Gargoyles, Gardens, and Ghirardelli

Last Wednesday our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had a strong turnout of 50 walkers and seven K-9 best friends at the Exedra for Part 2 of a walk we had enjoyed in early August.

Mary Carter was back to lead the walk and again drew on her former Wildwood School Piedmont history lessons and Ann Swift’s 2007 Cottages and Castles – The Centennial Houses of the City of Piedmont for a second visit to historical, pre-1906 San Francisco Earthquake Piedmont homes. Swift’s book describes 173 of the city's historic homes that qualified in 2007 as Piedmont Centennial Homes. Most of the ones that Mary took the group to see in August were on Hillside Avenue, but there were more wonderful homes on Highland and Bonita Avenues to see and learn about.

Mary started the tour by going up and across Highland Avenue to one of the more noteworthy, historic, and beautiful homes in central Piedmont. It is at 636 Highland and is commonly known as “The Ghirardelli House.” There is a lot of history with it. George and Grace Howell built and lived in a Mission Style home there prior to 1903. That year they hired A.W. Smith to build a new, larger, Tudor Style for them next door at 630 Highland on a lot they owned. In 1905 the Howells sold 636 to Joseph and Ellen (Ellie) Ghirardelli, the son and daughter-in-law of Domenico Ghirardelli. Domenico was an Italian trained chocolatier who immigrated from Genoa in 1838 to Uruguay. When he learned of gold being discovered in California he came to San Francisco, set up a store where Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco is today, and founded the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company with great success.

The Ghirardellis had eight children. Joseph was born in 1852 and their third child. He worked in the family business and was in Santa Cruz when the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake struck. After the quake and fire there was no transportation available for him to return to the East Bay so he started to walk back. Sadly, he died of a heart attack on the way. He never got to live in the Highland Avenue house because it was being remodeled from the Mission Style to the Colonial Revival Style that we see today. However, Ellie and his two daughters did move into the house after the work was completed.

After this interesting house history, Mary led us back up Highland past the house at 1900 Oakland Avenue. This is “The Rackliffe House,” built in 1899 with captivating witches cap turrets. Just across the street was 225 Highland that was built in the Queen Anne Style also with a turret. John and Annie Hendry sold lots there to Maggie Perry in 1897. She built the house in 1898 and rented to the Hendrys, and they eventually bought it from Perry. In 1910 it was proposed that retail stores be built along the street and this resulted in a battle among the neighbors. The street was widened in 1911, and the Hendry’s front yard garden was a casualty. Annie had her house put on rollers and moved with a significant setback so that her garden would never again be violated.

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We continued down Highland to its corner with Moraga Avenue and 7 Highland. The house was built in 1907 by Frank C. Havens’ Piedmont Development Company to showcase homes and sell lots in Piedmont. We stopped in front of the house and current homeowner, Patty E, came out to tell us about her history with the house. Her stepfather and mother bought the house and lived in it for 55 years until their passings. Patty and husband Art moved in later and have lived in the house ever since. She also told us that not long ago she and Art noted a bulging around the front entrance and discovered the wire support for the stucco exterior had fully deteriorated after 120 years and need to be replaced. It has been and the exterior will soon be painted to complete the project.

We said goodbye to Patty, went down Moraga to Bonita, and started up it. Along the way, we noted 24 Bonita, built in 1904, with deep eaves and brown shingles, and then there was 42 Bonita, built in 1905. Mary said it was a “hybrid house” that was originally a wood-sided, Colonial Revival style, but brown shingles were added sometime after 1926 giving it a Craftsman look.

While we were discussing the home the owner spotted them from inside and was understandably curious why half a hundred visitors were standing outside his home. He came out to greet us and when he heard the words, “Wednesday Walkers” all was understood. He provide a little more information about the home but declined to be identified for this report.

There were more homes to see on Bonita. The house at 112 is a “twin house” to a Hillside home that was built in 1905. The Queen Anne “Berkenfeld House” at 227 Bonita has rooftop gargoyles, spindle work posts, corbels, and window panels. Its initial owner was one of the original Piedmont volunteer firefighters. He helped save a house at 116 Hillside, and possibly the block, in 1910 when there was an auto fire in its garage.

There were other lovely homes and interesting stories on Bonita and going on to Oakland Avenue provided more. 1719 Oakland is a 1905 bungalow with oxeye, stain glass windows, singles, bays, and has had many additions over the years. Across the street, at 1726 Oakland, was a one of a kind house designed by Ethel Soule. However, within months of her moving into the house with her husband and two boys, she got sick and died. The husband didn’t want the memories associated with the house, so he sold it, and bought a house on El Cerrito Avenue.

Mary had other stories about the 1899 Foursquare house at 311 Bonita, which is a twin of 141 Hillside, as well the 1896 Victorian at 1811 Oakland. All of histories confirmed that every house, and especially these beautiful Piedmont Centennials, have stories all their own.

We expressed our thanks to Mary for all the research she had done and shared with them, and we returned to the Exedra via Vista Avenue going past Havens School. The kids were on the playground for recess and having a fun morning too.