Two modernists, one a renowned physicist, one a burgeoning architect, came together in the early 1950s to create the Kip House, a celebrated Bauhaus-inspired International Style home in Berkeley, Calif. Then they became lifelong neighbors.
Now, for the second time in its almost 75 year history, the Kip House at 775 San Diego Road, just across the street from John Hinkel Park, is on the market. The three-bedroom, two-bath home is listed at $1.425 million, with Anna Bellomo of District Homes handling the sale.
Designed in 1952, the house was commissioned by Arthur Frederic Kip, a pioneering solid-state physicist whose work was foundational to computer and smartphone development. The home’s designer, Donald Olsen, was a young architect who had moved to Berkeley to begin his architectural practice. Upon completion of the Kip residence in 1954, Mr. Olsen and his wife, Helen Olsen, built their home in similar Bauhaus-influenced style right next door. The Olsens, Mr. Kip and his wife, Joan Kip, would spend the rest of their lives in these homes.
“I was aware of this house for years before I bought it and was very excited when it came on the market,” said the current owner, Susie Injijian, a Bay Area lawyer who bought the residence in July 2013 from the Kip estate.
