Many who wander Berkeley’s paths are familiar with the name and work of Bernard Maybeck (although, surprisingly, there is no Maybeck Path). Fewer know about his friend and colleague Charles Keeler, who was nearly as influential in the prominent Arts and Crafts movement of the early twentieth century.
Charles Augustus Keeler (1871–1937) was a scientist, naturalist, artist, and poet who studied biology at UC Berkeley and founded the Evolution Club on campus. In 1891, he was hired by the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park to become the director of its natural history museum.
It was on the ferry from Berkeley to San Francisco that Keeler met Maybeck, and the two men became close friends and colleagues among the bohemian community that was springing up in the hills of North Berkeley. Together, they began advocating a style of architecture that reflected the nature around it, embodying the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement in a reaction against the formal classicism of the Beaux Arts style.
In 1895, Keeler asked Maybeck to design his home (pictured above), and the structure on Highland Place became the architect’s first residential commission. Maybeck would go on to design a studio for Keeler next door, as well as many similar redwood-clad hillside homes around Berkeley in a style called First Bay Tradition.
Keeler and Muir
Keeler soon articulated ideas for a new style of home “infused with the art spirit” in his book The Simple Home, published in 1904, which soon became a manifesto for the local Hillside Club and today is still considered Keeler’s most significant book. He was an early secretary and president of the club. He was also a charter member of the Sierra Club and was friends with many influential naturalists and outdoorsmen, including John Muir, John Burroughs, painter William Keith, and developer Duncan McDuffie—all early environmentalists.
You can still see Keeler’s home and studio at 1770 and 1790 Highland Place. And you can read a more detailed description of the structures in Berkeley Walks, written by BPWA’s own Robert E. Johnson and Janet L. Byron, updated in 2023. You might also enjoy the Quick Guide to Berkeley Names published by the Berkeley Historical Society.