Poet finds muse in Berkeley
Couple crafts contemporary into natural oasis
Writer Lorraine Lupo doesn’t want for inspiration. Since 1997, the poet and fiction author could gaze out of her Berkeley home at the picturesque landscape and hear coyotes calling in the distance. At night, she and her husband, Greg Worthington, would relax in a Japanese teak soaking tub as the fog rolled in.
“I always felt as if I was living inside a 19th century poem,” said Lupo of 114 Strathmoor Drive in Berkeley.
Lupo and Worthington are the second owners of the four-bedroom contemporary. The structure originally occupying the lot burned in the massive fire of the early 1990s. The owner at the time erected a new home with help of architect William Glass, who would be hired by Lupo and Worthington in 2007 to add a master suite on the lower level.
“Using William helped us keep the continuity of the design,” Lupo said.
The home revolves around an open floor plan and offers outdoor spaces both in front and behind. A deck off the front of the home sits off the living room and overlooks San Francisco Bay. The spacious great room includes a kitchen with custom cabinets and integrated appliances. Both the kitchen and dining area open to a backyard with rectangular pool and stamped concrete patio.
“At night the hills behind the home are bathed in golden light,” Lupo said. “We’ve
“We would joke that there was nowhere for us to go on vacation because nothing could compete with our home.” Lorraine Lupo, owner of 114 Strathmoor Drive
been woken up in the morning by owls hooting on our roof.”
The couple’s daughter enjoyed views from the loft area in her bedroom, Lupo said of the elevated space providing a peek-a-boo glimpse of downtown San Francisco on clear days.
A gallery of picture windows framing backyard views lines a corridor of steps descending to the master suite. Like the great room, a ceiling with exposed trusses and beams covers the hallway.
Lupo credits Glass and Worthington for the luxurious master suite with a reading nook offering a built-in bookshelf, backyard access, a dressing room and a spa bathroom with a built-in soaking tub.
“We would joke that there was nowhere for us to go on vacation because nothing could compete with our home,” she said.
Besides a new master suite, Lupo and Worthington also installed solar panels and a charger for an electric car, so an electric vehicle plugged into the outlet effectively runs on rays from the sun.
A detached two-story structure rests opposite the main home. The top floor has anoffice with floor-to-ceiling windows at the same elevation as the main residences’ public rooms. Below, a media room and full bathroom occupy a space opening to Strathmoor Drive.