2910–12 Telegraph Ave Landmark Application
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CITY OF BERKELEY Ordinance #4694 N.S. LANDMARK APPLICATION Ali & Marion Yazdi Building 2910–2912 Telegraph Avenue Berkeley, CA 94705 Figure 1. The Yazdi Building, 1967 (Ormsby Donogh files, BAHA archives) Figure 2. The Yazdi Building, Jan. 2016 (photo by the authors) 1. Street Address: 2910–2912 Telegraph Avenue County: Alameda City: Berkeley ZIP: 94705 2. Assessor’s Parcel Number: 52-1579-3 (Suburban Tract, Block E, part of lot 8) Dimensions: 88.67 ft. x 50 ft. x 73.22 ft .x 48.16 ft. (3,898 sq. ft.) Cross Streets: Howe Street & Russell Street 3. Is property on the State Historic Resource Inventory? No Is property on the Berkeley Urban Conservation Survey? Yes Form #: 12256 4. Application for Landmark Includes: a. Building(s): Yes Garden: N/A Other Feature(s): b. Landscape or Open Space: Yes c. Historic Site: No d. District: No e. Other: Entire Property 5. Historic Name: Yazdi’s Commonly Known Name: Robert Bruce of Berkeley 6. Date of Construction: 1933 Factual: Yes Source of Information: Building permit #38025, 31 August 1933 7. Architect: William Isaac Garren (1892–1983) 8. Builder: William August Degen (1894–1970) 9. Style: Storybook 10. Original Owners: Ali Mohamed & Marion Carpenter Yazdi Original Use: Gift shop & two apartments 11. Present Owner: Linda Joseph Chaya Properties, Inc. 2150 Pyramid Drive, El Sobrante, CA 94803 Present Occupant: Vacant 12. Recent Use: Retail, office, and residential Current Zoning: C-1 Adjacent Property Zoning: C-1 13. Present Condition of Property: Exterior: Fair Interior: Fair Grounds: Fair Has the property’s exterior been altered? Yes, mostly in the rear 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 2 of 61 Figure 3. Assessor's Map detail Figure 4. Aerial view of Assessor’s Block 1579 (Apple Maps) 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 3 of 61 Executive Summary The Yazdi Building is the only Storybook Style building on Telegraph Avenue. It is one of only two solo projects in Berkeley by the notable architect William I. Garren, the other one being his own home (1927) at 2573 Buena Vista Way. The Yazdi Building is also Garren’s only mixed-use building in Berkeley and the last one he designed here. The building is notable for its complex massing, steep gable roofs, dormer gables, picturesque brick chimneys, and multi-paned steel-sash windows. The building was designed as the home and business of Ali M. Yazdi and his wife, Marion Carpenter Yazdi, who owned a Persian carpet and gift shop. Ali M. Yazdi was a well-known Bahá’í lecturer and writer, served on many national committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and was, for thirty years, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Berkeley. Marion Carpenter Yazdi was the first Bahá’í student at the University of California and a noted speaker and writer in her own right. The building also served as the home of Margery Carpenter, a leading Berkeley social worker and for many years the executive secretary of the City of Berkeley’s Commission of Public Charities. Following the Yazdi era, the building served a succession of design-oriented businesses, including Lila’s Antiques, Robert Bruce of Berkeley, and Gallery Extraña/Emily the Strange. The Yazdi Building has anchored its block since 1933, lending distinction and charm to Telegraph Avenue. Figure 5. Yazdi Bldg., aerial view (Apple Maps) 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 4 of 61 Figure 6. Telegraph Ave. façade (Google Street View) 14. Description The Yazdi Building is a one- and two-story wood-frame, stucco-clad structure comprising several wings that are variously crowned by gable and flat roofs. It is located on a street corner, and its two main wings are perpendicular to each other, leaving a small landscaped plaza at the southeast corner. The building was designed in 1933 in the Storybook style, characterized here by complex massing; steep gable roofs; dormer gables; picturesque brick chimneys and brick trim; multi-paned steel-sash windows, originally with rustic wooden shutters; and an external staircase (altered). In Storybook-style fashion, the Yazdi Building evokes the character of an old northern European structure added onto over time. There is intentional asymmetry and broken-up massing, but all the elements come together in a harmonious whole and are unified by common detailing. Although the building has been expanded and altered, most alterations are interior and the expansions have largely been to the rear, where they do not impact the primary Telegraph Avenue façade and the Howe Street/Telegraph Avenue corner. The original design had the overall character of a narrow two-story house joined to the rear of a one-story shop building. This visual character reflects the original use of the property. Like the landmark Tupper & Reed Building (W.R. Yelland, 1925), the Yazdi Building sacrifices conventional commercial frontage to achieve a whimsical and picturesque façade. In both cases, the effect achieved is akin to walking through a European village or early American town and seeing a building with a ground-floor shop offering glimpses into an intriguing interior, rather than a blatantly 20th-century commercial façade. 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 5 of 61 Figure 7. The Yazdi Bldg. in 1939 (Ormsby Donogh files, BAHA archives) According to the original building permit, the Yazdi Building’s dimensions were 48 feet by 56 feet, and its maximum height was 24 feet. It was designed as a “two-story, seven-room frame building to be occupied as dwelling by 2 families, 1 store.” From 1933 to 1956, it housed a Persian carpet/gift shop; two apartments, occupied by the owners and a close relative; a garage; and, presumably, storage. The shop’s one-and-a-half-story showroom faced Telegraph Avenue, while the two apartments were located in the two-story residential wing along Howe Street. In the absence of architectural plans, the closest idea we can form about the original layout is based on the 1950 Sanborn map, since the Yazdis did not obtain any alteration permits during their period of ownership, which ended in 1956. This layout shows a rough C-shaped commercial structure arranged around a central courtyard, with a rectangular residential wing closing the gap on the south side (Fig. 8). Figure 8. Yazdi Bldg. footprint in the 1950 Sanborn map 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 6 of 61 The building’s second and third owners constructed additions between 1956 and 1977. The additions are concentrated in the rear of the lot or in the interior, and the 1956 extension facing Howe Street is compatible with the original Howe Street façade, utilizing similar materials. Select Permit History, 1933–1977 Year Permit Owner Description Architect Contractor 1933 38025 Ali M. Yazdi 2-story, 7-room William I. William A. dwelling for 2 Garren Degen families + 1 store 1956 79936 Charles H. Lee Add 1 bedroom, N/A Lloyd W. dinette & hall on 2nd Sherman floor w/ 2-car storage below 1958 84211 Canady/Lee Storage room Owner Owner attached to dwelling 1958 86209 Canady/Lee Convert garage to Owner Owner playroom w/ large window 1968 111175 Bernice Ellis 2 wall openings; N/A remove wall between storeroom & showroom 1969- 115688 Bernice Ellis Roof over open court Walter D. Kirkham, 1970 w/ skylights Lucas Chaon & Kirkham 1971 41477510 Bernice Ellis Replace asbestos N/A Montclair shingle roof with Roofing Co. comp. shingle roof (partial) 1972 22372875 Bernice Ellis 9’6” x 12’6” storage Kirkham, addition w/ stucco Chaon & exterior Kirkham 1977 80477501 Bernice Ellis Storage room + deck, N/A fence on existing roof The building changed hands twice in the past two years. Wayland, LLC purchased the property in February 2014 and sold it in February 2016. During this period, most of the plantings, as well as a number of original features on the residential wing, were removed, and the building was repainted in darker colors. These alterations are reversible. Showroom Wing The showroom wing is a tall, gable-roofed rectangle flanked by two lower cross-gabled wings. The main gable roof is open-eaved and features bargeboards that are under-mounted with four bullnosed wooden brackets on either side. The stucco walls are textured with broad palette knife marks. 2910–12 Telegraph Avenue Landmark Application, Page 7 of 61 Figure 9. The Yazdi Building in 2010 (courtesy of Gallery Extraña) East Façade Dominating the street façade of the showroom wing is a slightly recessed full- height, multi-paned, steel-sash show window with a brick sill. The lower two- thirds of this window are divided into 7-over-7 lights. The triangular portion at the top comprises three rows of lights that narrow from seven to three lights in the angle of the gable. Although most of the sash is fixed, the upper portion of the main window panel includes an operable awning panel of 3-over-2 lights. Two curlicued wrought-iron sign mounts flank the show window. Northeast Cross-Gable Wing Extending north from the main gable is a small wing under a steep cross- gable. The interior of this wing forms part of the showroom and contains a brick fireplace whose chimney has a Venturi cap featuring two tiers of vertically laid, spaced bricks. Embedded at the top of the cross-gable wall are three clay-pipe vents arranged in a triangle (Fig. 10). The roof of this wing descends lower than that of the main showroom mass. Immediately below the roof eave is a corner steel-sash window glazed 4-over-2 on the east side and 2-over-2 on the north side.