A castle in Berkeley Hills, California that was inspired by a 13th-century medieval cloister in Toulouse, France is now on the market. The official landmark since 1985 is priced at $5 million.
The house is measured at 5,746 square feet with five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, massive fireplaces, and a living room ceiling that opens to a second-level library with iron railings circling the room as an indoor balcony that leads to an upper level overlooking study.
The California Castle is listed by Bebe Mcrae of The Grubb Co. Inc. and Coldwell Banker Realty in California.
All photos are used with permission from TopTenRealEstateDeals.com
Many Americans have regretted that their young country doesnโt have the castles that abound in Europe and some have made attempts to rectify the problem by designing their own replicas. A few were pretty nice and some absolutely horrid. But in 1928 when Samuel Hume, then the head of the University of California Berkeley’s Greek Theater Department, decided he wanted his own castle, he knew how to do it right.
Hume engaged architect John Hudson Thomas asking him to use a 13th-century medieval cloister in Toulouse, France as his inspiration. With just under an acre in the Berkeley Hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, Thomas designed a castle that fit the slope of the land and maximized the views while allowing for a stunning central courtyard with mature plantings and Gothic stone arches and outdoor terraces for viewing the bay.
The Gothic theme runs throughout the structure, so authentic in detail it looks as though it was antiquity imported from Europe. At 5,746 square feet, the stone castle has five bedrooms, eight baths, massive fireplaces, and a living room ceiling that opens to a picturesque library level with iron railings circling the room that leads to an upper level overlooking study. The estate, which became an official landmark in 1985, is now for sale priced at $5 million.
Source: www.coldwellbankerhomes.com