A shining light in the world of architecture, the San Francisco Bay Area represents a brilliant canvas for many design titans, as well as many more less heralded mavericks whose efforts have influenced style, function, and vision in our homes and gardens. The Bay Area’s architectural magnetism is no coincidence: where else in the world is there such a meeting of land, sea, mountains, and valley…so picturesque in topography, so inspiring for architectural conception, and also so fertile in the creation of wealth, education, technology, and entrepreneurship?
Wurster, Dailey, Esherick & Maybeck. No, not a Silicon Valley law firm, but a panel of inspirational 20th Century architects who, as they quietly crafted homes of innate artistry, helped define a movement still pivotal in our Bay Area landscape. William Wurster, Gardner Dailey, Joseph Esherick and Bernard Maybeck. The “Bay Region Style” or “Bay Area Tradition” began to be referenced in the 1940s. Architects Joseph Eichler, Richard Neutra, and Birge Clark, also have intimate associations with distinguished locations of the Bay Area.
As part of my daily real estate interactions, it is a pleasure to integrate whenever possible, this perspective of architectural heritage so unique to our area. I have been fortunate to have represented the sale of two quintessential and influential Gardner Dailey-designed homes. I must say, these homes were love at first sight for both me and my clients! In 2003, I represented the buyer of a circa-1938 Gardner Dailey contemporary on Burlingame’s Chapin Lane straddling Hillsborough. With its contemporary Art Deco nuances, and dramatic window-lined two-story staircase, this home must have struck an arresting pose in the 1930s. Concepts of unadorned “clean” architectural lines, stunning and deliberate infusions of natural light, and passionate integration with surrounding gardens were a departure from typical 1920s principles previously. This home (pictured above) is referenced as the “Littlefield Home” in the 2003 coffee table book "Thomas Church, Landscape Architect: Designing a Modern California Landscape." The property boasts a sprawling garden designed by Church around 1952.
I have also represented the buyer of a circa-1935 Gardner Dailey/Thomas Church designed estate “The Liebes House”on Hillsborough’s Vista Road. Barely visible from the road, this 5,000+ sq. ft. home offers ultimate privacy and sweeping vistas above mountains, valley, and Bay. The two-story staircase with magnificent full-height windows is a signature element of the design. Juxtapositions of horizontal and vertical lines form a subtle interplay with the depth of the 1 acre Bay-view setting. My sold portfolio also includes representation of one of Hillsborough’s oldest homes: Oakhurst, the Henry Tiffany Scott residence, which preserves its original 1890s ballroom with parquet flooring and elaborate French doors. Architecture is a passion of mine, and sharing this passion and insight with buyers and sellers is one of the joys of working in Peninsula real estate. My current inventory of architecturally appealing homes includes; 755 Bowhill Road, Hillsborough, a modernist masterpiece totally renovated with Neutra-inspired flair; 1721 Ralston Avenue, Burlingame, a wonderful example of preserving 1920s English Country character with modern luxury; and Coming Soon—2 Homs Court in Hillsborough, an extraordinary contemporary estate designed by San Francisco architects House and House in 1986.
Gardner Dailey (1895-1967) has a diverse body of work, from beautiful gardens to simple rural homes to mansions and university buildings. He began his professional career as a landscape architect, which gives insight into his early preference for designing and building homes in more rural areas, such as Woodside, where landscape could play an integral part in his overall plans. After working locally for Donald McLaren—son of Golden Gate Park superintendent John McLaren—and throughout Central America, Dailey returned to the California and opened his own architectural firm. One of his early proteges was Joseph Esherick.
Initially Dailey designed homes with historic and revival styles, such as the circa-1929 Arnold House in Hillsborough, but later migrated into more modernist architecture designing such icons as the Lowe House in Woodside (First Prize for West in House Beautiful, January 1938). His architecture evolved into what is known as the Second Bay Region Style, which marries the minimalist design of the International Style and woodsy rural Bay Region Style. As described by Zahid Sardar and J. D. Peterson in their book San Francisco Modern, homes in the style of the Second Bay Region Style were “often low, horizontal single volumes broken by a measured grid of doors and windows, with overhanging sloped roofs inspired by Japanese structures…a kind of soft modernism.”
According to the Gardner Dailey website: “The Dailey design at [75] Raycliff Terrace offers a glimpse into his work in the context of other examples of Bay Region Modernism, while the Heil House at [2674] Broadway more clearly represents the design intentions which brought Dailey great acclaim.” The Heil House in Pacific Heights just sold in May of this year. A model of modern architecture, it can be seen in all its glory on the property website. Another easily accessible Dailey property is one at 285 Telegraph Hill Boulevard. An example of l930s streamlined Modernism, images of this magnificent home can be found here.
Dailey also designed major commercial buildings throughout his career. Early works included The Coral Casino in Santa Barbara in 1937, called the “Gem of the Pacific” and which is still in existence as a Biltmore/Four Seasons hotel, and the Brazil Pavilion at the Treasure Island Exposition of 1939, which now resides in Tilden Park in Berkeley, a gift from the country of Brazil. He is responsible for several buildings on the UC Berkeley campus and on the Peninsula the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park shows his diversity in design.