Hot Property
Century-old Tudor with Craftsman details is across the street from Bella Vista School.
Opportunity coaxed Judith Rathbone to California and the native New Yorker immediately identified with the Bay Area’s multicultural landscape. She and her husband quickly discovered Oakland’s Bella Vista neighborhood and put down roots at 2535 10th Ave., a stylish Tudor set on a deep lot across from a school.
“It was important to me to raise our kids in a diverse neighborhood like the one I grew up in,” Rathbone said of the three-bedroom she bought in 1982. “I wanted them to grow up exposed to other cultures.”
Rathbone raised three children as a stay-at-home mother and volunteered at Bella
Vista School, which is across the street. Craftsman details like built-ins and window seats date back to the home’s 1912 construction by Frank Ench, and Rathbone said she always erred on the side of tradition when updating the home.
“It was about doing whatever you could to maintain the property as it had been built,” she said. “There’s so much pride that went into the work. The original builders never looked at it like ‘How can we do this quickly or how can we make the most money off it?’ ”
Rathbone knows the next owner will likely update the kitchen, though the vintage stove and farmhouse trough sink lend function and classical form.
A glassed-in porch, sunroom and large windows in the public rooms create plenty of sheltered spaces to enjoy the surroundings. Maple, cyprus, redwood and palm trees dot a sizable backyard that hosted a multitude of end-of-the-school-year picnics for students and teachers of Bella Vista.
“The kids could ride their bikes back here, play in the sandbox and use the swings. We’d have 30 kids back here and it wouldn’t feel crowded. It’s a wonderful gathering space,” she said.
Rathbone worked in San Francisco when she first migrated west, but she and her husband sought residence outside the city for a reason many buyers continue to echo.
“Even then, San Francisco was unaffordable,” she said.
The community diversity Rathbone cherished remains intact. More than 50 percent of East Oakland’s population is black and roughly 4 out of every 10 residents are Latino. Residents hailing from Vietnam and Cambodia make up the bulk of the region’s emerging Southeast Asian community.
Rathbone’s selling because her children are older and she needs to be near her parents on the East Coast. The next family to move in will inherit a property that’s ideal for families while becoming part of a legacy.
“These properties don’t come available that often,” Rathbone said. “People stay here forever.”
Listing agent: Brian Cheek, Alain Pinel Realtors, (510) 3254451, brian@briancheekhomes.com