Jack Hillmer Rarity Surfaces - Page 2

Now on the market—one of only ten built homes by Bay Area modernist architect
By Adriene Biondo
Fridays on the Homefront
There's a delicacy to Hillmer's provocative designs, even with the use of heavy, raw materials, as above with the Dr. Poor residence.

In the 1940s, Hillmer served as a draftsman in San Diego during World War II, and spent time in that town at architect Rudolph Schindler's El Pueblo Ribera apartments. Partnering with Bay Area architect Warren Callister for a time, he shared a penthouse office at 425 Bush Street in San Francisco with Joe Eichler's architects Anshen and Allen.

 

Fridays on the Homefront

Among his ten built residential projects is the extraordinary Ludekens House on Belvedere Island. Showcased in the April 1951 Architectural Forum, the home has a roof that appears to hover over glass walls, and a 13-ton chunk of raw granite serves as an interior wall, hand-selected by Hillmer from quarried stone from the Sierras.

Another Hillmer design, the Telesis House in Napa was commissioned by the Munger family in 1950 and built by the family itself. Hillmer's plan for this house, according to the home's website, "consisted of a form reflecting the structural impulse of an unraveling spiral."

 

Fridays on the Homefront

49 Vicente Road, just down the street from the Dr. Poor residence, is the Dominic Cagliostro House, a Hillmer design that sadly was lost in the Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991, Sexton explains. "After it burned, Jack Hillmer was commissioned, in 1993 or '94, to rebuild it just like it was built in 1977."

Hillmer taught at the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Clarence Poor worked there as well. What is said about Hillmer, Sexton says, is that "he only worked with people he wanted to work with…he was very particular about that."

Sexton points out another lovely feature of the Dr. Poor residence, a trellis planted with wisteria. "When it's in bloom, it's stunning," he says, "and that's going be a wonderful surprise to the person who buys this home."

 

Fridays on the Homefront

Of the current owner, Sexton adds, "The beauty was that she was my friend, and I got to spend a lot of time there.

"We never watched TV, because you didn't need to. You'd sit in the living room and at nighttime the whole city just lit up, not in the distance but at eye level. You felt like you didn't need anything else except a chair and a cup of coffee."

For those unable to visit the Dr. Poor residence in person (open houses March 23-24), one can get a sense of its grandeur via this virtual tour.

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