Quirky Berkeley

The Quirky Material Culture of Berkeley

Quirky Berkeley
  • Walkers
  • Help us!
  • Links
  • Blogs/Albums
  • Contact us
  • Latest Posts
  • Quirky Berkeley in the Media
August 27, 2014 by tomdalzell

Chimneys

As I have walked the streets of Berkeley, I have been impressed by chimneys.  They very well may not fit the parameters of my mission, for they are architectural features designed and built before, in almost every case, the time of the current homeowner.  Still, they add a certain something to what we see in our city.  There is considerable lore associated with chimneys, suggesting something more than just design.  But just design is enough.  So – I invite you to think about chimneys for two minutes.  That’s all.  Not much to ask.

We are going to start with brick chimneys.  From the brick chimney collection, first up are the chimneys that evoke fairy tales – fanciful and whimsical.

1450 California

1450 California

738 Spruce

738 Spruce

1298 Virginia, on Chestnut

1298 Virginia, on Chestnut

1800 Marin

1800 Marin

1520 Dwight

1520 Dwight

2020 Sacramento

2020 Sacramento

2324 Curtis

2324 Curtis

90 Poplar

90 Poplar

690 The Alameda

690 The Alameda

1848 San Ramon

1848 San Ramon

611 Arlington

611 Arlington

2910 Telegraph

2910 Telegraph

I found a couple with whimsical brick construction – windows in chimneys and now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t:

1930 Delaware

1930 Delaware

2421 Oregon

2421 Oregon

2948 Magnolia

2948 Magnolia

1935 Magnolia

1935 Magnolia

Mid-century modern does not enjoy a strong presence in Berkeley, but it is not absent. Here are a few mid-centuries with mid-century brick:

2 Montrose

2 Montrose

920 Euclid

920 Euclid

And the stately brick chimneys, very evocative of the East Coast:

1000 Fresno

1000 Fresno

2815 Claremont

2815 Claremont

2421 Oregon

2421 Oregon

606 Spruce

606 Spruce

  c

2307 Piedmont

2330 Vine

2330 Vine

2700 Bancroft

2700 Bancroft

1874 Yosemite

1874 Yosemite

2970 Claremont

2970 Claremont

656 Santa Barbara

656 Santa Barbara

In addition to brick, we have stone chimneys.  Some massive, some delicate.

El Paseo, between Santa Rosa and Vincente

El Paseo, between Santa Rosa and Vincente

Live Oak Park, Picnic Area 1

Live Oak Park, Picnic Area 1

1637 Franklin

1637 Franklin

1000 Sierra

1000 Sierra

2835 Ashby

2835 Ashby

40 Eucalyptus

40 Eucalyptus

1843 Yosemite

1843 Yosemite

2806 Prince

2806 Prince

Neither brick nor stone (nor stucco) – there are a few enclosed chimneys, such as this shingle-enclosing one:

2722 Webster

2722 Webstere sum of the quirky parts.

So there it was – a few minutes about chimneys.  If you pay attention, they are there, adding to to the sum of the quirky parts.

When I showed these photos to my friend, I could see that he was in the mood for a talk. I made tea and put not the most obvious record and we talked.

commodores-brick-house-motown-2

We talked about stone houses.  We share a deep affection for Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House in Carmel.

Hawk Towerrsz3

We talked briefly about Jeffers and the house and then my friend said, “I dig bricks.  I think I will do a whole website about bricks in Berkeley.  I will call it “Brickly Berkeley.”  I pointed out that Tater had suggested that very idea months ago.  My friend feigned not remembering.  Whatever.

We talked about the expression “built like a brick shit house.”  It is not an expression that has much to say for itself these days.

And next we talked about the absolute lack of logic and consistency in the English language.   These words rhyme:

jerk, clerk, perk, twerk

lurk, Turk

work

quirk, Dirk, Kirk, shirk

 

Four different vowels .  Same sound.  Exactly the same sound  What’s up with that?

And then I got going on bricks in my youth, building with American Plastic Bricks.  Boy they were fun.

We finished our tea. The album side was over.  Thank you Commodores.  I put the tea cups on a tray and asked about the chimney photos:

IMG_3677

 

Posted in Uncategorized. RSS 2.0 feed.
« American Plastic Bricks
Murals »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Here you will find photos of the oddball, whimsical, eccentric, and the near-rhyme quirky material culture of Berkeley.
Read More

Subscribe

Categories

  • Animals
  • Architecture
  • Cars, Trains and Planes
  • Food
  • Gone
  • Graffiti
  • Ma
  • Mailboxes
  • Major Quirky
  • Miscellaneous
  • Murals
  • Painted
  • Peace
  • Signs
  • Walks

All content © 2025 by Quirky Berkeley. Base WordPress Theme by Graph Paper Press