Round House that Got Away - Page 2

"My brother remembers going over to his house with my dad and looking over the plans," she said of Meyer (1927-2003), who had already built a round house for his own family on Balboa Drive in the Oakland Hills.

Building his own, 1,927-square-foot home with Meyer's plans, the senior Bjorklund was able to make design changes where he saw fit, including a galley kitchen instead of the island-style that Meyer preferred with his concentric designs.

"The open [floor plan] concept didn't include the kitchen, for him," the daughter said wryly.

While Abel pointed out that the listing attracted "an overwhelming response, likely due to the uniqueness of the home and the Eichler-like characteristics," Bjorklund cited another reason.

"A lot of it is because it's so underpriced, and everybody want to know what's wrong with it," she surmised. "You see a house for $998,000 in Piedmont with a view of Angel Island, and you wonder."

The daughter said property disclosures included dry rot in some structural beams and the need for additional seismic support.

"When there was an earthquake, we would all be crossing our fingers, but my dad was confident," she recalled, adding of the biggest quake it has survived, "It did fine in Loma Prieta."

Although trees now block the home's onetime view of Mount Tamalpais, its wooded neighborhood is a major asset of the property in Bjorklund's eyes.

"You're in this little canyon, and you can hear the owls hooting and the [wild] turkeys. There's a family of deer. When the creek is running and the plum trees are blooming, it's like paradise," she sighed. "It's like the perfect little tree house."

And too perfect to last long on the open market, apparently.