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.
The French regency designed home was a joint effort of Frederick L. Confer and his father, F.W. Confer.
The house was built on a sloping lot among the pine trees with a picturesque view of the bay and the Golden Gate. The lot is just under 1/2 acre in size.
The home was sold before it was completed. The buyer was R.F.D. Le Mon of New York, who was planning on making Oakland his home.
R.F.D Le Mon was the developer of the Le Mon Park section of Piedmont Pines.
Mitchell & Austin were the realtors in charge of the property.
Featured in Architectural Magazine
October 1936
The house featured in an article called ” Homes – They Are Building Them Now” in the October 1936 edition of The Architect and the Engineer.
In 1937 he designed another home for R.F.D. Le Mon at 14 Cornwall Court.
Putting down roots in Montclair
In 1944 Admiral Thomas Sprague and his family moved into 26 Ascot Court. But his life in the Navy took off and traveled around the world. In 1951 Sprague retired from the Navy, and they settled in after only living in them for 2 weeks in the 8 years they owned it.
The Sprague Family lived there until about 1963 after Mrs. Sprague passed away.
This post, originally published in 2019, has been updated and expanded.
November 7, 2025
A few of the homes that were built in the Montclair Highlands area of Oakland in the 1930s and 1940s.
Drake Drive
In 1936, Frederick L. Confer designed a “modernistic” (now Art Deco) home for Mr. and Mrs. George H. Everest and their two daughters. The Everest family had been living at 1760 Mountain Blvd before moving into their new home in Montclair Highlands at 1831 Drake Drive.
Oakland Tribune Oct 11, 1936
Emge and Stockman developed the home, and James H. Anderson, who had previously worked with the architect, was the builder.
Oakland Tribune Mar 21, 1937
Oakland Tribune April 11, 1937
The house features four bedrooms upstairs, each with its own bathroom. The lower floor features one bedroom, a bathroom, and a private entrance.
The house was completed in May 1937
Oakland Tribune, May 23, 1937
Behold the fantastic views from all the upstairs bedrooms, the dining room, the living room, and the patio. The large corner lot also has a large yard.
Oakland Tribune June 6, 1937
The House has been on the market many times since 1937.
San Francisco Chronicle, July 19, 1946
Oakland Tribune July 31, 1949
In 1969, it was listed for $46,500
In March of 2019, it was listed for sale at $1,695,000.
The houses at 1881 and 2001 Drake Drive were also built around this time.
Oakland Tribune.
Narragansett House
Cape Cod colonial architecture characterizes the nine-room Narragansett House in the Montclair Highlands Section on Balboa Drive, built as a model home in 1937. Fully furnished by H.C. Capwell’s.
Oakland Tribune Feb 07, 1937
The home opened in February 1937; by the end of the first week, 3,500 had toured the house, and by the end of April 1937, over 25,000 had visited.
The site for the home was selected due to its panoramic view of the San Francisco Bay. The enjoyment of the view played a big part in the design of the house. The living room has a large plate-glass window that frames the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate.
Oakland Tribune Feb 14, 1937
“Three large bedrooms, two tile baths, an extra lavatory, and games room make a complement of rooms adapted to the needs of the most exacting home seeker.” Oakland Tribune Jan 31, 1937
Tomorrow’s Home Today was the first Oakland Home constructed under the Precision Built system, and it opened in December 1939. It is located at the corner of Balboa and Colton Boulevard in Montclair Highlands, with a sweeping view of the San Francisco Bay.
Montclair Realty Company sold the home.
“The walls and ceilings were built with Homasote, the oldest and strongest insulating and building board on the market. The walls were prefabricated by the Precision-Built process in the shop of a local mill under standards of exacting accuracy, which ensure tight joints, freedom from sagging, and permanently crack-proof walls and ceilings”. Oakland Tribune Jan 21, 1940
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, features French doors that open to the delightful front patio and the rear deck, offering stunning SF and Bay views.
Oakland Tribune 1935
The floor plan features a full bath and a spacious bedroom on the main level, complete with French doors that open to the patio. There are two additional large rooms, one of which features a deck to take in the views. The lower level features a bedroom, ideal for a family/rumpus room, a half bath, a generous laundry/craft room with a workstation, 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.
