In June 1989 an Agreement was entered into between the City of Oakland and the non-profit Dunsmuir House and Gardens, Inc. whereby the City gave the non-profit full responsibility for funding, operating, promoting, preserving, restoring, developing and improving Dunsmuir House and Gardens Historic Estate. The 50-acre estate is to be used as an educational, historical, cultural, and horticultural resource.

Description:
Dunsmuir House was built by Alexander Dunsmuir, who came to the Bay Area in 1878. The son of Robert Dunsmuir, a wealthy coal baron from Victoria, British Columbia, Alexander oversaw the family business in San Francisco.

When Alexander purchased the large estate in the rolling East Bay foothills, the land featured fruit orchards, farms and vestiges of the Spanish rancho days. The elegant mansion was built as a wedding gift for his beloved Josephine in December 1899. Tragically, Alexander became ill and died while in New York on their honeymoon. Josephine returned alone to her new home where she resided until her death in 1901.

In 1906, the estate was purchased by I.W. Hellman Jr. who worked for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, as a summer home for his family. They dubbed their estate Oakvale Park. By 1913 the mansion was remodeled to accommodate the growing Hellman family and their acquisitions from European travels.

The Hellmans enjoyed the estate together for fourteen years until Mr. Hellman died in 1920. Mrs. Hellman kept the estate, where her children and grandchildren came for long summer days, until the late 1950's. During the Hellman era the landscaping at the northern end of the estate was developed, and the swimming pool and Dinkelspiel House were added to the estate.

The Dunsmuir House mansion has been designated a National Historic Site by the United States Department of the Interior and both the mansion and the Carriage House have been designated Historic Landmarks by the City of Oakland.

ARCHITECTURE

The Dunsmuir mansion, designed by San Francisco architect, J. Eugene Freeman, is an example of Neoclassical-Revival architecture popular in the late 1800s. The 37-room mansion features a Tiffany-style dome, woodpaneled public rooms, 10 fireplaces and inlaid parquet floors within its 16,224 square feet. Servants quarters in the house are designed to accommodate 12 live-in staff.

GROUNDS

Golden Gate Park's landscape architect, John McLaren, is said to have assisted the Hellmans in designing the Dunsmuir gardens. A wide variety of trees, including Camperdown Elms, Bunya-Bunya and Hornbeam, still grace the estate's gardens and expansive meadows. In addition, the Hellman estate contained a golf course, formal croquet court, tennis court, swimming pool with Mission-style bathhouse, glass conservatory with grotto, an elaborate aviary, formal garden maze, and Japanese garden.

History:
The estate was purchased by the City of Oakland in the early 1960s with the intent of using the grounds and mansion as a conference center. The latter did not prove feasible and a non-profit organization, Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate was formed in 1971 to preserve and restore the estate for the public benefit. For many years, the non-profit group and the City jointly operated the estate.

Contact people:

Jim DeMersman, Executive Director, (510) 615-5994, (email) Lori Candelaria, Marketing Director, (510) 562-0328, (email) Roz Mathews, Assistant Director, (510) 615-5992, (email)

Office fax number: (510) 562-8294

Address:

2960 Peralta Oaks Court Oakland, CA 94605 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.dunsmuir.org

Directions:

From San Francisco: Cross the Bay Bridge and continue to 580 East towards Hayward. Exit at 106th Ave./Foothill Blvd. Make three left turns at the three stop signs. Drive under freeway and turn right onto Peralta Oaks Dr. Follow signs to. . . (more)   Nearest Bus Stop: AC Transit #45, 10 minute walk