45 Berryessa Way

Having hit the market listed for $4.2 million back in 2015, “priced for somebody who really wanted the quirky 2,730-square-foot home rather than a developer or individual looking for a nearly 2-acre lot upon which to build a much larger Hillsborough house,” the asking price for the iconic ‘Flintstone House’ at 45 Berryessa Way was reduced to $3.8 million in early 2016 and then to $3.2 million last July.

Designed by William Nicholson and built in 1976, the house was constructed by spraying shotcrete onto steel rebar and wire mesh frames over inflated balloons.

The original foundation and structure was damaged by water runoff from up the hill and the compromised house last traded hands for $800,000 in 1996, after which it was restored, repainted and remodeled inside, including a futuristic kitchen designed by Eugene Tsui.

And while it hasn’t closed escrow and the sale could still fail, 45 Berryessa Way is now in contract.

So if you haven’t already, it’s time to place your bets with respect to a final sale price and whether or not the Flintstone house will survive.  Keep in mind that it isn’t an official landmark nor protected by the city.  And once again, it’s a nearly two-acre lot.

19 thoughts on “Iconic Flintstone House in Contract, Will It Survive or Get Crushed?”
  1. 3M and saved (but repainted). If you are spending 3M on a hilly lot, my hope is that you could do better than to share a backyard with 280 (but not a market segment I’ve been following).

  2. $2.9 with the buyer on record as intending to preserve the house (but it’s demolished within a year).

  3. Between $2.5 to $2.9M, Full demo. Yabba dabba do.

    Before demo, paint the cylinder parts yellow so they can look like a couple of Minions from the Despicable Me series.

  4. Ahhh a Hillsborough address on a hillside….with a stunning view of 280 right out your windows.

  5. mc mansion will replace it or maybe a palace for an expat princess from Somewhere Far Away whose daddy needs to hide money from Kremlin Joe or the Chairman

  6. In case anyone has missed it, don’t worry about the future of this house. The latest owners have embraced the weirdness with a menagerie of welded rusting dinosaurs facing 280 and some new retaining walls down the embankment. Cap-Ex on weirdness. #livingthedream.

    1. Turns out the new owner made some of the improvements while going beyond the scope of her permits. Now, Hillsborough sues to declare Flintstone House a ‘public nuisance’:

      Calling it a “highly visible eyesore” and “out of keeping with community standards,” Hillsborough planning and building officials are asking a judge to officially declare the iconic Flintstone House a “public nuisance,” and they want a recently-erected metal menagerie of prehistoric animals, along with other features, removed.

      We’ve seen this story play out before, haven’t we?

  7. Well, the new owner prevailed. From ‘Flintstone House’ owner settles lawsuit, can keep dinosaur statues, June 29, 2021:

    Following a lengthy court battle, the Northern California owner of the “Flintstone House” has quietly settled her lawsuit against the town of Hillsborough…the home’s owner will receive $125,000 from the town to cover legal costs from her lawsuit, according to the settlement agreement. Fang must also apply for building permits for the exterior of her home, which will be approved by the town once submitted, according to town records.

    I strongly disapprove of Fang playing the race card in her suit, but she knows how to win in the face of her own wrongdong, and this isn’t her first time at the Rodeo.

    1. You do have to admit: fully 100% of people per…er prosecuted for mock pre-historic displays have been of Asian ancestry.
      That it’s a sample size of one…well, details.

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