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The Lawrence House
1894
311 HIGHLAND AVENUE
Although the exact date of his house construction is uncertain, Captain William Lawrence is listed
in the Oakland City Directory of 1894 on “Vernal Avenue near May.” Vernal is now Highland Avenue and May
Avenue was then the first two blocks of Oakland Avenue.
According to Evelyn Craig Pattiani, Capt. Lawrence soon became a favorite with local children. On winter
afternoons he would entertain them in his workshop, carving wooden fishing boats, miniature windmills and
weathervanes while spinning tales about the days of the clipper ships. The Lawrences were joined by Mary’s two
sisters, Rebecca and Susan Chase, some time before 1900. After Mary’s death, the sisters stayed on as housekeepers
for the Captain, and he left the house to them.
One of the saddest stories of early Piedmont is the Chase sisters’ slow descent into poverty after the death of
Capt. Lawrence. The elderly genteel ladies could not discuss their finances with anyone. They took in a boarder,
George Merras the Greek candy maker who had a small shop in Piedmont Park. That was not enough, however, to
provide for their needs. Having talked the matter through, the two sisters waited until George had gone to work one
morning, they seated themselves in their rocking chairs in the kitchen, turned on the gas and sat quietly until their
lives ended.
The house was remodeled in the 1920’s and the front porch, which looks as if were original, was added in the
1970’s when the house was owned by the Chaix family.
2007
VICTORIAN
13
The Everett House
1907
137 BONITA AVENUE
Wallace W. Everett was Piedmont’s first judge, despite the fact
that he was rather young and had only moved into Piedmont a few months
before his appointment. Everett worked for his father, Samuel, who published
Pacific Coast Wood and Iron, a journal for lumber interests in the west.
Piedmont Building Assoication Photo 1908
His first case in 1907 was the City of Piedmont versus A Mon Chateau,
a notorious saloon at the corner of Grand and Linda Avenues. Neighbors
such as William Kingston Vickery and Mrs. Orlando McCool had wanted
the saloon closed for some time and as soon as the new city passed liquor
licensing regulations, the owners were brought before the judge. Within
weeks the saloon was closed, a restaurant opened in its place, and Justice
Everett became a part of
history.
The house which
Everett built is a
one-story hip roofed
bungalow. The central
hipped dormer and
chimney which appear
in a photograph from
1908, are still prominent
features of the house.
2007
BUNGALOW
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The Tenney House
Francis W. reid
37 MESA AVENUE
1907
A
ll of the prairie style details are
present in this commodious two-story house.
There is an expansive overhanging hip roof
with no dormers or other ornamentation.
Windows encircle the second floor and the
chimney is broad. Inside, the leaded glass
cupboards and built-in bookcases show
the same level of detail. Shingle siding is
not common in Prairie houses and adds a
Craftsman sensibility to the house.
Dr. Harold M. Tenney and Dr. Lilla
Tenney both practiced in the City of
Berkeley but chose to build their house in
Piedmont in 1907. The family continued to
own the house for more than 50 years, but it
underwent genteel decline over time.
When John and Marilyn Clowdsley first
saw the house in 1960, it was reminiscent
of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Virginia creeper
and ivy covered the exterior walls and a
2007
massive hedge surrounded the
property but they recognized
the great “bones” of the
house. Fifty years of careful
renovation have seen twelve
windows replaced which had
been demolished by invasive
vines, two new bathrooms
created out of old water
closets, and a shift of the
front door from Park Way
to Mesa Avenue. This latter
development changed the
address of the house from
419 Park Way to 37 Mesa.
Original blueprint of The Tenney House in 1907
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AMERICAN FOURSQUARE
The Dickey House
C. W. Dickey
1907
122 DRACENA AVENUE
A rchi tect
CD
HARLES W.
ICKEY
C
harles W. Dickey designed a number of houses in the
City of Piedmont but in 1907 he built his own home on Lot 18G in the
Central Piedmont Tract. An interesting note is that his mortgage was for
$2,000 to Frank Leach, for whom Dickey was designing a house that same
year at 125 Hillside Avenue directly behind and contiguous with his own
parcel. The Dickey house is a one and a half story Craftsman design with an
open front porch and two hipped roof dormers.
The Dickey family continued to live in Piedmont for many years although
Charles would spend an increasing amount of time in Hawaii. He moved to
Hawaii in 1924, building a home on Diamond Head.
2007
A
lthough his family settled in
Hawaii in the mid-19th century,
Charles W. Dickey was born in
Alameda. He graduated from
the Oakland High and studied
architecture at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. After a brief
stint at two stateside architecture
firms, Dickey returned to Hawaii.
Dickey is most closely associated with
the architecture of that state and the
popularization of the “Dickey Roof ”,
a flared hip roof which creates a highvolume interior ceiling. In the era
before air conditioning, the Dickey
Roof allowed hot air to rise away from
the occupants of the room below.
By 1903, Dickey returned to the
Bay Area and began both commercial
and private projects. He designed the
Claremont Hotel, the Oakland Bank
of Savings, Kahn’s Department Store
and the old Pacific Gas and Electric
Building. As supervising architect
for the Oakland Board of Education
from 1920 to 1924, he designed
several schools. Dickey designed five
of Piedmont’s centennial houses
including his own home at
122 Dracena.
By 1924, Dickey returned to Hawaii
and began the most productive period
of his career. He designed numerous
public and private structures including
the Halekulani Hotel, Honolulu City
Hall, the Kamehameha School for
Girls and his own home on Diamond
Head. He died in Hawaii in 1942.
C OL ON I A L R E V I VA L
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