[Updated April 2025. There is a fence around the building now. See my photo below.]
Welcome to Thornburg Village, or as locals call it, Normandy Village! It was named after Jack Thornburg, a developer from California who drew inspiration from architecture he had seen in the Normandy region in northern France.
With all the brick, thatched roofing, winding staircases, gargoyles, large windows, half-timbered structures, and cone-shaped roofs, the apartments in Normandy Village in Berkeley do give the impression that you’ve stepped into another world, like the pages of a storybook!
Thornburg worked together with Oakland architect, W. R. Yelland, and completed it in 1927. In 1983, the structure on Hearst Avenue and Spruce Street near the UC Berkeley campus, was named a Berkeley Historical Landmark.
This is how Normandy Village in Berkeley looks today (February 2022).
Not sure when they put the fence up, but when I walked by in April 2025, Normandy Village looked like this ⤵️
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I lived and worked in Berkeley for several years in the 1960s, but I don’t remember the Normandy Village at all. Last summer I went to the Normandy region in France, but only to Cherbourg, which doesn’t look anything like this because of wartime destruction and subsequent modern re-building.
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Thanks for sharing your perspective, Don. I suspect Mr. Thornburg was inspired by other parts of the Normandy region.
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Oh my gosh! I lived in Normandy for two years, but it’s also incredible that I never knew of the Normandy village in my own home state of California! The buildings of the village look gorgeous, but I would have to agree with Nemorino and say that they aren’t really reflective of what I saw in the region: Normandy has plenty of half-timbered homes and are shorter in stature, rather than the castle-like structure that’s interpreted in Berkeley. If I really had to stretch it, I guess the buildings of the village might resemble some of the richer folks’ homes in Normandy, but again, that’s debatable…Normandy is a beautiful part of France, and I hope you get to go someday!
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Hi Rebecca, thanks for sharing your perspective as a former resident of the Normandy region! I’ve read about other storybook houses throughout our Golden State. The Witch’s House in Beverly Hills is one I’d like to visit!
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I lived in Normandy Village in the early 2000’s with my then boyfriend. You can see our front stairway framed in the archway of the “entrance to the courtyard and a Chanticleer” image. It was such a lovely spot.
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Hi Laurie, so happy to hear from you – a former resident of the dream-like village! I imagine you must have had many curious visitors like me outside your home. Thank you for reading and for your comment!
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What were the years you lived in ‘The Village’? I was there for 13 years – starting in the 60’s!
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Darlene. That looks very interesting. I will have to check out Normandy Village when we visit the SF Bay this September.
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Yes, it’s a charming place. I hope you enjoy your visit, Nancy!
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I lived in Normandy Village for years in late 1970s, 1980s, early 1990s. I lived under the rooster in your photo. It was like living in a fantasy and the people all around me were journalists, photographers, architects, writers, scholars. We gathered to have events in the gardens and shared holidays, including local classical music group, ACT director’s threater production, art shows, a small wedding, etc. Glad you created this blog
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My pleasure, Cecile! Thank you for reading and sharing your experience living in Normandy Village in Berkeley!
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