Hidden Plaques, Lost Mansions, and Sculpted Bears

Our Piedmont Recreation Department's Walking on Wednesdays group thought our weather luck was going to run out last Wednesday. All week the forecasts had been for a heavy rainstorm to blow through Piedmont Wednesday morning, just when we walk. We claim it never rains on Wednesday mornings in Piedmont, and that turned out to be once again true. It was just cloudy and a little windy when 27 walkers and two equally intrepid K-9 best friends assembled at the

Exedra at our usual time.

We were surprised and pleased to have a special visitor. Aliza K is the Director of Community Partnerships for Alameda County Fifth District Board of Supervisor Nikki F B. Aliza had heard about Walking on Wednesdays and wanted come for a visit and walk with us. After an introduction, Aliza told us about the supervisor office's efforts on housing, food insecurity, and immigration. We were delighted to have Aliza with us.

In the middle of last month, we had seen City's first bioswale project at the intersection of Fairview and Grand Avenues after a big rainstorm. There were signs that the rainwater had overflowed the bioswale. We had thought it would interesting to see the bioswale in action, but with no rain this morning the plan had to change.

An article in the Piedmont Post that morning told of a plaque to commemorate the planting of an Island Oak in the Mountain/Bellevue Circle. The tree was planted in June of 2024 and replaced a Sequoia gigantea. That tree had served as Piedmont's first Holiday Tree beginning in the early 1930s and continued to do so until the outbreak of World War II. It was not lit then as part of an enemy bombing precaution. The tree enjoyed a long life, but in 2023 it was determined to be dying and in danger of toppling, so it was quickly removed. We thought we would go see the new plaque and the surrounding streets on this weather-uncertain morning.

Off we went up Mountain Avenue. Along the way we noted the curious life-size statue of a distinguished, greenish gentleman wearing a suit of leaves in the front yard of a home at Caperton Avenue. We also noted that the trunk of a large, dead tree is surprisingly used as a telephone pole near the street.

We climbed Mountain to the Mountain/Bellevue Circle and looked for the new plaque. But it wasn't there. We guessed that it had not yet been placed, but Piedmont City Parks and Project Manager Nancy Kent later emailed that the plaque was hidden under a traffic cone. The good news was that it was in no danger of being stolen.

The morning was still young and dry, so we went on to Sea View Avenue for a walk down this beautiful street with its many large, wonderful homes. In the middle of its long, first block some of early 20th Century Piedmont philanthropist Wallace Alexander's story was told. Alexander's family was a leader in the Hawaiian sugar industry, but they moved to the Bay Area for the children's educations. In 1904, Wallace and his wife chose a large site on the corner of Sea View and Hampton, which was then called Union Street, for their home. Their estate ran from what is now 87 Sea View to Hampton Avenue and they built a three-story mansion, named "Brown Gables" because of its large, brown painted dormers.

Brown Gables no longer exists. After Alexander died in 1939 in Honolulu at the age of 70, his wife followed his wish that the mansion be torn down so that the land could be subdivided into 13 lots and more families could live in Piedmont. That's why homes up the street are classic, old mansions and the homes in the middle of the block on the street's west side are of a newer architectural style.

We continued on to Hampton Road and down it to Crocker Park, or Bear Park as it is also known. We went in and the story of the Bear and Nursing Cubs sculpture was shared. It is the work of Benny Bufano, an Italian-born American Modernist sculptor. His works are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The de Young Museum, and the Oakland Museum of California. This statue was placed in Crocker Park in 1980. It is number 9 in a limited addition of 25 sculptures, is composed of polished ground granite, and weighs two and a half tons.

We came out of the park on Crocker Avenue and went up it to revisit the work of another sculptor, Jeremy Bo Droga, and his wife, Marie-Elise. Their house was designed by Albert Farr and construction was finished in February 1906, just before the San Francisco Earthquake. At that time there was no need for a garage and only a horse stable was built. Times had changed by 2022 when the Drogas bought the house, and they started on a major project to add a garage. It took well over a year to complete, and Bo gave us a tour in 2023 when the job was finished.

The interior is open with 16-foot ceilings that offer light, flexibility, and versatility for future needs. It would be possible to stack and park up to six cars. A spiral staircase goes up to a rooftop garden and there is also an elevator. The design of Greg Kline, a local architect, is an excellent match with Farr's work. The drought-tolerant landscaping completed the Drogas' beautiful project.

We returned to the city center via Wildwood, Sheridan, and Highland Avenues. We originally thought it would be a wet morning; but instead, with all there is to see when you walk the streets of Piedmont, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable, improvised, dry tour of historical and other interesting sites around Piedmont.