Today, 921 Grand Street is the happy home of Jeff and Natalee Thomas, their two young daughters, and Natalee’s mom, Karen. They have made many tasteful changes and improvements to their home since they purchased it in 2018, with the most recent being a major kitchen remodel. This grand Colonial Revival home in Alameda’s Gold Coast neighborhood has housed many generations over its long lifetime, and was designed and built by one of our finest architects.
A renowned architect
Alfred Washington Pattiani (1855-1935) was among Alameda’s most renowned early architect-builders. Despite the name that may suggest Italian heritage, he was born in Ohio to a German emigré family who had changed the family name from Fahrnbacher after arriving in the United States around 1850. Starting at the early age of 15, Alfred worked with a number of architects before partnering in Tucson, Arizona, with John Wesson, the territory’s surveyor-general, to form Wesson & Pattiani. By 1885, he had established his own company—A. W. Pattiani & Co.—with offices in Oakland.
Pattiani lived with his family in Alameda, in a house he designed. The great majority of his work, which included hundreds of homes, is in the East Bay with at least a third in Alameda. Pattiani’s extensive architectural training and experience suggest that his homes were designed, or at least closely overseen, by him personally, as opposed to other builders who often utilized hired designers and architects.
A new style emerges
In March 1895, a story appeared in the Alameda Times Star announcing that a “New Style of Residence” was to be built by A. W. Pattiani & Co. for Joseph Mallon, at the corner of Grand Street and San Jose Avenue. The article described the building as being a new style for Alameda, noting that it was to be very handsomely furnished in polished oak, plate glass, copper-plated hardware and grills, and such. What made this style new was the fact that it was a pivot away from the more decorative and exuberant Queen Anne style that was in vogue at the time. This new design was called Colonial Revival, and it would become the dominant style of the late 1890s and beyond.
Victorian-era styles
Generally speaking—with the caveat that there are always exceptions, overlap, and transitional periods—the dominant home style in Alameda in the 1870s was Italianate, in the 1880s it was Stick/Modern/Eastlake, and in the 1890s it was Queen Anne. All of these styles fall within the larger category of Victorian-era architecture, which spanned the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
By the mid-1890s, Queen Anne homes were still being built, but there was starting to be a move toward more symmetrical, sober, and classically designed homes. Gone were the towers, turrets, witch’s hat roofs, finials, sunbursts, fish scale shingles, spindle work, elaborate porches, and stained glass of the Queen Anne homes. In their place were homes with boxier massing, hip roofs, narrow lap board siding, dormer windows, columns, pilasters, recessed side entries, and leaded-glass in place of stained glass. Oftentimes, homes of the 1890s were transitional, in that they included some understated elements of a previous style, such as bay windows or a tower, but with the Colonial Revival elements dominating.
Looking at the façade of 921 Grand St., it’s pretty clear that this is a classic Colonial Revival style residence. It has all the elements described above, with the only possible transitional Queen Anne element being the gently rounded bay windows. Most often, Colonial Revival homes stick to a flatter front elevation, but Pattiani’s inclusion of this graceful curved window section adds much to the beauty of the home, both inside and out.
First owner
Joseph B. Mallon was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1842. When he was just 12 years old, he and his family sailed for America and settled in New York, remaining there until 1855, when he made a passage around the Horn for San Francisco. Variously employed, he soon took a three-year business trip to Victoria, BC, for one of San Francisco’s largest firms. Returning to California, he started a business himself, opening a general store in Mariposa County. He operated the business for two years before joining forces with his brother, John Mallon, who was operating a general store in Virginia City. In March 1876, John died and Joseph became the sole owner of the business, which he operated until about 1895, when he took on a partner and retired from active business life. It was at this time that Mallon contracted with A. W. Pattiani to build a family home for him at the corner of Grand Street and San Jose Avenue in Alameda.
Tragically short residency
When Joseph Mallon and his wife Theresa moved into their new home at 921 Grand Street in 1895, they had one child, John Bernard Mallon, born in 1893. They welcomed a daughter, Mildred, in 1896 and another daughter, Marion, in 1898. But after just five years of the Mallons living on Grand Street, an obituary appeared in the Alameda Times Star on April 7, 1900, announcing “Jos. B. Mallon Dead.” He had died at home the evening before, April 6, 1900 at 10 p.m., from a complication of appendicitis and heart failure. The home he had built as his early-retirement home was a place he only got to enjoy for a relatively short time before his untimely passing at just 58 years old.
Moving on
The obituary revealed the great loss to the Mallon family when it observed that, “Deceased leaves a widow, Mrs. Theresa Mallon, and three children, the oldest being seven years of age.” Exactly what happened with the family after Joseph’s death is not known, but 10 years after his death, the 1910 Census provided an intriguing clue. Rather than residing in their Pattiani-built home at 921 Grand Street as might be expected, the census instead listed the family as residing at 1007 Grand Street, a Transitional Queen Anne-Colonial Revival residence built in 1898. This house is very close to their old home—just two houses to the north on Grand Street. Could the census taker possibly have entered the wrong house number into the records?
That theory is discounted by the fact that even 10 years later, in 1920, the census still showed the Mallon family living at 1007 Grand Street. Why they moved is one of those mysteries of the past, since the two houses are roughly the same size and style, and are in the same neighborhood. Perhaps there was an emotional pain associated with living in the home of their beloved and now deceased husband/father Joseph, and the family needed to make a fresh start in a new house. Another clue, however, is that Theresa Mallon’s name also appears as Theresa Ryan in the genealogical records. Could Theresa have remarried, possibly a neighbor at 1007 Grand Street, and moved in there within 10 years of Joseph’s death?
Next up
When our story continues, we’ll see more photos of the interior of this spectacular home, see a historic photo of an electric streetcar as it passed the house, take a look at another house around the corner on San Jose Avenue that actually seems to be in the backyard of 921 Grand Street (and learn why it’s situated that way), view a mysterious vintage photo found inside a bathroom wall during remodeling, learn a bit more about the current owners, and explore the new kitchen remodel that has just been completed. All of that and more when our look at this Alameda Treasure continues.
Special thanks to Natalee and Jeff Thomas for opening their home to this writer, and to Alameda Post readers.
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.
