Kapoor House is located in Berkeley, California on the highest rock outcropping of Berkeley Hills meaning it has expansive views of the San Francisco Bay area. The property came with an existing small home that was deconstructed before being replaced with this amazing 8500sqft Mediterranean style dream home.
The home – designed by Swatt Miers Architects – is accessed via a long and narrow driveway carved into the hillside and due to the limited accessibility to the site and steep terrain, the architects decided to design the home with its own usable outdoor hardscaping.
The concrete expanse in front of the garage doubles as a courtyard for outdoor events and as such has been designed with steps that can double as seating with both a concrete and a glass backdrop to add vertical sculptural appeal.
Special artistic details brought by the owners from their native India have been incorporated into the design such as the entry court’s Ganesh and the delicate entry screen. These details add a layer of history and richness to the couples new dream home.
The stairs lead to a bridge, hovered over a reflecting pool before arriving at a 2nd entry courtyard which offers a panoramic view of San Francisco and its adjacent bay.
The south and east sides both present cantilevered terraces for outdoor entertaining that includes views of five different bridges crossing over the San Francisco Bay as well as eye candy views of Mount Diablo in the distance.
Kapoor House is a 3-storey home with the master suite, kitchen, breakfast, living, dining and library rooms all on the top level. Here, as with the rest of the home, the feature materials used are Halila limestone from Jerusalem, Honduran mahogany and kaya wood.
A custom ribbon fireplace on the west side of the main living room is Halila limestone surrounded by a wall of graphite colored horizontal Japanese Inax facing stones.
An open concept plan, the kitchen and breakfast areas can be closed off if need be via large pocket doors.- or they can be opened up to reveal a glazed corner with walls of glazings that can be opened and stacked into the wall for a seamless transition to the terrace.
The terrace is wrapped in glass rails for complete enjoyment of the views whether sitting, standing or even lying down.
The bathrooms are the only rooms that aren’t completely exposed to the panoramic views, but view windows still offer glimpses while keeping a sense of modest privacy to those within.
Even the stairwell connecting the 3-storeys is flanked with a wall of glazing. The stairs lead first to the middle level which consists of 4 bedrooms for visiting family members, a media room and a family room while the lowest This level also has an independent entrance for future conversion to an in-law suite.
Swatt Miers Architects
Photography by Tim Griffith
