A Hills Home With Views

A Hills Home With Views

PHOTOS BY KLUGMAN MEDIA

It’s easy to get lost in the views from this modern Grizzly Peak Boulevard where French doors and fireplaces, sloped roofs and vaulted ceilings rule.

The first clue that this home is a place for gatherings, parties, and pleasant reverie can be found before you even reach the front door — in the front yard patio with seating area, lush vegetation, and a fire pit.

By virtue of being set back from the roadside just enough to see the sloped roofline in passing, 6085 Grizzly Peak Blvd. — a four-bedroom contemporary home with three full and two half-baths set on half an acre — feels completely private, even when you’re in the front yard. Yet the back of the house opens onto the wider world with high-perch views of the bay, the bridges, Mount Tamalpais, and — on a clear day — beyond.

As with many homes in the Oakland hills, the garage is on street level, with the bulk of the house layered down the slope below to take full advantage of the views. Construction on this custom home began in 2006, but was ultimately completed and remodeled in 2012.

“There are beautiful, unobstructed views from every room — even the kitchen while you’re cooking and from the master bathtub while you’re soaking,” said listing agent Azadeh Yazdi of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty in Berkeley. “And it’s completely indoor-outdoor living with big French doors, really great patios and porches where people can sit and enjoy breakfast or watch the evening sunsets, entertain guests. How many homes have a fire pit in the front yard?”

Once you do make it to the entry of the sand-colored stucco home, you’ll find a modern front door, with horizontal panes allowing light to pass through. Inside is a stone-floor foyer. A passage to the left leads to a short hallway and a loft-like bonus room for office space or small art room. Even here, there’s a view — through a floor-to-ceiling wall opening that looks down onto the living room on the level below and through to the main rear porch. A custom metal rail — in modern design that looks like stylized, elongated Ns and Ws — keeps the opening safe.

From the foyer, stairs lead down to the spacious living room with gleaming hardwood, vaulted ceilings, marble-framed gas fireplace, and neutral, sand-colored walls, a nice change from the frequent stark white of many staged homes. French doors lead to the large porch.

Up a few steps from the living room is the dining room with built-in bar area. Here, walls are deep mauve and sand. Another large French door leads to a stone-slabbed patio with mature plantings. Set between the house and garage, it has almost an atrium feel.

Back inside a few steps, the hardwood floors flow into the bright chef’s kitchen with high ceilings, new stainless-steel appliances, and large windows, enabling one to get lost in the view while washing dishes. A large counter/island with sink serves as a bar area or for grabbing a quick bite.

The home has interesting architectural shapes throughout. Peekaboo wall openings widen the already roomy 4,236 square feet. For instance, instead of a blank wall along the main stairs, you can see down and through into the dining room. Various narrow, strategically placed, load-bearing walls separate rooms but also provide nooks for books and art.

The kitchen flows into the family room/media center where there’s another marble-framed gas fireplace. More French doors lead to the same atrium/patio area. And there’s a smart use of an odd space under the stairs — a half bath with porcelain farm-style sink sitting atop floating cabinets.

“The two half-baths are on this main level, so guests at a party don’t have to invade your personal living space,” Yazdi said.

Indeed, all four bedrooms and three full baths are on the lower level, including the huge master suite with dove-gray walls, stunning picture windows, a sitting area, walk-in closet, and double-sink bathroom — white marble counters, glassed-in shower and separate soaking tub, wrapped in windows but still private.

Let’s not forget the porches and balconies, with a hot tub and the same modern metal railings throughout the house. The setting is ideal for entertaining and enjoying the wide world beyond.

The Particulars

$2,350,000

6085 Grizzly Peak Blvd., Oakland

4 Bedrooms

3 Full Baths, 2 Half Baths

Two gas fireplaces, attached garage, outdoor fire pit and hot tub, bonus office space

4,236 square feet

Agent: Azadeh Yazdi, Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty, Berkeley

6085GrizzlyPeak.com

Faces of the East Bay