1935, East Bay, Dondo house
Point Richmond
William W. Wurster
The Dondo house, 1935, located on the shore of the northern end of San Francisco Bay at Point Richmond, is a specific answer to the site and to the needs of the client. Built of "under down block," a precast concrete unit, the house is designed for minimum upkeep and maximum livability. The quality of such an economical material used straightforwardly is an appropriate instance of Wurster's insistence on freedom from care. The opportunity to live at the water's edge, to be a part of this unique setting, is found in the logical and clear interior functions, including the "individual outdoor room" for the racing shell and water activities (Woodbridge 1988: 145, 146).
1936, East Bay, House
215 Western Dr., Richmond
William Wurster
All things considered, possibly the finest of the small Wurster houses of the 1930s. Only the fact that the walls are made of concrete unit masonry instead of wood detracts from the classic Bay Region quality of this pair of pavilions set in a beach-front eucalyptus grove. To see it best, look into the board fenced yard from the extreme northwest corner (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 237).
1936, Peninsula, G. Pope House
735 Bromfield Rd., Hillsborough
William Wurster; T. Church, gardens
In the recent third wave of development [of Charles Templeton Crocker's "The Uplands" estate that included most of the land between El Cerrito and Crystal Springs Roads plus the hill to the west], a number of well known designers have contributed their talents, though Wurster's work is by far the most prevalent. Yet even more ubiquitous in the contemporary Hillsborough scene is the garden design of the prominent San Francisco architect, Thomas Church. Few of his designs, unfortunately, can be identified here because of privacy considerations. Occasional garden tours occur during which it is possible to see gardens by Church and others (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 131-32).
1936-37 [1850s], Russian Hill, Terraced houses
737, 757-763, 765 Bay St., San Francisco
remodeled by William Wurster
The first group is beautifully sited to step down the hill; their studied simplicity is typical of early Wurster houses (Woodbridge, Woodbridge and Byrne 2005: 136).
765 Bay orig. 1850s, remodeled several times, last in 1935 by William W. Wurster. A beautifully sited, deceptively simple group (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 52, 53).
1937, East Bay, Jensen House
1680 La Vereda at Hilgard, Berkeley
William Wurster
One of Wurster's early "basic-box" designs which achieves perfection of scale (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 261).
The Jensen house, completed in 1937, is built in a secluded wooded grove on the side of the Berkeley hills. This little house with ship-cabin scale reflects Wurster's belief that no job was ever too small for his interest. On the terrace level the large "Wurster windows" look out from the living and dining areas to the view of San Francisco and also protect these spaces from the strong westerly wind. The bedrooms share the view and have a large sitting deck which is used as a sleeping porch on balmy evenings. The simplicity of the rather formal interior of the living room, with its plain white walls and tile floor, is designed to accommodate any kind of furnishing. "A good house should serve as a background for life which the people can augment."13 (Woodbridge 1988: 143, 144, 145).
1937, Peninsula, Henning House
761 Chiltern Rd., Hillsborough
William Wurster
Restrained, understated, formal yet freely composed fenestration, irreplaceable twelve-inch-wide shiplap redwood siding deceptively hidden under light gray paint, perfectly complementary garden design, and other typical features make this a splendidly typical Wurster house (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 132).
1937, East Bay, Van Deusen House
1598 Hawthorne Terr., Berkeley
William Wurster
A deliberately unpretentious design typical of Wurster's early work. It sits very discreetly on its corner site (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 256).
1937, Pacific Heights, House
2600 Pacific Ave., San Francisco
William Wurster
No comment (Woodbridge, Woodbridge and Byrne 2005: 159).
1937, Peninsula, Le Hane house
Palo Alto
William W. Wurster
Wurster realized that the glazed gallery created flexibility in the internal organization of spaces, best illustrated in the Le Hane house, completed in 1937 (see illustration, p. 7). Never just a long hall, it is organized as a sun-drenched living place which allows the entire house to open to the enclosed garden (Woodbridge 1988: 7, 137).
1937, Peninsula, Mendenhall house
1570 Emerson St. S of Churchill, Palo Alto
William Wurster
An unusual early Wurster in the Moderne style, even more Moderne now because of the addition of a rounded glass block stair tower (Woodbridge, Woodbridge and Byrne 2005: 237).
A Moderne house in white painted redwood (Gebhard, Winter, and Sandweiss 1985: 170).
