A group of undergraduates and interested alumni met at the fraternity house to discuss improvements to the façade.
The agenda was full from 10am-3pm including a break for BBQ and a walk around the upper Greek Row to look at architectures for other fraternities, sororities and group housing.
In addition to reviewing many photos and presentations collected over the years by Brother Rick Rasmussen, we also toured the areas of the house impacted by front work such as the deck, roof, basement, library (which is being remodeled right now!) and front living room.
History
We reviewed many past photos of the home, including the original Julia Morgan designed home.
The house was then altered from its original wood shingles (popular in Berkeley in the 1910-1930s and still evident in buildings on the Southside of campus) to have the flat stucco façade that we recognize from the past 100 years.
And an ambitious remodel in the 1950s added the roof deck, penthouse and the back half of the building including the expanded dining room, alumni room, upstairs quad- and social room, etc.
While the front façade remained largely the same, the brick deck was expanded and the pitched roof-line was lost to the upstairs deck and penthouse structure. The front entry stairs were also moved to be from the right-hand side -- while providing for an expanded deck, it did change the home from being symmetric around a central staircase to becoming offset at least from a street-curb appeal.
Finally, in the 1970s the windows were all replaced with aluminum, the plywood "columns" were added, and the upper railing was no longer in an Acacia Fraternity traditional triangles.
Marty Wingren-led Façade Concepts
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a number of alumni, including Marty Wingren, contributed drawings and concepts to a complete make-over to the house. Rick Rasmussen also hired a local Berkeley architect to produce a number of conceptual drawings. All told, these concepts ranged from new-age group housing to very traditional Midwest or East Coast traditional. Many of these concepts also assumed that a major retrofit would be required to the front walls, openings and foundation to provide earthquake protection -- this would involve removing almost the entire front of the building with steel reinforcements down to the foundation under the front patio.
Recent Work
In keeping with the traditional American Craftsman architecture popular in the Berkeley Hills prior to World War II, the house corporation changed the front entry door and replaced all of the upstairs windows in 2010's in anticipation of a front remodel. Some design elements were picked-up from the drawing above that mixed the roof deck, columns around the front entry, and divided lites reminiscent of Craftsman windows.
The window and door replacements were performed after structural engineers provided the opinion that major earthquake improvements would not be required to the front walls, and therefore the existing window and door openings could be preserved to radically reduce the construction budget.
Opinions and Ideas
After walking the neighborhood, many pieces and parts of other buildings were discussed. Shutters provided some architectural details and old-world charm to an apartment on Bowditch, while a pitched area across the street gave the impression of an original roof line while still allowing a flat roof deck for views and enjoyment.
A neighbor's pool was a popular idea for the rear parking lot, but in the end the group decided that it was best to have several concepts drawn by a professional designer. The concepts could then be used to garner investment interest from alumni and solicit rough budgets to perform the work.
The undergraduates agreed that the front approach for visitors was not in keeping with the grandness and great shape of the interior of the House once you enter it. They feel that changes were needed to better reflect Acacia's traditions at Cal, and to represent the high-caliber brotherhood, scholarship and philanthropy that the Greek Community and neighbors know about Acacia.
Comments