Piedmont Pines Display Homes

Happy New Year!

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:

  1. Moderate in price -well within the means of the average family.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Painted Rock

The “Painted Rock” is a famous, well-known landmark in Piedmont Pines, often fully painted with birthday or anniversary messages. Painted Rock is located at the ‘Y” where Ascot Drive and Chelton Drive

Google Maps

The area was called Sulphur Springs Park.

Google Maps

Some History

In the 1930s, the Rock was placed in a project under the auspice of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). I believe they created the benches.

In the 1960s, residents began painting messages on the rock. This tradition has continued to this day.

The Montclarion 1963

Early on, the area residents complained about the messages that appeared on the Rock. Some called it “grafitti rock.

A Bufano Statue

There was talk of placing a Bufano statue at the rock.

The Montclarion 1966

At the crossroads

“There’s a rock at the intersection of Ascot and Chelton drives and it’s become almost a national monument in Piedmont Pines”

Peggy Stinnett 1966
Updated from Facebook
The Montclarion – October 12, 1966

“People who live in Piedmont Pines drive past the rock twice a day more or less”

Peggy Stinnett 1966

There was even a “Save the Rock” campaign for a while. They insisted the Rock should stay in its natural state. Others said the Rock should be a “servant to young mankind, a forum for self-expression.” While the groups were going back and forth, city crews came in and sandblasted the Rock. The controversy didn’t happen when the Rock was painted in purple.

“I am a Rock.”

The Rock is Famous

SF Examiner May 1, 1978

The above article was repeated or excerpted in many newspapers across the nation.

Name Change

In 2003, Piedmont Pines residents petitioned the City of Oakland to honor Marjorie Saunders (1909-2009) many contributions by renaming Sulphur Springs Park (“Painted Rock”) to “Marjorie Saunders Park.” 

Marjorie Saunders in front of the Rock

On June 26, 2004, more than 100 neighbors and dignitaries turned out for the Park’s dedication in her name. 

From the Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association
From Google Maps

Toxic

Oakland sixth-grader Cameron Cox tests the water that runs off the “painted rock” at Marjorie Saunders Park. Cox, 12, found that people often use toxic paint on the Rock, which pollutes the watershed. (Photo courtesy of Cox)

 A middle school student, Cameron Cox, reported on the potential pollution associated with painting the Rock.  

“After passing by the rock nearly every day on her way to school, 12-year-old Cameron Cox, decided to test the water that runs off the rock into a creek for a Bentley School project, and found harmfully high levels of levels of acetone, butanone, benzene and other volatile compounds.”


 East Bay Times April 19, 2018

“The runoff from the paint contains toxins and pollutes the watershed. I believe in honoring tradition, but not at the environment’s expense.”


 East Bay Times April 19, 2018

Photos of Painted Rock

Photo by Mark Stauffer April 2023

More Info:

Does anyone have photos of painted Rock that they would like to share? Please let me know. Thanks

Marjorie Saunders Park and the Painted RockFact Sheet

This fact sheet addresses recent concerns associated with potential pollution associated with the painting of the Rock at Marjorie Saunders Park

“For almost 70 years, PPNA has been the voluntary steward of this Park and has recently been in discussions with the city to address the pollution concerns that have been raised.” – website.

The city confirmed that painting the Rock is not permitted

The End

Style House in Piedmont Pines

The Tribune Jackson Style House – 5737 Chelton Drive

Updated October 2022

The “Style House” opened to the public in April 1935. Over 1500 visitors passed through the home that first weekend.

Local architect Frederick L. Confer designed the home with James H. Anderson, and the builder was James Armstrong.

The agents for the house were Mitchell & Austin, with Harry Stockman as the agent in charge.

The Jackson Furniture Company entirely furnished the house.

The View Then and Now

Oakland Tribune March 31, 1935
The view now

Award-Winning

The house is a modified Regency-type design. And it won an award for the distinguished “house of seven rooms or less” in the fourth Biennial Exhibition of American Architects. The house has also been called Monterey Style. Color is used abundantly throughout the house. The exterior is painted white with mustard color shutters.

Oakland Tribune July 14, 1935

The Style House was built amongst the pine trees on a site with an inspiring view of the bay. A prize-winner at a recent exhibition in San Francisco by the American Institute of Architecture, the “Style House with its novel Regency architecture,…remains one of the outstanding demonstration in the history of Eastbay real estate.”

Oakland Tribune August 25, 1935

Unique Home and Cozy Interior

The living room with a vaulted ceiling has French doors to the delightful front patio and the rear deck with SF and Bay views.

Oakland Tribune 1935

The floor plan has a full bath and generous bedroom on the main level with French doors to the patio. There are two more large rooms, one with a deck to enjoy the views! The lower features a bedroom, ideal for a family/rumpus room, a half bath, a generous laundry/craft room with work station, and a storage area—a two-car garage.

Oakland Tribune March 31, 1935

On opening day, a local Ford Dealer had a brand new Ford V8 parked outside the house.

Oakland Tribune March 31, 1935
Oakland Tribune March 31, 1935

Oakland Tribune April 16, 1944
Oakland Tribune May 8, 1955

More on the Style House –

The End