Berkeley midcentury designed by Roger Lee asks $1.4M

Pioneering architect Roger Lee never gained the prominence of Bernard Maybeck or Julia Morgan. Which is a downright shame. The designer, who focused on European modernism, built more than 100 post-and-beam homes in the Bay Area.

Along with Quincey A. Jones, he belonged to the last generation of architects who created custom-built homes for middle-class and working-class people. But today, when one of his works is up for grabs, they command up to seven figures.

Take, for example, this 1958 creation he built for Jean Gray Hargrove, a concert pianist and U.C. Berkeley Music Library benefactor, asking $1.4 million.

Featuring three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and 1,779 square feet, 100 Parnassus Road in Berkeley comes with vaulted ceilings, wood paneling, wood-burning fireplaces on both of the homes two levels (including a Malm fireplace), Heath tile in the kitchen, radiant heated floors, covered carport, skylights, and more.

Though difficult to surmise from the photos provided, the home’s details are actually quite exceptional, going above and beyond the average midcentury abode (e.g., the many Eichler specimens found in Palo Alto).

The home is listed off-market through Thomas Westfall of Compass.