Highland Manor is located off of Broadway Terrace, before Lake Temescal.
Highland Manor Oakland, Alameda Co., Cal., 1915 / P.A. Haviland, County Surveyor. Filed at request of Realty Syndicate Company – UC Berkeley Library
In 1917, the Realty Syndicate Co. was preparing to sellHighland Manor, a restricted residential subdivision adjoining Rockridge. The engineering work on the 31 acres was completed, and the tract map was filed. The street work reached completion on McAdam Street (now Broadway Terrace), the main artery through the property.
Highland Manor
“with a bang war was declared“
Oakland Tribune August 12, 1920
Oakland Tribune May and August 1920
Further expenditures were stopped because America was at war. The completed advertising campaign gathered dust until it was revived in 1920 by new agents, with prices for quarter, half, and acre lots at $5.00 per front foot.
Highland Manor
“From where you look down upon your city Oakland. Whose streets spread like the arteries of a maple leaf until they sink into the Bay Beyond. From whence her lights at night glitter like a million diamonds set in the ebony of night – a panorama nowhere surpassed in the world.” Oakland Tribune
The home in the above photo is on Broadway Terrace at 6327. It is a two-story English-style home with a cement basement and a separate garage.
Oakland Tribune Jan 27, 1929Oakland Tribune Feb 15, 1970
In 1929, it sold for $7850.00, and again in 1970, it sold for $29,950. It is now estimated to be worth $1,612,215.
“Where the Air is Laden With the Sweet Breath of Nature“
Oakland Tribune August 13, 1922
The home in the photo below is at 6333 Broadway Terrace
“Where Quiet Reigns and Man Feels at Peace with Himself and the World”
Oakland Tribune August 13, 1922
Oakland Tribune
New Highland Manor Model Home
The home, which is of Spanish architecture, commands a marvelous view from the living, dining, and kitchen rooms. The living room runs the entire length of the house.
Oakland Tribune June 8, 1930
The first floor also has two bedrooms and a bathroom. The lower floor has a large bedroom that could be used as a child’s playroom or social hall, bathroom, laundry, furnace, and storage rooms.
The Oakland Real Estate Board held a contest to name the new residential district along Moraga Road in the hills behind Piedmont. The syndicate owned the area comprising 2500 acres of residential land and a business section. The prize for the best name was $50.00.
Oakland Tribune 1919
“The one condition was they had to describe what they saw in the district to suggest the name they submitted.
Montclair was the winner.
Montclair Subdivsions
Oakland Tribune Aug 22, 1922
Development of the hill section was first envisioned in the early 1900s when the Realty Syndicate Company purchased the Dingee and Medau properties.
SF EXAMINER JUL 10, 1901
The first unit would open in 1920, extending across Moraga Avenue from the present business district up and over to the Piedmont border. They called this unit Montclair Acres, and the great demand for lots resulted in the opening of Montclair Estates in 1921.
SF Examiner Nov 2, 1920
“The wisdom in buying a homesite in Montclair Estates is bulwarked by ever increasing joy of ownership.”
Streets for the two units were named after famous WWI generals such as Pershing, Dawes, McAndrew, Liggett, Bullard, and Harbord.
They both offered half-acre and one-acre lots.
Country Club Acres was also put on the market in 1921. It was located on the other side of Moraga Avenue, extending to Holy Names School and Masonic Avenue was in it.
Oakland Tribune May 28, 1922
Montclair Vista adjoining Country Club Acres opened in 1922 and extended from Harbord Drive to include Maxwelton and Hiltop Crescent. They held a “huge bonfire” (wow!) to announce the opening of Montclair Vista.
Oakland Tribune May 28, 1922
Sierra Vista opened in 1922.
Oakland Tribune 1922
Across the valley, Merriewood was opened in also in 1922. In addition to selling lots, the company also sold lots with small bungalows, the purchaser choosing the style of home to be built. Within two years, they sold 250 of these homes.
Oakland Tribune April 18, 1926
In Merriewood there are streets named for some of the signs of the Zodiac like Aquarius, Aries (no longer used,) Capricorn (my street,) Leo, Taurus, Uranus, and Virgo.
SF Examiner Sept 1924
There is also a group of streets named in honor of Robin Hood. They are Nottingham, Robin Hood, Sherwood, Merriewood (Merry Men?), and Crown (Crown of England?.)
Hampton Highlands opened in 1925 and was located starting where Park Blvd meets Estates Drive.
Oakland Tribune Nov 1, 1925
Montclair Highlands was the large area adjoining the business center, and streets in it were named for explorers; Cortez, Balboa, Magellan, and Drake, among others.
Oakland Tribune June 7, 1925
In this section, the syndicate built an Observation Tower, which burned down a few years later. Montclair Highlands was so successful that Montclair Highlands Extension was opened, including Cabot Drive and Colton Blvd.
Smith Reserve included some 1,600 lots, now known as Piedmont Pines, opened in 1926, and the streets were given English names, such as Ascot, Chelsea, Beaconsfield, Holyrood, and Keswick.
Oakland Tribune May 23, 1926
A lot of work went into preparing Smith Reserve; they had to remove trees, open roads, and put in storm drains.
Oakland Tribune May 30, 1926
It was in Smith Reserve that they built one of the finest model homes in all of California. Check out Casa Alta Dena here.
Oakland Tribune Oct 9, 1927
In 1927 they opened “Smith Reserve Highlands” after closing out Montclair Highlands.
The Townsite
Oakland Tribune 1919
In 1919 the Realty Syndicate announced the plans for a civic /business center for the area in the hills behind Piedmont.
Site of the new Townsite – Oakland Tribune Nov 7, 1920
When the business district officially opened in 1925, it was known and publicized as “Montclair Townsite.”
Oakland Tribune Nov 7, 1920
Big Promotional Campaign
An extensive newspaper campaign was carried out on both sides of the bay, with advertising bills amounting to thousands of dollars weekly. Banners and flags flew along Moraga Avenue. Two bus lines provided free transportation into the hills.
The syndicate built a large lodge used for sales promotion. A prominent artist on the Examiner staff named Virgil Theodore Nahl painted a large mural painting in the lodge of the hill district looking towards the bay.
The lodge was later converted into an attractive home. I’d love to find out which one on Lodge Court is “The Lodge.”
Following the collapse of the Reality Syndicate in 1929 Raymond Emge who had worked for them took over the management of Montclair Highlands. Emge organized a home building company that promoted homes designed by architects and held architectural competitions. From then until WWII scores of new homes were built throughout the hills.
The 1920s were economic boom years in the United States and California.
Economic growth was fueled by the general post–World War I recovery and oil discoveries in Los Angeles and, most notably, the automobile’s widespread introduction.
Oakland expanded during the 1920s, flexing enough to meet the influx of factory workers.
Oakland TribuneJuly 22, 1922
Between 1921 and 1924, 13,000 new homes were built in Oakland, more than 1907-1920.
Many of the large downtown office buildings, apartments, and single-family houses still standing were built during the 1920s, reflecting the architectural styles of the time.
Moraga Road District
Oakland Tribune Nov 2, 1919
After running a contest in Oakland Tribune in 1919, Montclair was the name given to the new area. You can read more about that here: Sunalta or Montclair?
Montclair Opens
1920
They sold $460,000 worth of property in Montclair during the first year.
Her First Birthday
Oakland Tribune October 1921
Where is Montclair?
The Montclair of the 1920’s – Oakland Tribune
Today, Montclair covers a much larger area. It includes the neighborhoods (or tracts) of Pinehaven, Merriewood, Fernwood, Glenwood Glade, Forest Park, Montclair Highlands, and Piedmont Pines.
During the first years of the 1920s, much money and effort went into selling property in Oakland, whether through free houses or lot giveaways or providing car service to the sites from downtown (just 15 minutes away). The Realty Syndicate even provided buses ( see The First Bus lines in Oakland ).
I thought I would show you some clever ads from the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. In the months leading up to the day Montclair went on sale, they ran small teaser-type ads all through the paper.
Ardsley Heights is part of Bella Vista Park and is now considered part of Ivy Hill. The streets of Ardsley Heights are Park Blvd, East 28th Street, Bay View Avenue, Lake View Avenue Elliot Street, and East 34th Street.
Ardsley Heights went on sale in October 1912 by the Realty Syndicate.
Adjoining F.M. Smith’s home
Directly across from the Home Club
Twelve Minutes by car from Broadway
Oakland Tribune Oct 12, 1912
Oakland Tribune Sep 1912
A sign advertising the Ardsley Heights tract Circa 1915
Cheney Photo Adv. Co., photographers.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
ohrphoto.districts.148
The above photo shows the house at 1011 Bay View Ave. It was built in 1915.
Bayview Avenue between East 28th and Elliot Streets
in the Ardsley Heights tract, circa 1915 Cheney Photo Adv. Co., photographers.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
ohrphoto.districts.147.
The above photo shows the house at 985 Bay View Avenue –
Park Boulevard in Ardsley Heights c 1915 Cheney Photo Adv. Co., photographers.
Previously sold on eBay
View from Ardsley Heights
Showing the Home Club (later the German Pioneer Home) and the Smith Cottages (Home for Friendless Girls). The German Pioneer Home was demolished to make room for Oakland High School.
Home Club and Smith Cottages from Ardsley Heights C 1915 Cheney Photo Adv. Co., photographers
Previously sold on eBay
Every day while taking my kids to school, we would pass a street called Rifle Lane. I thought that was a weird name, and I wondered why (they named it that), as I do many times as I drive around Oakland.
Fast-forward a few years. I looked up the area’s history. I lived in the area until 2012. The area is now called Eastmont Hills (boring). Its history goes back to 1925 when the C.P. Murdock Company sold it as Melrose Highlands. It was just up the hill from the new Chevrolet Assembly Plant (now Eastmont Town Center), an excellent place to live if you work there.
Oakland Tribune July 17, 1925
In my research, I came across the following article from July 1925: The Upper San Leandro filter plant (7700 Greenly Drive) and the State Rifle Range are adjacent to Melrose Highlands. I thought, “Wow, there was a rifle range right about where Rifle Lane is now.” I solved that one. Well, not really, but close.
Oakland Tribune July 26, 1925
Maybe now, some smart people who read this blog can help me determine where the range was. Maybe someone remembers it.
From the Oakland Tribune October 29, 1929 – Major fire in the Oakland Hills – threatens the rifle range. Map of the fire below –
Oakland Tribune October 29, 1929
A bit of history
The range has been called the following:
National Guard rifle Range
California National Guard rifle range
State Rifle Range at Leona Heights
Leona Heights Rifle Range
Oakland Tribune April 11, 1917
In 1917, the National Guard rifle range was transferred from Marin County to Leona Heights in Oakland. They had purchased “140 acres of land directly back of the quarry for the purpose”. The land was formally the property of the Realty Syndicate. The range opened in 1920. The location varies. Close to Mills College, 2 miles from Mills College, at the top of Seminary Drive, and the back of the Leona Quarry.
It may have also been the location of the stables of the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment. I know there were horse stables there.
Oakland Tribune March 10, 1927
California Guardsmen Brochure circa 1925
The California Guardmans highlighted the rifle range in their Feb-March 1925 issue. You can see it here.
“A California National Guard range and local training area located in the Oakland Hills of Alameda County. It may have also been the location of the stables of the 143rd Field Artillery Regiment. The site was developed approximately 1919 and was actively used until at least 1941. The site supported elements of the 143rd Field Artillery, 159th Infantry, and 250th Coast Artillery Regiments. The April 1919 edition of The American Rifleman, stated that there were 60 firing points for rifles with targets placed between 200 and 600 yards. There was also a pistol range with 14 firing points. The range was described as one of the finest ranges west of Camp Perry, Ohio.”
