The Court of All Nations is located on Hillen Street (formally Trumbull Street) near Mills College, with a view of the bay and the nearby hills. The group of fifty homes was built in 1925, with the first four starting in January of that year.
Unique Idea Result of Europe Trip
The unique idea was brought back by local builder R.C. Hillen after spending five months motoring through Europe in search of ideas for one of his next developments.
He wanted to reproduce the picturesque homes that dot the hillsides and valleys of European countries.
The homes are of five and six-room European style with American convenience. Each home is an architectural gem, specially adapted by W.W. Dixon, architect and the editor of the Home Designer Magazine, from sketches Hillen made during that trip.
They will include patios and landscaped gardens both in front and back.
Casa Romero
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
Casa Romero is a Spanish-Moorish type, and it opened in ???. The iron grill balconies before the windows and the flower-grown patio with pool and fountain suggest old Spain.
Oakland Tribune
W.W. Dixon, who designed Casa Romero, said, ” the name an old Spanish name dating from the days of the Mexican Grants in California.” Casa Romero means the house of the Romeros.
“‘Casa Romero’ Is All Electrically Equipped: Radio Featured.”
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
A Pipe-Organ Radio is installed in the living room. The rare acoustic properties of the room, eighteen by thirty-six feet in size and eighteen feet high, were fully utilized. A Radiola super-heterodyne is hidden behind what appears to be pipes of an organ on the balcony above. Using a central control, you could listen by loudspeaker or earphone connections by merely pressing a button.
The hidden radio – Oakland Tribune 1925
Casa Romero Today from Google Maps
European Style Homes
Some of the homes were designed along the lines of English cottage architecture, and others suggest French and Italian villa homes with homes from Spain, Norway, or Holland.
All have charming features and will include a large living room with a unique fireplace, a dining room with a buffet, and a kitchen with all the modern fixtures. Priced from $6500-$7900
Grand Duke
The Grand Duke Model Home – Oakland Tribune 1925
Dixon and Hillen
Walter W. Dixon(1884-1953)
Robert C. Hillen (1884-1955)
Style: Storybook, fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel
Dixon designed homes and other buildings, alone and with the firm Dixon and Hillen, from about 1910 to 1950, mostly in the East Bay.
Dixon built grand Storybook houses and houses in other styles and is best known for compact Storybook tract cottages.
Both were involved under the name of Dixon and Hillen Publishers with the Home Designer Magazine, based in Oakland and printed out of their office at 1844 Fifth Ave. The monthly publication costs $2.50 yearly for a subscription and covers mostly bungalow and Storybook types of homes.
They also designed the homes on Picardy Drive in Oakland.
Klinknerville was a town in what is now the Golden Gate neighborhood. It was started by Charles Alexander Klinkner in 1885, the name was changed to Golden Gate in 1888, and it was annexed by Oakland in 1897.
Klinkner Hall, at the present-day corner of San Pablo and 59th Street, in the late 1800s. (Oakland Library History Room.)
In 1877 (or 1878), Charles A. Klinkner and a partner purchased 14 acres of dairyland in the area of what is now 59th and San Pablo. The land was subdivided into lots for building homes.
“Ring the Bell, Klink, Klink, Klink, the boom continues, “Klinknerville,” lots 50 x 150 $600.00, houses built to order on the installment plan, Apply to Klinkner before buying elsewhere.“
Klinkner built a home for his family on San Pablo Ave near 59th Street
Klinkner Family Home – OMCA
He also established a horse car line that ran from Park Avenue to what today is 62nd Street.
By 1885, the construction of Klinknerville had begun. He first built modest Victorian homes.
Tract homes under construction and offered for sale – OMCA
To attract residents to Klinknerville, he built Klinkner Hall at 5832 San Pablo Avenue, and in 1888, on the other side of the Street, he built the Del Monte Hotel.
Showing Klinknerville Hall in 1919 – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Klinkner Hall was the social center of the town. There was a grocery store, a drug store, a dry goods store, a meat market on the first floor, and a large community assembly hall where the clubs and lodges would meet on the upper floor. There was a steeple clock atop the building.
A photo of Klinkner Hall with signs showing “Drugs, Insurance, Wells Fargo Express, Post Office and Real Estate.” Carts advertise Klinkner’s Rubber Stamps. OMCA H76.295.58O
Klinkner also built Eureka Park, a baseball field, which was the home of the Klinkner 9. Later on, it was the home of the Oakland Oaks, the city’s professional baseball team in the early 1900s, and the name was changed to Freeman’s Park.
Eureka Park. Johnny Maher, proprietor. Baseball grounds about 1886. OMCA
He also built about 75 houses. The houses were sold for between $3,000 and $5,000 or sometimes could be won in a raffle off a $2 ticket.
SF Chronicle 1892
Huckster
Klinkner & Co. buggy, barn in the background, ca. 1886-1893 – OMCA H77.57.26
Mr. Klinkner was one of Oakland’s earliest hucksters, if not the first. He was a staunch believer in the fact that it pays to advertise. Every Fourth of July, he would hitch up a span of mules to his cart. The mules were painted red, white, and blue, and the coach was plastered from top to bottom, advertising his business. On St. Patrick’s Day, they were green; at other times, they’d be an appropriate color for the occasion. Sometimes, he would match his colorful mules with equally bright dogs and a monkey or two.
Buggy. Dog, two monkeys on the back of a horse. Gift of Fred L. Klinkner H77.57.28
Golden Gate
But Klinkner and the town bearing his name did not last long. In 1888, Klinkner applied for the area post office to take the
“Klinknerville” name, “much to the disgust of the old families in the area,” who preferred the term “Golden Gate,” Thomas Klinkner wrote.
Oakland Tribune 1888
A back-and-forth ensued, with Klinkner even making a trip to Washington, D.C., to personally appeal to then-President Grover Cleveland.
The “Golden Gate” side won out, and the town’s name was changed shortly before Klinkner’s death. Golden Gate was annexed to Oakland in 1897.
The name “Klinkner” soon vanished from the area. What was once called Klinkner Avenue was changed to 59th Street.
Klinkner family: Charles seated in the wagon photo from Oakland Museum of California
Klinker’s Family
Charles Klinker was born in Ausen, Germany, in 1852. His family then settled in Iowa when he was an infant. At age 20, he came west to San Francisco and opened the Red Rubber Stamp Factory on Sansome Street.
Klinkner died in 1893, at the age of 40, from a cold he neglected. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.
1983
C. A. Klinkner and Co. Red Rubber Stamps 1884 “Courtesy of California State Archives.”
Klinkner married Katherine Parke, an Oakland native. She was born in the town of Clinton (later part of Oakland) in 1855. Katherine Klinkner died in 1945.
They raised seven children in their home in Klinknerville.
Charles A. Klinkner 1876-1951
Fredrick S. Klinkner 1878-1954
Herman P. Klinkner 1881-1959
Cora V. Klinkner 1887-175
Harry D. Klinkner 1889-1968
Elma I. Klinkner 1891-1984
The Klinkner family home was demolished in 1929 to make way for a brick building, which housed a drugstore owned by Klinkner’s son, Fred, before closing in 1968, taking the last remnants of the Klinkner name in the neighborhood.
Oakland Tribune 1919
Katherine then moved into an apartment on the second floor of Klinkner Hall, where she lived until selling the building in 1941. She then moved next door to a small cottage at 1064 59th Street.
The DeRome Home 1076 – 59th St., Oakland, 1886. Gift of Junior League of Oakland-East Bay H78.86.76
Her daughter, Mrs. Cora DeRome (see), lived next door at 1076, and her son, Fred, lived across the Street at 1097. Klinkner Hall was demolished and replaced with a grocery store.
A bit of history of some of the early residents of Montclair from the 1920s.
The Montclarion
In 1918 Mr. and Mrs. Otto H. Darmsted bought three and a half acres from Villa Site Sales in the Pinehaven Tract for $1800. The land was cleared of pine trees, and the logs were advertised as free giveaways to the buyers to build a log cabin.
The Darmsted’s were married in 1911 and raised five boys in the home on Pinehaven.
The Montclarion 1961
The Montclarion June 15 1960
The Darmsted’s lived at 8 Pinehaven Road, which was later changed to 6515 PInehaven Road. One of their sons lived at 6501 Pinehaven.
George and Sadie Davidson and Dellos Miller (Sadie’s brother) jointly purchased a lot on Leo Way in the Glenwood tract of Montclair in 1921. At that time, there were only two other homes in the neighborhood.
The Montclarion
They completed building their home in 1925.
In a 1970 article in Montclarion, Mrs. Davidson said they “really pioneered.” She cooked on a wood stove since they had no gas, phone, or mail delivery. They had to walk down Broadway Terrace to pick up their mail.
They lived at 1011 Leo Way until the mid-1970s, over 50 years.
On Thorn Road
The Montclarion
George and Edith Mullen moved to Montclair in about 1922. When they moved there, Thornhill Drive was still called Thorn Road, and it went straight instead of turning right by the swimming pool like it does today.
The Montclarion
In a letter shared with the Montclarion in 1960, Mrs. Mullen shared that
“Merriewood was a solid mass of trees… planted ages ago so taxes would be on forest land.”
She also said real estate developers planted Thorn Road with Royal Ann cherries and Gouldin Road with apricots.
The Montclarion
They lived at 570 Thorn Road, which was later changed to 6022 Thornhill Drive. George died in 1933, and Edith lived there until the late 1950s. They were the members of Montclair Presbyterian Church, Improvement Club, and Montclair Women’s Club.
I couldn’t find any current photos of 6022 Thornhill. The last time it sold was in 1989.
Glenwood Tract
The Glenwood Tract
In 1921, George and Marie Annereau purchased two Glenwood Tract lots that spanned from Glenwood Glade and Duncan Way. Their house at 212 Glenwood Glade was the second one built in the tract. Dave Duncan, for whom Duncan Way was named, was the first. The Duncans live in a tent on their property while they built their home. There was no electricity then, and they cooked on a wood stove. They lived at 132 Duncan Way.
Oakland Tribune Feb 25, 1926
Mr. Annereau was a founding member who helped build the Montclair Improvement Club House at Thorn Road (now Thornhill Drive) and Mountain Blvd. The Montclair Women’s Association ended up buying the clubhouse and used it until the early 1990s.
The Monclarion 1961
The Annereau’s created a beautiful garden on their large double lot; each had a separate hothouse. They opened their garden each year for tours, and they had many blue ribbons for their exhibition entries.
In the mid-1980s, I started looking into the history of Montclair in Oakland Hills. I discovered that Montclair had residents as early as 1865. Here is “A bit of History” of them.
I will also be doing a piece about the residents from 1900-1920.
Colonel John C. Hays – Fernwood
In the late 1850s, retired Texas Ranger Colonel John “Jack” Coffee Hays purchased about 800 acres of land in the hills of Oakland, behind what is now Piedmont. His beautiful country estate was Fernwood, and he lived there with his wife Susan and their children.
Residence of Col. John C. Hays, Oakland, Alameda County, California.” (Published by Thompson & West, Oakland, Cal., 1878) from Oakland History Room
His home was near today’s Mountain Boulevard and Thornhill Drive in Montclair. The area was frequently referred to as Hays (Hayes) Canyon or “Jack Hays Canyon.” The main road to his property from downtown Oakland would later be Moraga Avenue.
Hays died at home on April 22, 1883, at 66. After his death, Fernwood was sold to William J. Dingee.
William J. Dingee – Fernwood
William Dingee, water magnate and competitor of Anthony Chabot. Dingee enlarged and embellished the gardens, adding fountains, terraces, and statues. The improvements were said to have cost a quarter-million dollars.
Dingee built an opulent 19-room Queen-Anne-style mansion with additional landscaping, gardens, terraces, and waterfalls. He also added such features as a deer park and an elk paddock.
Sometime after 1915, Dr. and Mrs. Nelson M. Percy of Chicago, Illinois, purchased the former W.J. DIngee home “Fernwood” for an undisclosed amount.
Oakland Tribune March 12, 1916
Oakland Tribune Aug 19, 1923
Gibson and Fields
Map showing the locations of the Gibson and Fields
Cote Brilliant
Judge E.M. Gibson owned the property just beyond Thornhill School. Gibson built a beautiful home called “Cote Brilliant, ” later owned by E.M Boggs. The house burned down in 1910. Dr. Mark Emerson bought the land in the mid-1920s, built a lovely home, and lived there until the late 1950s. St John’s Episcopal Church is now there.
Oakland Directory 1889
Oakland Tribune April 23, 1887
Oakland Tribune 1891
J. B. Fields
Joseph B. Fields was born in England. Before moving to Hays Canyon, he was an Oakland Police officer for 12 years.
Oakland Tribune Apr 16, 1890
He owned 25 acres of farming land next to the property of Judge Gibson. His farm was in the general location of Aspinwall Road today.
Glen Kohler was designed by architects Samuel and Joseph C. Newsom (Newsom Brothers) in 1885. The residence was 18 rooms in what was known as a “freestyle.” It cost about $10,000.
Picturesque California Homes, Issue 2 Circa 1890
Picturesque California Homes, Issue 2 Circa 1890
She died at her home in Hays Canyon on November 27, 1894. Her funeral was attended mainly by the old settlers of the county and was held at her home on November 30, 1894. She is buried at Mountain View Cemetery alongside her husband Andrew and her daughter Louisa (1849-1854), who died at age 5.
Open to the public (again) in June of 1940, “Maison Normandie” represented France’s famous Normandy style of architecture, both exterior and interior. The house is located on a large corner lot high up in the hills of Oakland.
The large living room with a large window affords a view of the Golden Gate, the bridges, and Treasure Island. Double french doors open onto a large tiled terrace in the rear with a built-in barbecue.
Oakland Tribune 1940
It cost more than $20,000 to build and was advertised at $16,500.
Three bedrooms, two tiled baths, and a maid’s room with a bathroom. The large basement with laundry room and large storage closets. Two doors gave access to both the front and rear of the house, and a short passageway that leads into the two-car garage with a large area suitable as a workshop.
The “Coronation House,” a display home for Mitchell & Austin, opened on May 2, 1937, in the Le Mon Parksection of Piedmont Pines. It is located on Castle Drive. The display home was furnished by Breuner’s with the Coronation theme (King George’s Coronation May 1937.)
Oakland Tribune May 2, 1937
“English architectural riches have been transplanted to Piedmont Pines in Coronation House” the ad goes on the say ” Coronation House “fit for a king” in the beautiful Le Mon tract… the crowning achievement of the season”
Oakland Tribune May 2, 1937
Oakland Tribune May 2, 1937
“this six-room home with three bedrooms and a bath, with gorgeous living room and un-impaired view, delightful recreation room and kitchen.”
Oakland Tribune May 1937
“the coronation motif is carried out throughout, the crown drapes furnishing a fitting background for pieces following the English provincial motif ”
Oakland Tribune May 1937
Today
6301 Castle Drive – Google Maps
Coronation House
Early Colonial
6301 Castle Drive
Le Mon Park – Piedmont Pines
1937
Mitchell & Austin Real Estate
Still there
Fremont House
When General John C. Fremont hiked to a vantage point in the vicinity of Piedmont Pines in time to the setting sun.
“That we shall call the Golden Gate.”
General Fremont – Oakland Tribune Aug 8, 1938
Oakland Tribune May 9, 1937
From the windows of Fremont House, you can see the Golden Gate.
Fremont House
Castle Drive
Style – Early California
Le Mon Park – Piedmont Pines
1937
Mitchell & Austin
Need Location
“See the world from Piedmont Pines”
Sales Manager Mitchell Austin
Thousands of visitors passed through Fremont House and Coronation House and admired the attractive architecture and the natural advantages of the grounds on which they are located. Sweeping views of the bay, Mount Tamalpais, and both bridges could be seen from the windows of both homes.
Villidor – House of Gold
“Commanding a sweeping panorama of the bay and the hills, it offers magnificent views of sunrises and sunsets.”
Oakland Tribune Jun 20, 1937
Oakland Tribune June 27, 1937
Villador, the house of gold, opened to the public in June of 1937.
Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, an orphanage and daycare center in West Oakland, was established in 1918 by African-American clubwomen. Sometimes, it is called the Fanny Wall Home.
“Charity is the Golden Chain that reaches from heaven to earth.”
from the letterhead
The Beginning
In 1914, the Northern Federation of California Colored Women’s Clubs President Fanny Wall and Financial Secretary Hettie Tilghman began working on a children’s home and day nursery to support black working mothers and care for orphaned black children. After years of planning and fundraising, the home opened in 1918 on Peralta Street in West Oakland.
“Care for the Orphans
“Shelters the Half Orphans”
“Keeps the Children of Day Workers.”
Oakland Tribune April 1920
Initially, the home was called the “Northern Federation Home and Day Nursery.” Subsequently, it was renamed to honor Fannie Wall, the first woman to run the charity daily.
The Fannie Wall Children’s Homeand Day Nursery was open to children of all races, ethnicities, and religions. It was the first facility in Northern California to provide various services, including housing, boarding, and daycare for black orphans.
It was located at 1215 Peralta Street in West Oakland from 1918-1928.
Fannie Wall ( 1860-1944) came to Oakland with her family in the early 1900s. She was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1860. She was married to Archey(Archy) H Wall (18?? -1931), a staff sergeant in the US Army. They had two daughters, Lillian (Williams) and Florence (Murray), and one son, Clifton Archey, was transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco and ultimately ended up in Oakland. Wall was an early community activist who participated in several organizations that promoted African American economic empowerment.
She served several terms as the president of the California Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.
She co-founded the Art and Industrial Club of Oakland in 1906. Under her presidency, the club joined the Child Welfare League Wall and helped establish the “Colored Y” of Oakland.
In 1936 Archie Williams her grandson (Lillian)won a gold medal in the 400-meter run in Berlin.
Oakland Tribune August 8, 1936
Fannie Wall died on April 14, 1944, in her home on Telegraph Avenue. She is buried in the same plot as her husband in the San Francisco National Cemetery.
Oakland Tribune April 20, 1944
Linden Street Site
In 1928, having outgrown its original location, they moved to a new one on Linden Street.
Fannie Wall Children’s Home, 815 Linden – 2nd site -Courtesy The African American Museum and Library Oakland
The handsome house at 815 Linden Street was purchased for $5000. Charlie Man designed the upper-middle-class house in the 1880s. It was one of five buildings built by Frances Reichling, a surveyor who subdivided his property at the corner of Linden Street and Eighth Street. The most prominent building became the family home; the others were rentals.
Linden Street 1948 -African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
The home could accommodate up to 20 children and 8-15 children for daycare services. It would be operated by a professional staff of over ten employees, including social workers and a volunteer psychiatrist.
They considered this house a step up from the one on Peralta Street and was across the street from the “Colored Y.”
Women and children seated around the piano at the Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery- updated -African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
New Look
The Linden Street site was given a face-lift in 1953. The “new look,” a two-room addition, was used as the administrative offices, releasing the old offices and reception room for nursery classes and a future library. They provided room for 47 children.
In 1962, the Oakland Redevelopment Agency purchased 815 Linden St. and demolished the building for the Acorn Project.
Management
“Fannie Wall is Calling”
From the annual report
The Northern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs operated the Fannie Wall Home until 1941 when it was incorporated as an independent organization. At that time, it was the only home in California that primarily cared for African-American children.
The home was admitted as an agency of the Community Chest-United crusade in 1923
Fannie Wall was elected the first president and served for over twenty years as the head of the 21 board of directors. She succeeded Mrs. Lydia Smith Ward, whom Mrs. Chlora Hayes Sledge followed in the 1940s.
The home was managed by a Board of Directors mainly consisting of members of the Northern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, a community advisory committee, and an executive director who oversaw its day-to-day operations.
The Board of Directors of the Fanny Wall Home – Chlora Hays Sledge, President, center-left.Courtesy The African American Museum and Library Oakland
Girls with fans at the Fannie Wall Home in the 1940s.Courtesy The African American Museum and Library Oakland
Fundraising
The home received funding from various sources, including rent from an apartment in Berkeley donated by Josephine Sutton, Community Chest, and the Dreiser Trust, and fundraising events coordinated by the home.
Ticket to chicken dinner for Fannie Wall Home Benefit-1944 -African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. charity ball program – 1946 – African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)- Identifier MS162_B1_F6_001
Oakland Tribune 1958
The third charity ball was held on January 19, 1948, at the Oakland Auditorium.
In 1959, Slim Jenkins held a fashion show to raise money for the building fund. Models displayed the latest styles.
A Haven For Children
Rodeo artists Schwartz and Grodin entertain children with finger paints at the Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery – circa 1947 -African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection.
Oakland Tribune 1949
In 1949, the Fannie Wall home had 30 children who received daycare while their parents worked, Ranging in age from 3 to 14 years. During the summer, the children took swimming lessons at the de Fremery Park pool, enjoyed story hours at the West Oakland Branch Library, and had special excursions to other city parks and playgrounds.
Birthday Party 1946
Monthly parties were held to honor the children whose birthdays occurred during the month. They would dress up for a special dinner or an afternoon party.
Oakland Tribune August 8, 1948
Integrated Playground at the Fanny Wall Home, the 1950s Courtesy The African American Museum and Library Oakland
The Final Location
1964, they purchased a house at 647 55th Street for $19,000. However, they initially struggled to obtain a license from the Social Welfare Department, and the home wasn’t reopened until 1967 as part of a placement program for the Alameda County Welfare Department.
Fannie Wall Children’s Home 55th Street – 3rd site Courtesy The African American Museum and Library Oakland
The home closed again in 1970 for remodeling and reopened in 1978 as a child daycare facility and Head Start Center. It is now called Fannie Wall Head Start.
Group photograph of attendees at Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery mortgage burning ceremony (first row, left-right): Annie Mae Smith, Albertine Radford, Silvia Parker, Mildred McNeal, Marge Gibson (second row, left-right): Bessie Watson, Euna Tucker, N. Adams, Lela Posey (third row, left-right): Eugene P. Lasartemay, Roy Blackburn, Kermit Scott, Harold Adams – 1981 -African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection
Fannie Wall Pre-K Program – 647 55th Street Oakland, CA
More Info:
Under Siege: Construction and Care at the Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery – Marta Gutman – Researchgate.net
In early 1926 J.B. Peepin announced that his company would be building approximately thirty-one in the High Street Park Tract on Culver Street. Prices averaged $5950 for five rooms, with a down payment of only 10% and 1% of the balance.
Oakland Tribune Nov 14, 1926
Peepin was already well known in Oakland and San Leandro as a builder of Bungalows.
Living rooms have studio ceilings, and the newest wall treatments. Hooded fireplaces, in latest designs. Each house has a breakfast room, with a hand decorated breakfast set, included in the purchased price.”
Oakland Tribune July 26, 1926
Charming hand stenciled kitchens, with linoleums, and every built-in convenience including kitchen cabinets and refrigerators.”
Oakland Tribune July 26, 1926
Oakland Tribune Aug 22, 1926
Gardens are laid out to suit each home, with lawns, shrubs, patio entrances and fish ponds.”
Oakland Tribune July 26, 1926
Casa Linda
4100 Culver Street
Built 1926
Price $5950-$6200
Casa Linda opened on July 18, 1926. The home was entirely furnished by Montgomery Wards & Company.
Oakland Tribune 1926
“The Home Beautiful”
Oakland Tribune July 18, 1926
Casa Linda,as the name implies is an unusually beautiful Spanish home, and embodies in its design and ornamentation new and pleasing innovations by our architectural service. Oakland Tribune July 18, 1926
Orange was the kitchen tile color, the hand-decorated furniture, and wall-paper in the breakfast room. Spanish galleons are the motif of parchment shades.
Oakland Tribune July 18, 1926
The exterior of “Casa Linda” was enhanced by the patio entrance with stepping stones and a fish pond.
Opened in September of 1926 and was furnished by Montgomery Wards and Company.
Oakland Tribune Sept 19, 1926
Oakland Tribune Oct 17, 1926
4150 Culver Street – Google maps
Casa Novia
4157 Culver Street
Built 1926
Price $5950-$6200
Casa Novia opened to the public on December 5, 1926 it was furnished by Lachman Brothers of San Francisco.
Display Home Is Especially Designed for Newly-Weds, Builder Says”
Oakland Tribune Dec 5, 1926
Oakland Tribune Dec 5, 1926
An arched doorway opens into the front hall affording a glimpse of a large living room with arched windows. The dining room and breakfast room are separated by columns and the kitchen is decorated with orange tiles.
Sold in 2020
In August of 2020 “Casa Novia” was put on the market for $789,000 and sold for $820,000 in October of 2020.
In March 1886, the Board of Supervisors created a new school district. That took from portions of the Piedmont, Peralta, and Fruitvale districts representing about 44 children.
Hays Canyon Schoolhouse Students pose with their teacher, in this photo and of the six children sitting down. Walter Wood is 2nd from the left, his brother Alfred Wood is 4th from the left, Harry W. Logan is seated on the far right, and his brother Maurice Logan (the painter) is standing on the far right. The Logans and the Woods lived at Lake Temescal. c 1900-1910 Oakland History Room
The new district was called the Hays School District in honor of the late Colonel John Coffee Hays.
The superintendent appointed the following residents of the area as trustees:
W.H. Mead
J.H. Medau
Mrs. Susan Hays
Land Donated
Hetty S. Henshaw gave the district the land for the school. The Montclair Firehouse was built on the spot in 1927, using the front part of the lot.
Oakland Tribune July 16, 1886
New School House Built
Requests for bids to build the school were made in July of 1886.
Oakland Tribune July 1886
The completed school was small at only 32×36 feet, with just one classroom. It was Gothic in design with a graceful-looking bell tower. It had two entrances, one for the boys and the other for the girls, with each entry having a 6×6 vestibule. The sash bars of the windows are all horizontal, copying the style of European schools.
Oakland Tribune July 07, 1886
The construction cost about $2,500 and took about two months to build.
The dedication of the school was held in October 1886. It was attended by most of the families that lived in the area. Judge EM Gibson and W.H Mead made opening remarks. Some of the families in attendance:
The students from the school provided entertainment under the direction of their teacher Miss Lucy Law. The following students performed:
Clara Gibson
Gussie Gibson
Carrie Mead
Daisy Mead
Susie Mead
Mattie Mead
Edith Medau
Louise Medau
Oakland Tribune February 11, 1888
Oakland Tribune November 23, 1889
Graduation 1901
Hays School was the scene of brightness and beauty on Friday, June 14, 1901. Friends and family gathered to witness the closing exercises. The four graduates were:
Jessie Logan
Robert Shepherd
August Carson
Scott Monroe
Oakland Tribune June 1901
School Trustees
In 1904, Mr. S. Morrell and Mr. Johnson were appointed to fill the vacancies caused by George Hunt’s and G.W. Logan’s removal.
Attendance for the year ending 1911 for the Hays School was 11 students.
Oakland Tribune August 01, 1911
School Closes
The school was closed around 1913, and the building was demolished. It was probably due to the Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern Railway construction, later known as the Sacramento Northern. For more on the Sacramento Northern, please go here. The East Bay Hills Project
Montclair Firehouse
The Montclair firehouse was built on the same site in 1927. The storybook-style building was designed by Eldred E. Edwards of the Oakland Public Works Department.
Storybook firehouse on Moraga Avenue in the Montclair district of Oakland, California. 1934, ohrphoto.districts.031. Oakland. Buildings Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
More on the mansions that once graced the streets of Oakland
Koa Hall – Bailey Mansion
W. H. Bailey, who owned plantations in Hawaii, hired W.J. Mathews to design his home, costing $70,000 to build circa 1889.
Bailey Mansion on Jackson Street – 1898Oliver Family Photograph Collections Bancroft Library http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt0n39q1p1
The main hall’s woodwork was made of beautiful koa from the Hawaiian Islands. Koa carvings were also found by the main staircase. The reception room’s woodwork on one side of the hall was bird’ s-eye maple. Antique oak was used in the library and the dining room.
Oakland Tribune May 31, 1891
It was converted into a rooming or boarding house.’
Oakland Tribune March 11, 1916
The old mansion was razed in the late 1920s, and the Hotel Lakehurst was built.
Oakland Tribune Feb 02, 1930
It is now called Lakehurst Hall.
Location: 1369 Jackson St, now 1569 Jackson Street, at the corner of 17th Street.
The three-story, five-bedroom home was built in 1872 by Dr. Samuel Merritt.
In 1874, Roland Geir Brown, a capitalist, purchased the home. Brown was one of the early members of the San Francisco Stock Exchange.
Mr. Brown sold sewing machines for Grover and Baker. The Oakland Tribune reports that Brown was one of the wealthiest men in 19th-century Oakland.
Roland G Brown with two adults – in the carriage. – Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library – http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt409nc89b/?order=1
The Brown home was less than a block from Lake Merritt, before the lake shore was filled in.
Old Brown Home – undated (maybe 1956)
When President William McKinley was in the Bay Area for a week in May 1901, he visited the Brown home.
Oakland Tribune July 25, 1956
Lilian Brown, Roland’s daughter, lived in the mansion until her death in 1955.
The old Brown home at 1889 Jackson Street was demolished in 1956 to accommodate a parking lot.
Location: 1889 Jackson – between 17th and 19th Streets
“Aloha, nui,” or “Love be unto you.” It is carved above one of the entrances
Samuel T. Alexander came to Oakland from Hawaii in the early 1880s. He was one of the founders of Alexander & Baldwin, an American company that cultivated sugar cane.
Oakland Tribune
In 1882, Alexander purchased a lot on the northwest corner of Sixteenth and Filbert for $6,000.
Artistic Homes of California
Artistic Homes of California
The three-story Queen Anne-style home was designed by Clinton Day and was completed in 1883 at the cost of $20.000
Move to Piedmont
The family lived there until 1912 when Mrs. Alexander moved to Piedmont to be closer to her son, Wallace Alexander.
Rooming House
Sometime after 1912, the mansion was converted to a rooming house, and rooms were rented out until the mid-1960s.
Oakland Tribune 1919
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Oakland, Alameda County, California – Vol 1 1903
New Life for Old Mansion
In 1967, the once venerable mansion stood deserted, and in despair, its boarded or broken windows were scheduled to be demolished.
The Oak Center Neighborhood Association members decided that the old mansion could be given a facelift and become a community “Neighborhood House.” Thus, demolition was halted.
Oakland Tribune 1967
They visualized a rehabilitated building with office space for the Oak Center Association, a children’s library and study hall, an adult library and reading room, a large all-purpose room for meetings and socials, and a room for individual and group counseling.
Vandals Strike
The group succeeded in saving the old mansion from the wreckers, only to have it nearly demolished anyway –by vandals. The house was broken into, ruined beyond repair, and finally demolished in 1968.
It was built in 1865, the 14-room house of rococo architecture. The barn had room for ten horses and room for 20 tons of hay.
Oakland Tribune
The house had 14 rooms made of redwood. The barn had room for 10 horses
Oakland Tribune
The mansion had a wood and coal furnace, and the radiators are believed to have been the earliest models of that kind in the country. The rooms were paneled with massive doors 9 feet high. Beautiful mirrors adorned the wall.
Oakland Tribune
It was reported that Susan B. Anthony once slept there.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Oakland, Alameda County, California – Vol 2 1903
The house and barn property were purchased by Marston Campbell, Jr, as an investment. It was torn down in 1948.
Edward P. Flint, a land developer and San Francisco businessman, moved to Oakland in 1860. He lived at 13th and Clay before moving to this house.
Oakland Tribune 1964
The site where he built the house at 447 Orange Street was part of a larger parcel he subdivided in Adams Point.
After Flint died, Admiral Thomas S. Phelps, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, purchased the property. In 1939, M.A. Marquard purchased the propertyand lived in the house until 1964.
The house was demolished in 1964 and replaced with a “modern 28-unit apartment building.
The new structure has 15 two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom apartments, plus a penthouse. Al Colossi designed the building. It is located at 447 Orange Street.
Mr. and Mrs. Marquard lived in the penthouse of the new apartment.
