The house is located in the Oakmore area of Oakland, which is very family-friendly and about 5 minutes from my office and my husband’s hospital. Perfect location with good schools and lots of young kids around. This house was built in 1949 and had only been owned by one family. Over the years, they had made improvements, and after their death, their children did not take good care of it.

When we found it, it had been sitting empty for months and needed to be completely gutted. When we purchased the house, three bedrooms and three bathrooms were on two levels, with several other spaces not holding any specific purpose. We completely gutted the house, removed four walls, vaulted the ceiling, added skylights, and created four bedrooms and three bathrooms with a proper master suite and walk-in closet. We partitioned the house so that all of the socializing (kitchen, living room, dining room, and guest rooms) is upstairs, and the private spaces are downstairs (family room, master suite, etc.). We also created an indoor-outdoor lifestyle by adding two large cedar decks to take advantage of the massive oak trees behind the house. No neighbors can see into the house, and all we see out of our back windows are oak trees which resulted in the nickname of “Urban Treehouse.”

The house is infused with color throughout and artwork that we’ve picked up along our travels. Every piece has a special memory attached. We’ve created a smart home with all major functions being controlled by voice or iPad, including the steam shower and window treatments. We have a few fun features throughout, including artwork that moves to hide the TV in the living room with a notched bookshelf to keep it hidden.

Designed by Oakland interior design studio Joy Street Design. Serving Alameda, Berkeley, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Piedmont, and San Francisco.

For more about Joy Street Design, click here:
https://www.joystreetdesign.com/

To learn more about this project, click here:
https://www.joystreetdesign.com/portfolio/oakland-urban-tree-house