Brubeck's Modern Marvel

A structure as dynamic as master musician Dave Brubeck himself, his former mid-century home, in the Oakland Hills, is a modernist vision like no other.

Poised 16 feet above a steep bed of rock, the cantilevered home sits aloft five steel I-beams, creating the unique effect of a monumental, modern tree house.

The remarkable Brubeck house is now for sale, priced at $3 million.

The home was built on a tight budget, in the mid-1950s, just moments before the now-famous jazz musician would take the world by storm. A young architect by the name of Beverley David Thorne custom-designed the family home for composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, his wife, Iola, and their children.

"The home has elicited quite a response," says Emma Morris of Oak Realty, listing agent for the property located at 6630 Heartwood Drive. "With a home like this, you really feel the responsibility of finding someone who can take care of it for the next 70 years."

"When you're at the street level, it's a different feeling…this imposing, powering structure over you, and you can't quite make out how it's going to feel when you're inside," she says. "In addition, you're so far up in the Oakland Hills that you see the fog layer come in, and you're above it, so it's just a mystical feeling being above the clouds."

Over the past seven decades—though this lyrical example of modernist architecture has seen changes, including a kitchen remodel in 2004—many of its unique features have been preserved, notably a massive stone that is a unique, prominent fixture in the area currently used for dining.

The groundbreaking structure was "built around the pinnacle of a rock outcrop that projects through the center of the house into the music room," according to the listing. Looking at the photos, it's easy to imagine Dave Brubeck in this space back when it was his music studio, working at a curved sheet of glass supported by the stone, the very place he and his renowned quartet rehearsed jazz numbers like 'Take Five' and 'Blue Rondo à la Turk.'

The Brubecks resided in their famous steel tree house from 1954 until 1960, at which time the family rented the home, and moved to Connecticut. In 1974, the current owner purchased it, and "in the years since, it has been out of the public eye," the listing notes.