berkeley bungalow

Berkeley and Albany (our next door neighbor) are full of little houses called 'Berkeley bungalows.'  Many of them are engulfed by gardens, others are plainer, and stand alone.  Some have very sculpted gardens around them, japanese gardens, rock gardens, and so forth.  I chose this photo from my small collection of Berk-Alb houses because the overgrown garden is fairly typical.

When we first moved into our house (not pictured), I felt like it was a cottage, not a 'house.'  It took me a long time to adjust to the notion that this small space, not much bigger than an apartment, was to be my home for the rest of my life.  Well, possibly for the rest of my life.  And thirty years later, it's kinda lookin' that way. 

But what I've found out by living in a small house, is that a small house is like a spiritual master.  It teaches you to be disciplined, to minimize your possessions, to keep things clean and neat, to respect other people's needs for space.  You get organized, living in a small house, or you go bananas.  The choice is yours.

I'm the sort of person who gets very creative about all the things I'm going to do.  This can result in dragging in a lot of unnecessary stuff into the house, which then has to be stored until I get around to using it.  In a small house, you can't really do that, unless you want to live in a cleaning nightmare.

A small house can be comfortable and incredibly COZY.  You can curl up as neat and tidy as a cat in your living room in the evenings, and everything is within easy reach.  But it has to be neat and orderly for this to happen.  That's why a small house brings out the monk in you.  Detachment, elimination, subtraction, minimalization, name it as you will: it's discipline for hoarders like my husband and me. 

Our house is not pictured here.  It's on the verge of being painted, so I thought I'd wait.  Frankly, it's not a very attractive house, but it will look a lot better after it's been painted.  Here's another example of a typical, overgrown Berkeley house.  I have to admit, though, I LOVE the PROFUSION of flowers!  I'm really happy that, no matter how austere the interior of the house may be, the outside is running riot with flowers!

Comments

[Dave]

I've refrained from posting front-on pictures of my small house (a great example of vernacular, accretionary architecture) for the same reason: it needs paint. But the profusion of flowers outside mirrors the profusion of crap inside. I live in a cleaning nightmare, yep! A new meter guy the other week, after about three minutes of chit-chat, said, "You're a bachelor, right?"

[karen]

Hi Dave, I'm glad you stopped by. Yep! There are a lot of Berkeley bungalows that are paragons of creative chaos! Many of these little cottages house scientists, artists, academicians and musicians, and they are often cleaning nightmares. Others are absolutely Spartan by contrast. Ours used to be of the 'to the lighthouse' variety - we liked the sense that nature was cohabiting the hut with us: grasses, seeds, leaves, cobwebs, ants, crumbs. And we've always had a book-profusion problem. It must be the pennsylvania dutch genes in our family that have inspired us, in maturity, to bring order to the bungalow, before it's too late!

[gulnaz]

the top picture with the flowers crowding onto the house, a riot of blooms...its sooo charming.
I'm sure once your house is all painted, you will enjoy it very much.

[ashleycrow]

I love the idea of a small living space as spiritual master. Our family of four (two of whom are middle-school-aged children) lives in a 1200 sq. ft. home with two large dogs, a cat, and a rat. We always know where everyone else is. Sure, we're busting out at the seams--I have a long way to go in my spiritual training regarding packrat materialism--but it keeps the issue on the table...literally!

[karen ferreiras]

Hello, im looking to rent a bungalow for about 3-4 months. I am waiting on a home to be built within the area, so this really would be of so much help. Let me know your price, if you take short stays and if you are pet friendly. Thank You very much. Karen Ferreiras