese, Tibetan, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Italian, and California cuisine. You’ll also find small family-owned groceries that specialize in Italian, Middle Eastern, and Asian foods.
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Farmer's Market
Berkeley, Downtown
Center & Mlk
Sat 10AM - 3PM
Berkeley, North
Shattuck & Vine
Thur 3PM - 7PM
Berkeley, South
Adeline & 63rd
Tues 2PM - 6:30PM
