Guy Hyde Chick House - Oakland

Guy Hyde Chick House, Oakland, California

The Guy Hyde Chick House is a beautiful home featuring "handsome shingle work and vibrant colors (a Prussian blue front door and red quatrefoil design around the rear balcony and kitchen) to the handcrafted details and abundant use of native woods—all under a gabled roof reminiscent of a Swiss chalet."¹

Set in the Oakland Hills and completed in 1914, the house has survived earthquakes, fires, falling trees and a flood.

Designed by renowned Arts and Crafts architect Bernard Maybeck for civil engineer and Berkeley commissioner Guy Hyde Chick, the house has been owned by art dealer Foster Goldstrom for the past 35 years. "Goldstrom considers himself a caretaker of the historic residence, and credits previous owners with respecting the integrity of the original design."¹

Guy Hyde Chick House is one of the largest homes by Maybeck, and has had seven owners since it was sold in 1921 by the Chick family due to financial difficulties caused by WWI.

"The style can best be described as eclectic Gothic-Craftsman. Nestled among a grove of live oaks, the exterior features a gabled roof that extends a few feet beyond the edges of the house and is further enhanced by trellises and lovely wood details such as sawtooth shingles. The house exudes an air of simplicity, elegance and strength."²

Luck has always been with the home, at no time more so than during the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm. When the fire burned down every single home surrounding the Guy Hyde Chick House, it remained intact thanks to the efforts of a few firemen who, when faced with the realty that they could only save one house. worked heroically the Chick home.