In the matter of 2707 Rose Street

Photo: Berkeleyside

By now, practically everybody in Berkeley knows that on 28 January, the Zoning Adjustments Board approved a use permit for a nearly 10,000-square-foot house and garage at 2707 Rose Street. The story got national play because the property owners are Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein.

Along the way, some very basic preliminaries fell through the cracks. The Structure History report submitted on 19 May 2009 claims that “there is no architect of record and no associated persons of historical interest” for the existing structure on the property. Both assertions are wrong.

As it turns out, the existing house at 2707 Rose Street did have an architect with excellent credentials, as well as a notable first owner.

Find out who they were in BAHA’s letter to the City Council. The Berkeley Daily Planet published my commentary, If You Don’t Want to Find Anything, Don’t Look Anywhere.

For background information on the ZAB decision and neighbors’ appeal, see 2707rose.org.