Bird Calls, Bay Views, and Casa Montana Memories

There was good summer turnout of 40 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra on an overcast, mild morning last Wednesday for our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays weekly walk.

We were pleased Monica K was visiting family and walking with us for the first time. She reported that former walker Christine C, who lived and worked with the K family and retired to her native Granada, is well, enjoying retirement, and remembers the walkers fondly.

Two streets we hadn’t walked this year were Bellevue and Sharon Avenues. Bellevue has many beautiful and interesting homes. Sharon does too, was developed by early Piedmonter William Sharron, and has some interesting history.

We went through Piedmont Park past the Tea House and enjoyed its beauty. We emerged from the park at the Highland-Guildford Steps, crossed Highland Avenue, and went up Sierra Avenue to the 217 foot path between 17 and 29 Sierra to Mountain Avenue.

We climbed Mountain to the street triangle where Bellevue runs into Mountain and checked on the island oak in the triangle’s center. It replaced a Sequoia last year that stood high in this intersection for generations. The Sequoia was dying and in danger of toppling, so it was quickly removed. The oak is native to California, and it is hoped it will thrive in this small island that has no regular source of water. The Piedmont Beautification Foundation raised over $8,000 from neighbors for the tree’s planting and care for at least two years. We thought the oak looked good and took the attached group photo by it at the foot of Bellevue.

We went up Bellevue and came to the front gate of a beautiful mansion that is down a long driveway. From the street and front yard there is a majestic view of San Francisco. Piedmont High alum Sherry J recalled that at a PHS Bird Callers reunion years ago she broke her high heel shoe when the heel got stuck in the driveway pavers. Dave D and other walkers had fun memories of their children’s participation in the bird calling contest and being on the Carson, Leno, Hall, and Letterman television shows. On a past walk, late friend, and walker, Will Adams, pointed out that the house was placed on the lot specifically so that the driveway entrance would provide the wonderful view.

We climbed to the top of Bellevue and went down, not up, the steep Pacific Avenue to Dormidera and Sharon Avenues. At Sharon, the history of its development was shared based on an article by Piedmont Historical Society president Gail Lombardi in the society’s magazine.

William Sharon was born in 1852 and grew up on an Ohio farm. In 1872 he went to San Francisco and then Virginia City, Nevada to work for his uncle, who was a successful banker and silver mine owner. Sharon married Lillian Mygatt in 1876 and became successful in finance and mining too. He was also elected to the Nevada State Senate in the 1880s.

The Sharons initially lived in Virginia City, but they wanted their children to attend better schools and bought a home in Oakland in 1890. In 1893 the Sharons purchased nine acres in the Piedmont hills on Mountain Avenue. They built a magnificent three-story house in the middle of their land and called it Casa Montana. With their seven children, Lillian’s mother, a housekeeper, cook, and gardener they moved into it in 1898.

However, in 1914 the new City of Piedmont imposed a new property tax based on the size of the property, and the Sharons’ taxes increased dramatically. So, in 1915 the Sharons subdivided their land in a development they called Sharon Terrace. It had twenty lots with frontages on Mountain, Sharon, Dormidera, and Pacific Avenues. Some family members built homes on them, and the driveway to Casa Montana became Sharon Avenue.

Sharon died at his home in 1926, but Casa Montana continued as a family home. Lillian lived in it until 1934 when she moved into a residential Oakland hotel. Developer George Windsor purchased the remaining land and built his own home at 11 Sharon and the house at 7 Sharon on spec. He later also built homes at 40 and 44 Sharon. Sadly, Windsor demolished Casa Montana in 1936. The mansion was replaced by three homes at 27, 33, and 37 Sharon. Today, only three Sharon family members’ houses, those at 235 Mountain and 56 and 52 Sharon, remain on the former Casa Montana property.

We walked Sharon and noted where Casa Montana once stood, and the remaining historic homes. We took a side trip up Sharon Court, which according to the Sharon Terrace plot map was not part of the development. By chance, long time Piedmont recreation coordinator Janet Epstein and husband George were outside their home. Janet told us about the Piedmont Seniors’ group activities that she has managed since 1996. After the unexpected visit with the Epsteins, we returned to Sharon Avenue. We went down Sharon’s hill to Mountain and enjoyed a lovely, cloudy view of the Bay Bridge along the way. We noted the 235 Mountain house that was built in 1912 by a Sharon family member. We got in some additional steps going up Craig Avenue to Highland before our usual noontime return to the Exedra.