Gorgeous Converted Church with Dramatic Open Space in Berkeley!!!

Although the space is cool and unique- there were several things that made the experience less than optimal. First of all there was dog hair everywhere and some of the people in our group were allergic - this should of been disclosed in the description and/or well vacuumed and cleaned before we used the space. I did not realize that the space was also a place where people lived. We probably wouldn't of minded but one of the residents kept walking in and out of the space while we were meeting, used the kitchen and left dirty dishes in the sink. The host should also disclose this in the description so the groups know what to expect. It felt strange to be having a staff retreat with a stranger walking in and out of our meeting space. Finally the space was not clean- furniture was dusty and personal items were cluttered on surfaces. It felt more like hanging out at a friends house than a professional space that we paid for. We could not find any directions on how to leave the space and the garbage was 3/4 of the way full when we got there. We are a small public school and we don't have a big budget so it was disappointing to pay the amount we did and not get a great experience in return.

Josiah's space was beautiful and comfortable for our film shoot. Josiah was very responsive to our questions throughout our shoot, and was flexible with our needs but direct about boundaries which I appreciated. Thanks!

I co-own a qualitative market research firm with a beautiful focus group facility in San Ramon, where we host research sessions for a variety of clients. We just found ourselves with a project that called for a unique venue, specifically in the Berkeley/Oakland area. It needed to be a creative and casual environment, where confidentiality of the discussion topics would be assured (private space), and it had to be a venue that would show well for video recording and streaming to remote observers. Add to that - we needed a separate audio-isolated private space for 2-3 onsite viewers to watch the streaming video feed, fast wifi throughout the space, and versatile open space with some natural division for our sessions. Enter Josiah's beautiful converted church. The design is gorgeous, the layout is perfect for smaller groups who need a variety of spaces, there's a small secondary service kitchen area if food storage/prep is needed, and several alternative spaces that can be utilized on arrangement. Josiah was easy to communicate with throughout, he was helpful in strategizing ways to arrange the space to meet our needs, he made himself available to answer pre-rental questions to help ensure our sessions ran smoothly when we arrived and he was quick to reply when we needed to iron out a hiccup mid-rental. I couldn't imagine a more positive collaboration and appreciated the seamless coordination throughout. Not negatives, but a few things that might be helpful to know in advance: *This is a home that multiple people live in - despite that, personal effects in the main space were limited, which is ideal for business use, event space, or staging for filming. *If it's important that no one else is in the home (either for confidentiality reasons, recording reasons, or both), make sure you discuss that in advance - we were able to make this arrangement, but if it's important, make sure to check! *In hindsight, we would have requested that the bathroom be made as devoid of signs of personal items as possible, and I'm confident that would have been accommodated if we had asked. For some groups, this won't matter at all; but it's something you don't necessarily think about when utilizing a bathroom in a lived-in home vs. an office or vacant home. Our mixed group of clients, staff, and consumer discussion panelists would have benefitted from a more uninhabited and professional restroom set up. Our clients left raving about how smoothly everything went and what a great setup it was, and we'll happily book again next time we have a similar location need!

Great space, great host, would book again.

Everything was perfect! We booked this space for an office event and it exceeded our expectations. There was so much space and every inch of it was beautiful. Thank you!

This location was perfect for our video shoot. We primatilary used the living room and the various upstairs spaces provided a green room and equipment storage.