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Piedmont home with private funicular cable car asks $1.7 million

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This house has everything—falcons, a hillside railroad, fire...

Designed by Bay Area architect Bennett Christopherson, this updated home in the tony town of Piedmont offers two ways of accessing the main property—by staircase or by super-cool funicular cable car. Which is to say, the main route to 99 Somerset’s front door is accessible via a hillside railroad machine, which is stationed near the garage at street level. Residents are whisked up to the home in the same way materials were brought up during the site’s 1973 construction.

And, really, what a great way to come home each night, checking out the views of the bay as you ascend the hill home. While nightly rides could grow tiring, it would also provide excellent ice-breaking material at dinner parties.

Rad funicular fun aside, the house features three beds, three baths, and 2,127 square feet. The Piedmont abode, which has been renovated with contemporary touches throughout, is nestled along forested side of hill.

The structure, according to the realtor’s ad, is "grounded in the 5 elements: wood, fire, stone, water and air."

Also of note, we have included a series of shots of the birds that come with the property. Indeed, the future owner will share the space with a falcon and a hawk. (If realtors can use a skeleton to sell a home, why not use big birds of prey?)

The house boasts a custom-built bird enclosure for a Harris’ hawk named Ethan and a Gyre falcon named Olga. Per the realtor, "One of the [home's current] owners is a registered falcon and hawk trainer, hunter and certified bird rescuer, who also volunteers locally at Lindsay Wildlife Experience."

And there you have it. Asking is $1,795,000.


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