In this series of articles on our Alameda architectural treasures, we most often explore Victorian-era homes, in particular the Queen Anne style. Historically, the Victorian-era is defined as the reign of Britain’s Queen Victoria, which lasted from 1837 to 1901. In this article, though, we look at an example of one of the post-Victorian-era styles, a Craftsman style home. Whereas the Victorian-era styles such as Italianate (1870s), Stick (1880s), Queen Anne (1890s) and Colonial Revival (late-1890s into early 1900s) represented, in many cases, evolutionary changes that incorporated transitional elements, the Craftsman style (1905-1930) was a clean break and a totally different approach to architecture. In that sense, the style can be considered among the first “modern” styles, with the very first being the Prairie style (1900-1902), which began in Chicago under Frank Lloyd Wright.

Arts and Crafts
American Craftsman is an architectural style inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement that began in England around 1860. The movement had its origins as a reaction against the perceived lack of quality associated with machinery and factory production, along with the resulting working conditions of the people. While British Arts and Crafts was as much a social movement as it was a design movement, the American offshoot was more a reaction against what was referred to as the “over-decorated” aesthetic of the Victorian-era styles—in particular the over-the-top exuberance of the Queen Anne style. In its proportions, the Craftsman style emphasized a horizontal orientation, unlike the verticality of the tall Victorians.
Stickley’s influence
Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) was a German-American designer, furniture-maker, publisher, and leading voice in the American Arts and Crafts movement. His magazine, first published in 1901, was called The Craftsman, and its design philosophy ended up being a major influence on American Craftsman architecture. His furniture emphasized quality, simplicity and honesty in its construction, often evoking a hand-crafted and pre-industrial look and feel. In 1903, Stickley started the Craftsman Home Builders Club, which provided architectural plans from The Craftsman magazine to subscribers. His 1909 book, Craftsman Homes, expounded on the “simplification of life”, and on high-quality, functional homes that “will last for generations and need few repairs.” The book featured numerous illustrations of Stickley homes designs, along with their floor plans.

Craftsman elements
Homes in this style are often just one story or a story-and-a-half, though they can at times feature a full second story, usually incorporating dormer windows. Common elements include low-pitched, gabled roofs with wide, unenclosed eave overhangs, exposed roof rafters, large tapered or square porch columns, clinker brick chimneys, double-hung windows with small panes above a large panel (called 4-over-1 or 6-over-1), and wide wooden doors featuring beveled multi-pane windows in the upper section. Interiors are characterized by warm, earth-tone color schemes, relatively low ceilings, rich wood detailing, built-in cabinetry and seating (nooks), hammered copper hardware, stone fireplace surrounds, and an overall feeling of functionality and simplicity. While stained-glass isn’t as common in the Craftsman style as it was in Queen Anne style homes, clear leaded-glass can often be found both in windows and on cabinet doors.
California Craftsman
According to Virginia McAlester’s Field Guide to American Houses, “This was the dominant style for smaller houses built throughout the country during the period from about 1905 until the early 1920s.The Craftsman style originated in Southern California and most landmark examples are concentrated there. Like vernacular examples of the contemporaneous Prairie style, it was quickly spread throughout the country by pattern books and popular magazines. The style rapidly faded after the mid-1920s; relatively few were built after 1930.”
The Craftsman style gained a strong foothold in California due largely to the architect brothers Henry and Charles Greene, of Pasadena. Examples of their work, such as the Gamble house in Pasadena, still stand today as paragons of the Craftsman style.

The Davis house
Here in Alameda, 2450 Central Avenue was built in 1909 by Hans C. Andersen. The original owners were Ralph C. and Daisy M. Davis, who purchased their new home for $2,474. The Davises were married on April 11, 1906, in Santa Clara, California, just a week before the great San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. Their son, Wesley Mead Davis, was born on January 14, 1909, and the Davis family moved into their new home on Central Avenue later that same year. Prior to moving, the Davises had lived on San Jose Avenue near Broadway. The move to 2450 would have put Ralph just a half-mile from his parents, Thomas and Gracie Davis, who lived at 2052 Central Avenue, in a Craftsman cottage built in 1907. The Davises—Ralph, Daisy, and Wesley—would live at 2450 Central Avenue until at least 1940, the last year for which census records can be found showing them living at this address. Based on this census data, we can determine that all three of them lived in this home for at least 31 years, if not longer. Mr. Davis was in the printing business, and worked for his father Thomas’s firm, T. J. Davis and Son.

Tracing history
Following the trail of ownership gets a little faint after 1940, but City of Alameda permit records show a re-roofing job done in 1948, with the homeowner still listed as Ralph Davis, who would have been 64 years old at the time. The oral history of the house, passed down by later owner Christ Surunis, suggests that the Davis’s son, Wesley, lived in the house until the early 1950s. If that is indeed the case, then the Davis family residency in this home lasted over 40 years.
Dental office
That same oral history also states that 2450 Central Avenue was once used as a dental office, for a period of about five years. Permit records bear that out, with a 1973 entry showing “Alterations for dental office” costing $8,000, for owner R. F. George. That dental practice lasted just a few years though, and a 1977 permit record shows “Converted dental office to single family dwelling” at a cost of $750 for a new owner named Fredrickson. As late as 2013, however, owner Christ Surunis reports that when removing Persian carpets from the floors, he discovered poorly plugged holes that had been drilled for water and air hoses, along with electrical conduits used by the dental equipment back in the 1970s. Fortunately, he had an excellent flooring contractor who made those holes in the hardwood floors disappear.

Next up
When our look into this classic California Craftsman home continues, we’ll attempt to trace the ownership history forward, and look into the changes these various owners have made over the years. We’ll also see how the dental office legacy continues on this block, and glimpse a hidden studio in the backyard of 2450 Central Avenue that features the same warmth and beauty of the main house. All that, plus many more photos, when our story continues.
Contributing writer Steve Gorman has been a resident of Alameda since 2000, when he fell in love with the history and architecture of this unique town. Contact him via [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Steve-Gorman.