The First Unitarian Church in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

is a former church building that was built in 1898. It was designed by Albert C. Schweinfurth, who made unconventional use of Shingle Style architecture, usually applied to homes, in designing a church. It was also highly unusual for a church building in several other ways, including the use of industrial-style metal sash windows, sections of redwood tree trunks as pillars, the strong horizontal emphasis, and a semicircular apse with a conical roof."Berkeley Landmarks: First Unitarian Church". Berkeleyheritage.com. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2013-06-19.The building is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, the California State Historic Resources Survey, and is a City of Berkeley Landmark.Harvey Helfand, ''University of California, Berkeley'' (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002), pp. 177–180. It has also been known as University Dance Studio and Bancroft Dance Studio for its current use. Although originally outside the university grounds, it is now the second oldest building still standing on the Berkeley campus. At the time it was built, facing a block of Dana Street that no longer exists, it joined a cluster of Protestant churches that had been built since the 1870s with the encouragement of the university administration. The land was acquired by the university in 1960 through

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

for the construction of a student union complex. The church was the first meeting place of the

Hillside Club The Hillside Club is a neighborhood social club established in 1898 by residents of Berkeley, California's newly formed Northside neighborhood to protect the hills from unsightly grading and unsuitable buildings. It took its cue from the Arts ...

, formed in 1898 to promote Arts and Crafts movement principles in the growing university town. When it was built,

A. C. Schweinfurth A. C. Schweinfurth (1864–1900), born Albert Cicero Schweinfurth, was an American architect. He is associated with the First Bay Tradition. The son of a German woodcarver who had immigrated to the United States a decade before his son Albert wa ...

, the architect, was well on his way to an eminent career with the patronage of the Hearst family, but this church ended up being his last project. While it was under construction, he began a two-year European tour with his wife and daughter. He came down with typhoid fever and died in September 1900. In 1908 the congregation built an adjacent building called Unity Hall, designed by member

Bernard Maybeck Bernard Ralph Maybeck (February 7, 1862 – October 3, 1957) was an American architect in the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 20th century. He was an instructor at University of California, Berkeley. Most of his major buildings were in ...

, which was demolished in 1965 for the construction of Zellerbach Hall. The Schweinfurth-designed building was preserved, landmarked, and restored with seismic upgrades and new shingles in 1999.

References

External links

Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley website
{{National Register of Historic Places in California Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California Shingle Style architecture in California Churches completed in 1898 Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California 1898 establishments in California Unitarian Universalist churches in California Berkeley Landmarks in Berkeley, California

See also

References

External links