Marshall house in Berkeley’s Claremont Court asks $3.99M

Gasp.

Measuring in at over 5,400 square feet, smack dab on the corner of Avalon Avenue and Claremont Boulevard, right below the Claremont Hotel, sits the Marshall house. It lands on the market for $3,999,000. And, yes, it’s still on the market, even in these trying times.

Featuring seven bedrooms, four and two half bathrooms, and 5,421 square feet, 2967 Avalon comes with period details galore. The formal entry with grand staircase, the main living room, a downright stunning sunroom (dig those Art Nouveau stained-glass windows), the ceiling, and parlor doors all bear original woodwork. The oak inlaid flooring is especially delightful.

The bathrooms and kitchen are new-ish and could benefit from a makeover, should the new homeowner be so bold. And the peaked attic space, with a slew of exposed beams, is just waiting for someone to come in and turn it into a destination room or cool game space.

Other rooms inside the abode open onto outdoor decks overlooking the hills and the Claremont Hotel.

The home was designed by Edward B. Seeley, a prominent Berkeley architect from 1895 to 1931. But more important, this home was built John Albert Marshall, a developer with a long list of some of Berkeley’s most stunning homes—and a very short fuse. According to Berkeley Heritage, Marshall, then known as J.A., “was a small and hot-tempered man” who “had two brushes with the law—one as a recalcitrant witness for the defense, threatening to thrash a much larger prosecuting attorney, the other when he was convicted of battery after pummeling John Koch, owner of a delicatessen at 2520 Bancroft Way.”

What a brute.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the last time this home sold was in 1983 for a mere $300,000. Today it seeks a far, far larger dollar amount; the listing is through Jenny Wang of McGuire Real Estate.