Matthew Berkley

Matthew Berkley considers himself an accidental REALTOR(c). After nearly two-decades working for not-for-profit healthcare with organizations such as Kaiser Permanente and AIDS Healthcare Foundation, his real estate mentor convinced him that he needed to get his real estate license after seeing him as a docent with Pasadena Heritage. Since obtaining his real estate license in 2001, Matt has made preservation and representing historic and architectural properties his primary focus. Matt holds an undergraduate degree in United States and Modern European History from California State University, Long Beach and Boston University. Matt is also currently a master's degree candidate of history at CSULB where his studies are focused on modern United States architectural history and the growth and development of Southern California regional vernacular architecture. Although he admits that Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and its regional vernacular interpretation is his favorite style, he is no less passionate in his love of Modernism. Matt currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Pasadena-Foothills Association of REALTORS(c) and is past chair of its Historic Preservation Committee, a group dedicated to historic preservation, education and awareness within the San Gabriel Valley. Matt has also served on the Board of Directors of Altadena Heritage. He has written nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. His first was Arthur Woodward/Zane Grey Estate in Altadena, a Mediterranean Revival estate made of reinforced concrete designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey in 1907. Matt was fortunate to live in the estate and act as a steward for nearly five years. In addition to his involvement in the real estate and preservation communities, Matt is an active member of All Saints Church, Pasadena, and has been singing with Coventry Choir since 1992. Most recently, he performed with Coventry Choir alongside Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the performance Gustav Mahler's Symphony Number 8/Symphony of a Thousand at the Shrine Auditorium. There he joined more than one-thousand fellow musicians for the performance. Past organizations he has performed with have been the Claremont Chorale, Citrus College Singers and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. He has been a featured tenor soloist in Germany, Russia, Finland, Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. In his spare time, Matt works on restoring his Criley & McDowell designed house.