Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group had a solid turnout of 35 walkers and two K-9 best friends when we assembled this week at the Exedra for our weekly walk.
We have talked about Frank C. Havens and other early Piedmont real estate developers, but a developer we hadn’t discussed and a street we hadn’t walked this year were William Sharron and Sharron Avenue. Piedmont Historical Society once devoted an issue of the society’s Piedmont’s History publication to Sharon, his family, and estate. We decided to walk to Sharon Avenue and discuss its history. It was a clear, mild morning and we could also go up the hill and see some Bay views.
We headed off crossing Highland Avenue and going up the Piedmont Court cul-de-sac to a path at its end that comes out onto Mountain Avenue with Dormidera Avenue across the street. However, we stopped in Piedmont Court for Nancy D to share that their first Piedmont house was on the street. After they sold it, the new owners were in a reality television show that redid the house’s landscaping. The show also gave them a birdhouse replica of the house right next to it. Additionally, the near owner is a metal sculpturer and bagpiper, and he created a metal bagpiper that’s in the front yard too.
We continued to Mountain, Dormidera and up to 37 Sharon Avenue where William Sharon’s and the street’s stories were told. Sharon was born in 1852 and grew up on an Ohio farm. In 1872 he went to San Francisco and then Virginia City, Nevada to work for his uncle, who was a successful banker and silver mine owner. Sharon married Lillian Mygatt in 1876 and they had ten children, seven of whom lived to maturity. He also became successful in finance and mining and was elected to the Nevada State Senate in the 1880s.
The Sharons initially lived in Virginia City, but they wanted their children to attend better schools, and in 1890 they moved to Oakland. In 1893 the Sharons purchased nine acres in the Piedmont hills on Mountain Avenue. In 1897 they hired Frederic D, Voorhess to design their Piedmont home, a magnificent three-story house built in the middle of the Sharons’ land. They called it Casa Montana. The Sharons, her mother, a housekeeper, cook, and gardener moved into it in 1898.
In 1914 the new City of Piedmont imposed a new property tax based on the size of the property, and the Sharons’ taxes increased dramatically. So, in 1915 they subdivided their land into a development they called Sharon Terrace. It had twenty lots with frontages on Mountain, Sharon, Dormidera, and Pacific Avenues, and some family members built homes on them. The driveway to Casa Montana became Sharon Avenue, and the address for Casa Montana was changed from 263 Mountain to 37 Sharon Avenue. Sharon died at his home in 1926, but Casa Montana continued as a family home with seven family members and two servants living there. Lillian lived in it until 1934 when she moved into a residential Oakland hotel.
Developer George Windsor purchased the remaining land and built his own home at 11 Sharon and the house at 7 Sharon on spec. He later also built homes at 40 and 44 Sharon. Sadly, in 1936 Windsor demolished Casa Montana. The mansion was replaced by three homes at 27, 33, and 37 Sharon. Today, only three Sharon family members’ houses remain on the former Casa Montana property. They are 235 Mountain built in 1908, 56 Sharon built in 1921, and 52 Sharon built in 1922. We went down Sharon Avenue and noted the homes where Casa Montana once stood.
We took a group photo and a side trip up Sharon Court, which according to the Sharon Terrace plot map was not part of the development. We returned to Sharon Avenue and completed the loop back to Mountain. On it we noted the family member’s home at 235, whose exterior has been updated, and two beautiful red gum eucalyptus trees in bloom in a front yard.
We went up to Pacific, Scenic, and Alta Avenues, navigating a Republic Services truck along the way, and down Blair Avenue. There were many opportunities to enjoy clear views of Oakland, the Bay, and San Francisco. A very steep 210-foot/68 steps set of stairs at 630 Blair got us back to Pacific, Mountain, Highland, and the Exedra. It was a fun walk on a lovely morning with some little-known Piedmont history and wonderful views.
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