Currently, we are working on restoring two houses in South Berkeley:

The Delaney House is an Italiante Victorian Cottage, built some time between 1870 and 1880, that was left empty and abandoned for over 20 years. Much damage had been done to it, all the systems had been removed, and squatters had been in the property. We have replaced all the plumbing and wiring; we then moved the house to the back of its large lot, and liftted the house so a full first floor could be built underneath. The Delaney House now has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, including one wheelchair-accessible bedroom and bath, a bonus office, and a large living room/kitchen space.

The Cheney Cottage is a 1902 Swiss Chalet-style house that was built on College Avenue for Warren and May Cheney as a rental property. A City of Berkeley landmark, tthe Cheney Cottage was for many years owned by the University of California, and its neighborhood had disappeared as the University expanded to the south. The University offered the Cheney Cottage for sale for $1.00 in 2009, and we bought it, cut it in two, and moved the two pieces to Albany Village, while we wrangled over permits with the City of Berkeley. We moved the two pieces of the Cheney Cottage back to South Berkeley, where they have been reunited, and an intensive restoration project was begun. The restoration was completed in January 2013.

The story of both houses has been detailed in the 62nd Street blog (takes you to a different website).

You can also download a pdf of the Berkeley Times article about the Cheney Cottage Open House - the pdf can be downloaded by clicking here