Our house has 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths on 1250sqft upstairs and a separate 350sqft studio at garden-level. We're looking for people to enjoy the space and care for it well while we're on sabbatical in Europe. Since we have severe allergies, that care... needs to be free of smoke and synthetic chemicals. If that sounds good, then here are the pros:

Upstairs has a large bedroom (king bed), a medium bedroom (twin bed + pullout twin), and a full bath with 2 person jacuzzi tub. The living room has a sleeper couch, extra mattresses for guests or play, and an adjacent sunporch. The open kitchen has an adjacent dining / office area overlooking the garden, with another half bathroom.

Downstairs is a large studio space with individual entrance. The newly built kitchen features a mini-fridge, dishwasher, cooktop, toaster oven, and ninja foodi oven. The bathroom comes with a shower in the sauna - whose heater element is broken as of now. (Let us know if fixing that would make a difference!)

Note: The upstairs and downstairs spaces have separate entrances, bathrooms, and kitchens, but they are *not* independent units due to shared air, heat, warm water, and soundscape. So the best use case is a single group/family. We are open to separate parties using the two parts - but would write one lease and expect the parties to arrange their cohabitation amongst themselves.

The garden features fruit trees & shrubs (lime, lemon, 2 apples, cherry, plum, fig, persimmon, blackberries, raspberries, grapes), beds which grow great veggies when cared for, a little lawn, a patio, another sitting area with fire ring, and a tree house on top of the garden shed.

The basement features new washer and dryer and plenty of space for storage, bikes, etc. Only the garage will be locked, as we will store our bikes and campervan there. However, parking is easy in the driveway and/or on the street with a Berkeley residential permit. It's also just a quick walk to public transit of all kinds, and this is a very bikeable part of Berkeley.

Neighbours on all sides are wonderful with fairly active neighbourhood groups and a practice that social gatherings outdoors are quiet by 10:00 pm. At 1-2 blocks distance you'll find Chochmat HaLev Synagogue, La Pena Cultural Center, Starry Plough Pub, LGBTQ White Horse Inn, great burgers, pho, mexican. Walks under a mile get you to most cuisines, cafes, parks, Berkeley Bowl supermarket, Whole Foods, Walgreens, Ace Hardware, Sports Basement, Pet Food express, various doctors & urgent care, BART, public library (also for tools!), and epic Sunday brunch at Wat Mongkolratanaram temple.

The house is fully electrified and runs on solar power, including a battery and EV charging. There are dedicated outlets for 220V appliances in both kitchens (along with various european appliances like a fondue-raclette).

Frangrance-free Details:
* No smoking of any kind - in or outside of the house.
* Please don't burn incense or dispense fragrances the house.
* Our cleaning team uses unscented products. Please use the same products or check with us.
* There is unscented laundry detergent, and we ask that you keep using that for any items that we provide.
* Bodycare products are your choice, just please don't spray things within the house.
* No "air fresheners" please - even if they are labeled "natural".
* We can make recommendations if there are smells that you'd like to manage.
* Don't hesitate to ask about anything! Also Eastbaymeditation center has fragrance free resources online - ping for the link! (can't post it here) Read More