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June 22, 2013 by tomdalzell

Sit Down Stranger, Rest Easy

220px-SitDownYoungStranger

When I was 21, I moved from Pennsylvania to California.   When I left, my mother discovered Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sit Down Young Stranger.”  It spoke to her: “They say you been out wanderin’ / They say you travelled far / Sit down young stranger / And tell us who you are.” A nice song.

Throughout Berkeley you will find benches or chairs placed near sidewalks, perhaps on the verge (great word that I learned in this project – the strip between sidewalk and street), simply offered to strangers who might want to sit a minute.  Robert Frost in “Mending Wall” told us that good fences make good neighbors.  In Berkeley, good neighbors make good benches.  Close.

I have not seen this except in Berkeley.  Yes, you see porches in small towns, where families sit and watch what/who is passing by.  But this is almost uniquely Berkeley.  One of my favorites goes so far as to explain why it is there:

1729 Virginia

1729 Virginia

1729 Virginia

1729 Virginia

Most are rough benches, homemade.  Here are a few fancier versions.  First, a very whimsical painted creation on Marin:

1748 Marin

1748 Marin

Or this on Summer:

2238 Summer

2238 Summer

These seats on Oxford came from Fenway Park.  My second favorite baseball stadium that is still standing.

1215 Oxford

1215 Oxford

This elegant bench is found on Arlington at the walking entrance to the once-elegant now not-so-elegant Spring Mansion:

639 Arlington

639 Arlington

Another stone bench is just around the corner from where I live.

2136 Eunice

2136 Eunice

Eunice is turning into a strong-quirk street.  It is only six or so blocks long, but there is a good representation of quirky things (and Oskar Gerson designs).  At the top is Codornices Park.  Digression for just a moment:

This is the trestle that spanned the canyon that is now the park on one side and the Rose Garden on the other.

Codornices Trestle

 

The view is north, with today’s park not he right and the Rose Garden on the left.

There was once a clubhouse at the top of where the slide is today.  Bernard Maybeck played some role in designing and building the clubhouse.

Berkeley Inside Out Maybeck at Codornices 1916

 

Photo from Town and Gown

Photo from Town and Gown

Next to the clubhouse was a City-owned cottage where a member of the police force lived.  Martin St. John, now a nurseryman at East Bay Nursery, grew up in that cottage.

But – end of digression – back to benches.

Along the bike path at the dead-end of Northside are these improvised tractor seats:

Bike path, dead end of Northside IMG_3010

As well as a mosaic/cement bench:

Dead end Northside

 

You know the rule, no commissioned public art.  Well, this the final of not-your-run-of-the-mill bench is too good to follow that rule.  The mosaic bench at the City of Berkeley Willard Park:

Willard Park

When it was built, it was known as a Potter’s Wall, a term that has largely disappeared in describing it.

Berkeley Gazette, May 23, 1978

Berkeley Gazette, May 23, 1978

Andrew Werby designed and fought for the wall/bench for three years, inspired by Gaudi’s tile wall in Park Güell, Barcelona.  The City of Berkeley, The California Arts council, the Alameda County neighborhood Council, and merchants provided financial and material support for the project.  In 1978, Weby and volunteers built the wall, provided the shards, and placed the shards.  The Gazette tells us that “Werby treated his helpers to a keg of Schlitz and an accordionist played fast moving folk tunes to keep the workers moving.”  Move!

Finally before a long litany of more or less regular benches, this lovely flashback to your grandmother’s yard, circa 1962:

730 Peralta

730 Peralta

And now good benches placed  by good neighbors:

2577 Buena Vista

2577 Buena Vista

1016 Spruce

1016 Spruce

1340 Arch

1340 Arch

2126 Los Angeles

1188 Oxford

1647 9th

1647 9th

1385 8th

1385 8th

2909 5th

2909 5th

1200 block Oxford, Berryman Path

1200 block Oxford, Berryman Path

1305 Hopkins, on Peralta Eco House

1305 Hopkins, on Peralta
Eco House

1069  Spruce

1069 Spruce

1445 Gilman, on Cornell

1445 Gilman, on Cornell

1217 Talbot

1217 Talbot

Gilman and Santa Fe

Gilman and Santa Fe

Telvin, north of Watkins

Telvin, north of Watkins

1575 Hopkins

1575 Hopkins

2746 Webster

2746 Webster

Santa Barbara and Florida

Santa Barbara and Florida

510 Colusa

510 Colusa

485 Vincente

485 Vincente

554 Neilson

554 Neilson

35 Oakvale

35 Oakvale

2301 4th, on Bancroft

2301 4th, on Bancroft

654 Neilson

654 Neilson

2927 Garber

2927 Garber

2510 Prince

2510 Prince

2300 block Acton

2300 block Acton

2421 4th

2421 4th

 

1073 Euclid

1073 Euclid

1096 Spruce

1096 Spruce

360 Rugby, on Vermont

360 Rugby, on Vermont

360 Rugby, on Vermont

360 Rugby, on Vermont

Let’s finish strong. First, a most funky quirk.  A collection of chairs and sofas in a driveway open to the street.  Just inviting you to come in and sit down.  Not me, no thanks.  Too funky.  Olde Berkeley.

1919 King

1919 King

1919 King

1919 King

And, finally, a charming cluster on Walnut Street.  Side-by-side houses each have a bench on the sidewalk.  The best soccer player I ever saw play grew up in one of the houses. Not that that matters.  Two benches:

1307 Walnut

1307 Walnut

In the summer of 2016, Evy Kavaler and John Lau took the bench-in-theory shown above to full-blown bench status.

1307 Walnut

1307 Walnut

This brings the number of functioning benches on the 1300 block of Walnut to three.

1309 Walnut

1309 Walnut

1309 Walnut

1309 Walnut

Tile-maker Penny Brogden made this bench just south of Kavaler/Lau.

And then a little down the street, a poignant sculpture bench of a crying dog and sleeping angel.  It is a tribute to Diana Buist, a Corsican sculptor who died in 2000.  Jim Corr wrote about the sculpture in Berkeleyside, December 20, 2012.

1328 Walnut

1328 Walnut

1328 Walnut

1328 Walnut

There are more benches where I still have to walk. I know this.  But even this far – lots of benches, no?

IMG_3677

 

 

 

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