28 Craig Avenue, Piedmont

Stately, solid, and light-filled, this Central Piedmont home has sat proudly on its large parcel since 1914. The floorplan is timeless, with four spacious bedrooms and two full bathrooms up a lovely central staircase. To one side of the gracious foyer is a large living room featuring a charming fireplace flanked by built-in bookcases and a picture window with a view of the front garden. The sunny formal dining room is entered through French doors and flows nicely into the large, eat-in kitchen. Storage galore awaits in this sizable kitchen. New quartz counters offer plenty of room to spread out and prepare a feast or a snack at the kitchen table with family and friends. Flow directly out the sliding glass kitchen door onto the deck and the grassy backyard. Again, the floor plan just works! Adjacent to the kitchen is the small fifth bedroom, perfect for guests or a home office. The basement offers ample space for storage or tinkering with projects, large or small. The central location means that schools, grocery, parks, and public spaces are just a short stroll away. 28 Craig Avenue is ready for its next owner; perhaps it will be you!

Here is a note from one of the heirs who have called 28 Craig home for decades -

Our parents bought the house at 28 Craig Avenue in 1970. I was just 10 years old. With three children, our home was in the ideal location. My brothers and I played hide and seek with the neighbors until dark, and we permanently bonded with them.There were fall carnivals at Havens Elementary where we bobbed for apples. The Boy Scout office, sunrise service at the park on Easter, the market, Piedmont Community Church, the bank and even the barber shop were around the corner. The mayor was a lively fellow who lived on our street; sang and entertained us after the Fourth of July parade. All the families gathered in our backyard for a barbecue. Afterward, we ran over to listen to the band in the park. 

The basement was magical. My brothers and I built a fort; my dad had a workbench with every tool you could imagine, and around the corner from that my mother kept soil, planting tools and her gardening gloves. She tinkered with stained glass a bit and created a little window which is still visible in the upstairs hall. Her half of the basement had ornaments, costumes and art supplies. My dad filled the other half with skis, boots and camping gear. 

When I was a teenager, I opened the living room windows, playing the piano and singing loudly, hoping that the music would pour out into the front yard and impress the boy who lived a few houses away. In the winter we had big fires in the fireplace and cheated at board games. Over the years when my mother hosted tea parties, bridge parties, and dinner parties there would be chairs and tables with countless sparkling wine glasses throughout the downstairs and I would pass the hot hors d'oeuvres. After I left for college, there were celebrations when my brothers completed their Eagle Scout badges. 

My bedroom was at the front of the house. At night, I would look up at the stars peeking through the trees and daydream. On Christmas Eve, I pushed my ear against the vent on the floor in my brother’s bedroom, desperate to hear what Santa and his elves were arranging under the tree. Would it be roller skates?...An etch a sketch? My parents made use of every corner of the house. My mother hung up enormous posters and collages along the stairs showing my brothers playing football or backpacking with my dad. She had a sewing room adjacent to the master bedroom piled high with fabrics and buttons. In later years, my dad used a bedroom at the back of the house as an office. He set up a desk and computer, worked late into the evening and watched the spectacular sunsets.

Built around 1914, it’s hard to believe that 28 Craig Avenue was home to others for more than 50 years before we moved in. That chapter is a mystery to us…and now, 53 years later, our family home will be a place for another family to grow and make memories.