Tupper & Reed Building
Berkeley, Alameda County, California
Marker Inscription
CITY OF BERKELEY LANDMARK designated in 1984. TUPPER & REED BUILDING William Raymond Yelland, Architect, 1925. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. John Tupper and Lawrence Reed constructed this building for their music store, which they had established in Berkeley in 1906. University of California Art Professor Eugen Neuhaus complimented them as businessmen whose commissioned design rose above “the dreadful boredom of the commonplace that so often makes of architecture a stupid business and not a stimulating art!” Architect W.R. Yelland (1891-1966), a UC graduate, designed many “storybook” structures. This building features clinker bricks, wood beam ceilings, slate roofs, balconies, fanciful decorations, and a monumental fireplace. The iron cutout on the chimney top announced the Sign of the Piper Restaurant, once located upstairs. Following a 1959 fire Tupper and Reed moved next door. Berkeley Historical Plaque Project 2003
Erected by Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
The Story
Music dealers John Tupper and Lawrence Reed, in business in Berkeley since 1906, commissioned architect William Raymond Yelland to build this whimsical 1925 "storybook" building for their store. Yelland filled it with clinker bricks, wood-beam ceilings, slate roofs, balconies, and a monumental fireplace, and an iron cutout once advertised the upstairs Sign of the Piper Restaurant. After a 1959 fire, Tupper and Reed moved next door, but the fanciful landmark endures on the National Register.
Why it matters
The building is a charming survivor of America's 1920s "storybook" style, a playful reaction against commercial sameness that briefly flourished in California architecture.
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Related people
- · John Tupper
- · Lawrence Reed
- · William Raymond Yelland
Themes & tags
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