Dennis' parents Jim and Lanaya were high school sweethearts who eloped to San Francisco where Jim was stationed in the Navy in January 1946. They liked to tell the story about how Jim had to get permission from his commanding officer in order to marry. Lanaya had left a note for her father, who didn't even know Jim and got on the bus.
She fondly talked about their first home as a married couple which was actually the dining room in a big old house in Oakland. We just uncovered some of Jim's photo albums (cleaning out the garage, see yesterday) and here's a picture.
Lanaya included the picture of the house in the photo album and on the back:
652 Spruce Street Bay window in lower front was our room and first home after marriage.
It looks like the site is now occupied by St. Vartin's Armenian Church (What did we do before Google Earth). The church website talks about fundraising for a new building and acquiring the site in 1956....
The buildings on the lot were a large home and carriage house from the estate of F. Borax Smith. The house was razed to allow Phase I construction of the church building, but the carriage house remained and was put to good use.F. "Borax" Smith was a 19th century mining capitalist who developed Borax works in the desert. Remember "20 Mule Team Borax"? I remember it being advertised. So I'm guessing this is the estate that he built in 1896 with his second wife. It doesn't completely make sense but close enough.
1 comment:
Fantastic house and criminal that it was torn down. Wonder who the architect was. That was a really important time in Bay Area architecture with many grand beautiful brown shingles...again, great house.
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