Research time

I went down to the Berkeley library of Environmental Design to see if I could find any mention in any of the many Maybeck books about Mrs. Kingsley, V. Rowland or the Mountain Blvd house. I came up with nothing but saw a lot of cool stuff. My favorite was the book containing only the microfilm prints of Maybeck’s drawings for the First Church of Christ, Scientist. It was about a hundred pages detailing every embellishment and detail on the entire building, down to the landscaping, stone angel details and the light fixtures which he simply drew, described the finish, and sent away to a lampmaker named Otar in Santa Cruz to bring his creations to life. I was blown away someone could draw an entire large church, with as much detail as a Gothic church, but with no one to give him guidance. I guess that’s why many called him a visionary architect. He has such a unique and refined sense of style, it’s baffling trying to figure out where this all comes from.

I went to the archives and had to make an appointment for the next week, after the offers were due. “Oh well,” I thought. I liked the house and wanted it whether or not I could prove it was a real Maybeck. I was already pretty convinced myself so I decided to simply try to put in a good as-is offer and hope for the best. I was starting to feel silly at this point spending all this time thinking about the house when I was also thinking I had no chance. I tried briefly to send in my offer early and think of other things but that didn’t work. I was obsessed.