I found an article written by William Sturm (Oakland History Room) in the Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter for the Summer of 1993 on the Elmhurst Presbyterian Church. 1993 the church was celebrating its 100th Anniversary.
The article piques my interest, and I thought it should be easy to find more history to share with you. Well, it wasn’t. I didn’t see much more than what was included in his article and another from the Oakland Tribune. The church doesn’t seem to have a website but does have a Facebook page, but no history there.
A Bit of History
View of Elmhurst, California, looking west from the adjacent hill. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In the 1890s, the town of Elmhurst was farmland and orchards with few houses here and there.
In May 1892, traction service began along the north-south on what is now International Blvd., on the Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward Electic Railway. To power the engines, a modern dynamo and roundhouse were built at Elmhurst on what is now 98th Ave. Elmhurst was just 17 minutes from central Oakland.
Electric street car approaching a stop on East 14th Street at 96th Avenue, looking east, in the Elmhurst district of Oakland, California. Date circa 1909. Vernon Sapper’s collection. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.Interior of shops at Elmhurst in 1895, from a print of W.F. Krueger – https://purl.stanford.edu/gh405bd4246
Land Donated
Elmhurst was just a year old when Andrew Jones, a pioneer, farmer, and landowner of the town, donated a piece of land on the east side of Jones Ave (now 98th Ave) near East 14th Street (now International Blvd) to the church.
Ch n le June 25, 1893
Jones donated land across the street from the two-story home he built in 1882.
OaklandTribune July 19, 1882
Residence of Andrew Jones Elmhurst – date unknown Oakland Public Library History Room
Oakland Tribune August 23, 1882
Church Organized
On June 4, 1893, the church was organized with 20 charter members, and on August 30, the ground was broken for a new house of worship.
“the Sunday school has a membership of fifty”
The Oakland Enquirer
Undated drawing of the church
On November 25, 1893, the church bell rang out, and the first service was held in the new building.
The Elmhurst Presbyterian was the pride of the area.
By 1902, Elmhurst had 1100 residents, a newspaper, a public school, several churches, and numerous businesses, including a hotel, livery stables, restaurants, grocery, and hardware stores.
Jones Avenue ( later 98th Avenue), looking southwest, in Elmhurst, California. DATE: [circa 1905] Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In 1909 Elmhurst, along with Fruitvale, was annexed into Oakland. The church remained at the heart of the community, a link to the beginning of Elmhurst and a source of community strength.
Oakland Tribune 1922
In the 1960s, the congregation became predominantly African-American. The Rev. Michael Dunn, pastor from 1972-1981, made notable contributions to the church’s ministries; a chapel is named in his honor.
The church is still standing, and according to the Oakland Heritage Alliance Summer 1993 newsletter, they were using the same bell.
Home on Grand Avenue (now 90th Avenue) in Elmhurst, California Circa 1896 .Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Willow’s Block in Elmhurst, California. Elmhurst Shoe Store and other businesses in view. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
A bit more history of the display or model homes in the Piedmont Pines neighborhood. There seems to be a lot of information on these homes, and local architects (now famous) designed many.
Spanish View Home – Ascot Lane
“The Spanish View Home is completely equipped with the latest ideas in modern home construction”
Oakland Tribune 1932
The Spanish View Home and the one next to it were designed and built by Thomas Sharman.
Oakland Tribune June 26, 1932
“Spanish View Home” 31 Ascot Lane – Google Maps
Architectural Prize Home – 1933 – Unknown Location
I haven’t been able to locate the address of this house. If you recognize it, please let me know.
Oakland Tribune November 19, 1933
The Architectural Prize Display Home was designed by Miller & Warnecke. The design was chosen from among 19 individual plans submitted by 11 different architects during a competition in the spring of 1933.
Oakland Tribune December 10, 1933
It opened in December 1933. Thirty-nine hundred and eighty-five visitors walked through the home on its opening day, and by the end of the first two weeks, over Seventy-five hundred people had visited the house.
The home was created with these three principle points:
Moderate in price -well within the means of the average family.
It had to fit the site in Piedmont Pine and take full advantage of the contour of the lot, the size of the lot, the view, and the trees.
It had to set a standard for the future homes to be built in the area.
Miller & Warnecke had this in mind when they designed the home.
Oakland Tribune Dec 1933
There are seven large rooms, including the rumpus room or recreation hall, in the basement. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are on the patio level. The bedrooms are elevated a half story above the living room.
Oakland Tribune November 26, 1933
The home was furnished by Breuner’s of Oakland, and L’Hommedieu were the selling agents.
In researching Montclair (a district in Oakland), I have come across many interesting stories. Here is one of them.
In a 1976 article in The Montclarion, entitled “Old Timer Reminisces,” Walter Wood discusses growing up along the shores of Lake Temescal.
“Montclair was wild as a hawk,”
Walter Wood
Walter was born in 1887 in a small, four-room house near the corner of 51st and Broadway, which his father had built and later torn down to make room for the widening of 51st. His father died in 1886 before Walter was born.
When Walter was attending school, he lived with his mother and stepfather, George W. Logan. They lived on a farm alongside Lake Temescal, where Logan was the caretaker and superintendent for Contra Costa Water Company’s filtration plant, which supplied Oakland’s drinking water.
Oakland Directory 1889-90
Walter started school at the age of eight in North Oakland. Wood attended Peralta School until fourth grade. From 1899 to 1904, he attended Hays Canyon School, where he completed grades five through nine.
The Montclairion 1976
Walter and his seven brothers and sisters walked from Lake Temescal to Peralta School in North Oakland.
Walter Wood’s Report Card – The Montclarion 1976
The Hays Canyon School (where the old Montclair firehouse is) was located two miles from the lake when they walked there in the early 1900s. Sometimes, remember Wood, they rowed a boat to the other end of the lake and walked from there.
The Montclarion 1976
The school was a beautiful Victorian one-room building with a bell and a cupola. There was room for forty students and one teacher.
When Walter was 11, he was a mule driver with the crew that dug the first tunnel (Kennedy Tunnel) from Oakland to Contra Costa County. He spent a summer working on the project, earning him the honor of being the first person through the tunnel. He was near the front when they broke through, and a man who looked after Walter gave him a shove and pushed him through.
The Montclarion 1976
A Day in the Life
On a typical Day in 1899, Walter Wood would wake up on the farm and, after breakfast, do an hour’s worth of chores.
Lake Temescal in 1898 – The Monclarion 1976
In addition to their regular chores, the Wood and Logan children were assigned the duty of weed-pulling on the Temescal dam. If weeds grew on the side of the dam, squirrels would dig into the barrier, causing damage.
Oakland Tribune, Nov 1902
Playtime came on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Wood and his siblings had run the area, as it was completely undeveloped except for a few farms.
One of the farms was the Medau Dairy, which is now Montclair Park.
Medau Dairy– Alameda County: The Eden of the Pacific
Superintendent Logan
Oakland Tribune Feb 1889
George W. Logan started working for the Contra Costa Water Company (now EBMUD) as the Superintendent of the Lake Temescal dam in 1888.
Oakland Tribune 1889
Logan worked at Lake Temescal for 18 years, transferring to Lake Chabot in 1904, and retired from the company in 1916.
Bubbles Vol. II July 1918
George William Logan (1842-1928) was born in Canada in 1842. He came to California in the late 1880s.
Logan was married twice, first to Elizabeth Robinson (1845-1886)in 1884, and they had a daughter, Jessie, and a son, Maurice. Elizabeth died in about 1886 or 87.
Oakland Tribune Feb 1906
His second wife was Mary Jane Hayden Wood (1860-1958); they had eight children, five of whom were hers and two of whom were his, and one child together.
Jesse Logan (1884-1961)
Maurice Logan (1886-1977)
Harry Logan (1889-1959)
Ann Wood (1880- ?)
Josephine Wood (1882-1970)
Juanita Wood(1883-1934)
Alfred Wood (1885-1920)
Walter Wood (1887-1990)
Oakland Tribune 1913
Maurice Logan
Maurice (1886 -1977) was an American watercolorist, commercial artist, arts educator, a member of the Society of Six, and a professor at the California College of the Arts in Oakland.
Oakland Tribune 1977
Logan grew up on the shores of Lake Temescal with his father, George Logan, stepmother, and brothers and sisters.
The Logan Family – The Society of Six
Later in life, he resided on Chabot Road, near Lake Temescal.
Iveywood and the Iveywood Extension are subdivisions in the Elmhurst District.
1911 City of Oakland Map
It was the site of the old Ludovina Peralta Ivey homestead. Ludovina was Ignacio Peralta’s daughter and Luis Maria Peralta’s granddaughter.
The Peralta Land Company was the exclusive agent forIveywood, and The M.T. Minney Company(Minney-Morse) of Oakland was the exclusive agent for the Iveywood Extension.
Oakland Tribune
Both tracts had building restrictions that required each house to cost from $ 1500 to $2000 and that all the homes on each street would be in harmony with those adjoining, ensuring a standard value for both the lot and the house that sits on them. There were also restrictions that prohibited the sale of a lot to Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Negroes or people of their type.
Iveywood
Iveywood is located between East 14th (now International) to Bancroft Ave and 100th Ave and 104th Ave, including Sunnyside St., Birch St., Plymouth St., and Walnut St.
Looking North Across 106th towards Dante Ave Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
The Same area today – google maps10460 Dante Ave. In the photo above
“you live in the city and country both”
Oakland Tribune Mar 17, 1910
Iveywood Extension
Along the Foothill Blvd. Photo by Chaney Photo Advertising.
Iveywood Extension is located between Bancroft Ave and Foothill Blvd and 104th Ave to the San Leandro border, including Sunnyside St and Dante Ave. Byron St., Voltaire Ave., and Longfellow Ave.
Iveywood Extension fronts the north side of Foothill Blvd and East 14th Street.
SF Call 1910
“A beautiful tract containing 400 lots was placed on the market on October 1, 1910.”
Showing Block 26 on 106th between MacArthur and Byron AveLooking South on Voltaire at 106th Ave circa 1911Iveywood ExtensionShowing the National Rubber Plant at 105th and FoothillLooking south on Voltaire at 106th – today.
Electric Loop – Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Electric Loop -Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Southern Pacific spent several million dollars building the electric interurban train service to Iveywood and Broadmoor. The Southern Pacific electric “Loop System” insured purchasers of lots in Iveywood with perfect transportation to downtown Oakland and San Francisco.
On 106th in the Iveywood ExtensionLooking East on 108th Ave from Bancroft Ave in Iveywood ExtensionOn 106th Ave – Google MapsLooking East on 108th AVe from Bancroft – Google Maps
Model Homes
Oakland Tribune 1939Oakland Tribune 19392300 108th today – Google Maps2415 106th today – Google MapsOakland Tribune 19402315 and 2321 109th Ave today – Google Maps
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.
