Ivy Hill Studios - Oakland

Ivy Hill Studios (unknown if they have an 'official' name) are a series of beautifully decorated buildings used as live-work art studios at 800–816 East 24th Street.

The buildings were built around 1930. Artists Dixi and Mario Carrillo bought one of the units in the building in 1975 and eventually bought the whole building. When a vacancy opened up, the owner posted on craigslist.org and then carefully screened the applicants to make sure they're artists and they'll fit in the community.

You can learn more about this and about the building's former life as a Piggly Wiggly on the Friends of Bella Vista Park site. According to the site, “Mario, primarily a painter, did the gates and all of the ceramic tile work on the facades of five of the units.” Further listening: http://www.studio360.org/story/115658-mario/

In 2014, Dixi was looking to stop being a landlord. She turned down $1.4 million from a developer with a subpar reputation as a property manager. Instead, in 2018 she sold the property to the Oakland Community Land Trust. “As people move out and units turn over, the vacant units must be made available to low-income households,” says Steve King, OakCLT’s executive director. “It is certainly a victory for preserving community-serving space in Oakland.” ¹

Photos CC SA-BY Our Oakland