Features

Just in time for holiday gift giving, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association has brought out a long-awaited new edition of 41 Berkeley Walking Tours. 

Each self-guided walk covers a different Berkeley neighborhood or district, with a capsule history introduction, a map, and dozens of specific entries describing individual buildings and sites.  

The tours range from West Berkeley’s Oceanview district to the Berkeley Woods neighborhood on North Berkeley’s ridge tops, and from Thousand Oaks in the north to Ashby Station in the south. There are special tours for the UC Berkeley campus, Clark Kerr Campus, and the Downtown and Civic Center areas.  

Many of the write-ups are based on walks originally given by BAHA in the 1970s and 1980s, but all have been completely revamped and updated with historical information gathered since then. Several new walks have been added to those that appeared in BAHA’s previous publication on the same theme. 

Nine local writers contributed tours, including Susan Cerny, author of two Bay Area-themed architectural guidebooks, who headed the project and wrote or co-wrote 15 of the tours. Several others contributed vital research. 

The books cost $12.50 each. Information, and a preview of the book, can be found on the BAHA website at berkeleyheritage.com/41_walking_tours.html  

Books can be bought this Thursday and Friday afternoons, from 3–5:30 p.m., at the BAHA office at 2318 Durant Ave. All proceeds benefit BAHA. 

Also look for the distinctive yellow-covered books at these local bookstores and businesses: Arlington Pharmacy, Berkeley Art Museum Bookstore, Berkeley Historical Society, Berkeley Visitors Center, Books Inc. on Fourth Street, Builders Booksource, Moe’s Books, Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Pegasus Books on Shattuck, Pegasus Books on Solano, Pendragon Books, Turtle Island Books and University Press Books. 

Steven Finacom wrote a number of tours in the new book and is on the BAHA Board.