Bay-View Mediterranean Haven

Basking in the Berkeley Hills, this garden-centric villa showcases sweeping Bay views. Influences of California Mission Revival architecture embellish the home and property, flanked by a tone-setting courtyard at the foreground plus an expansive garden, both reflecting luxuriant landscaping and graceful hardscaping. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom interior features boldly scaled window and glass-door expanses inviting in the captivating surroundings and linking seamlessly to enchanted outdoor living spaces, optimizing the joy of indoor-outdoor living.

The elevated residential enclave of Berkeley’s Cragmont neighborhood comprises a utopian setting. An array of distinctive and historic architecture is interspersed with pathways and parks offering picturesque outlooks. Yet it remains conveniently accessible to extraordinary dining, shopping, entertainment, and schools.

A fanciful iron gate threaded with wisteria gives way to the flagstone-mosaic courtyard. Within its ivy-draped walls, inset stone benches encourage a sojourn in this al fresco room, framed by a stone-edged pond, billowy outline of trees and flowering perennials, and the home’s romantic façade. Heightened by a sculpted parapet extending above the roof, the facade features a red-clay visor strip, forming a decorative awning supported by columns and a scalloped arch silhouetting the arched entry.

Enter to a light-infused interior, where the arch motif continues and the sturdy majesty of textural whitewashed walls stands in bright contrast to dark hardwood floors. Ceilings reflect subtle ornamentation, and a domed formation in the foyer integrates a skylight. A wide arcade with a succession of arches extends through the main floor It culminates in airy living and dining rooms symmetrically endowed with pairs of arched niches atop display cabinets, the living room’s flanking an arched fireplace. Presenting Bay panoramas, this public area opens to a multi-level deck, a grand platform for relishing views while dining, lounging, and hot tubbing. Beyond it, the garden unfurls with lawn and abundant flora bisected by a pea-gravel strolling path encircling a stone fountain.

The kitchen, throughout its expansive dine-in layout, embodies rustic elegance, combining an exposed-beam ceiling, masonry hood, lustrous dark-wood counters and copper sink. High-caliber appliances include double ovens and a five-burner cooktop, and copious cabinetry is augmented by a pantry.

Two front bedrooms overlook the courtyard and open to it via double doors of undivided glass. Both hall and master bathroom, just updated, are graced with timeless gray marble. Two lower-level bedrooms, one of which captures Bay views and opens to the hot-tub deck, are served by a bathroom featuring an earthy tile scheme. Spacious beyond measure, the lower level features a potential office, plus storage, wine, laundry rooms, and bonus bathroom. An attached multi-car garage offers further storage.