Ackerman Residence

James Ackerman was the UC Berkeley School of Architecture’s first full-time architectural historian, beginning in the fall of 1952. His wife, Mildred, who had just started teaching dance at Mills College, got polio in the last big epidemic. The house was laid out in an L-shaped plan. To accommodate Mildred Ackerman’s wheelchair, all of the principal living spaces were on the main floor; the hallways and doors were wider than current standard; the kitchen was designed with an open space under the sink and a horizontal refrigerator with doors that slid to the side. The living room of this modest home displays Esherick’s talent for elegance and scale as well as his ability to maximize the usefulness and effects of natural light.

The garden designed by Lawrence Halprin welcomed visitors into the living room through 12 foot glass doors suggesting the luxury of a large villa and providing the comfort of an intimate drawing room.