History of the Dunsmuir-Hellman Estate

 

This beautiful mansion located on a tranquil 50-acre lot, hidden away in the hills of Oakland, California, was designed by J. Eugene Freeman and built in the neoclassical revival architecture that had been so popular back in 1899. The history of this beautiful and palatial home is one full of twists and turns, and is shared by two distinct families of great wealth: The Dunsmuir and Hellman families.

The Dunsmuir Family

While researching the history of this property one can be overwhelmed at the enormous amount of websites share the same story verbatim. As the story usually goes, the son of a Vancouver coal magnate falls deeply in love with a married woman, and that after leaving her husband, the two planned to wed. In some versions of this story, which have even been published in print, there are claims that this coal baron’s son originally came to live with his favorite bartender, who let him stay with his family as a “boarder,” and it was there that he fell in love with the bartender’s wife, and the two basically ran off with each other.  

Other versions name the married man as being an usher at a theatre instead of as a bartender. The house comes into the picture when the story goes on that this coal magnate’s son used his own fortune to build an extravagant house for his soon-to-be bride as a wedding gift, but during their honeymoon the man fell ill and passed away. The story gets even more disturbing when it concludes with the fact that the bride died soon after as well. Thus ending the tragic love story.

Unfortunately, some of this popular story is inaccurate and this article is here to set the facts straight once and for all.

The Facts

First and foremost, Alexander Dunsmuir actually was the son of Robert Dunsmuir, one of the richest coal barons in Vancouver, British Columbia at that time, so that part of the story is correct. When he came to San Francisco in 1878, at the age of 25, he had plenty of money at his disposal to stay at the best hotels in town so it is highly unlikely that he took up as a boarder, living with the family of a bartender or usher.

Alexander Dunsmuir did in fact fall in love with a woman known as Josephine Wallace, and she had been married to a Waller Wallace, and even had two children.  The 1880 Census puts both he and his wife, Josephine living at 428 Eddy Street, cites Waller as being an “Attorney” and not a bartender at all. It also cites the family of four as having a servant working and living with them, Mary Sullivan.

Upon further research, Waller Wallace turned out to be one of the fathers of baseball on the west coast. In fact, his obituary stated that he was a "well known baseball scorer, writer and ex-manager"... who was "prominently identified with the national game."  It also states that he pitched and managed for the "California Theatre," which was a baseball team. 

Although I didn't find a divorce decree during my research, Wallace's obituary shows that he remarried later on, and then died in 1891, meaning that divorce or not, the marriage ended between the two, and at some point Josephine began her relationship with Alexander around 1882. 

The newspapers also announced that Alexander “secretly” married his love Josephine many years prior, but never furnished the documents proving so.

The biggest secret or scandal was the fact that Alexander and Josephine “played house” for nearly 18 years, (married or not) keeping their relationship secret from his family for fear that he would be disinherited from his family fortune. 

Whether it was the fact that Josephine may have been a divorcee (or even worse, still married to another man) or had come from a lower station in life, it was obvious that Alexander wanted to keep his family in Vancouver from discovering his secret life in San Francisco. 

After his father passed away in 1889, Alexander still tried keeping his relationship quiet for fear his matriarchal mother would cut him out of his inheritance, too. It was around the time of his investing in the construction of this house in Oakland, that gossip started going around and he knew his secret would finally be exposed.  It was then that he publicly announced they had just been married and that they were to go on their honeymoon at once.  In reality, the couple had been living as man and wife (common-law) for 18 years.  During their “official” honeymoon in Manhattan, New York, Alexander Dunsmuir fell ill and passed away on January 31, 1900.

Alexander (older)

After the death of Alexander, Mrs. Josephine Dunsmuir went back to the beautiful home her husband had constructed for her and remained there for the rest of her life.  According to the San Francisco Call dated June 23, 1901, Josephine grew critically ill with typhoid fever and despite being cared for by the best doctors and treatments available, she succumbed to her illness within a week’s time. 

Unfortunately, due to misinformation on other websites it has often been stated that she died from lung cancer, but again, according to the newspaper at the time of her death she died from typhoid fever.

It was after the death of Josephine that Alexander’s name was dragged through the mud by his step-daughter, the famous actress Edna Wallace Hopper. She filed a lawsuit contesting the will of Alexander because her mother did not inherit Alexander’s estate, meaning she wouldn’t inherit anything either besides the house.

You see, upon her husband’s death, Josephine was allowed to keep the house and receive a small fund of $25,000 a year for the rest of her life which was agreed upon while Alexander was alive and was promised to her by her brother-in-law James, who was set to inherit Alexander’s estate. Since Josephine only lived one year longer, it appears that Edna felt entitled to money and wanted to get what she could out of the Dunsmuir family, or at least attempt to anyway. 

Edna Wallace Hopper

After years of court battles, testimony trying to sully Alexander’s reputation for his excessive drinking habits and even blaming her step-father for her not being accepted at various schools due to her mother’s reputation of living with Dunsmuir, Edna did her very best to ruin what good name her step-father and mother had left. In the end she lost the court case and all appeals she attempted to file as well. The estate remained in James’ name just as Alexander had wanted.

Years later, Alexander and James’ mother, Joan Dunsmuir also filed a suit in Canada against James, her own son, claiming that both Alexander and James’ had tricked her to sell them her portion of the estate in 1889 for $400,000 when in fact it was worth about $15,000,000, but that lawsuit didn’t end well of Joan either.

By the turn of the Century, Edna Wallace Hopper rented the house out to the Hellman family, and eventually sold the property to them by 1906, thus starting a new chapter in the history of this magnificent structure.

The Hellman Family

This chapter in the history of the home would prove to be less scandalous than that of the first owners of the property. In fact, I could not find anything overly salacious written about the Hellman family who owned and occupied this stately mansion from purchasing the house in 1906 up until 1957 when Mrs. Hellman passed away.

Frances Jacobi

Isaias W. Hellman and Frances Jacobi were engaged to be married in January of 1898, and the pair married shortly thereafter at the home of the bride’s grandparents. One story that took place a year after their purchasing the home, Isaias Hellman, Jr., grew very ill and it turned out that he suffered from a ruptured appendix, nearly causing death. He was treated at Mt. Zion Hospital and he eventually made a full recovery. At that time he was VP of Union Trust Company, which later merged with Wells Fargo.

When the Hellman’s rented the house in Oakland around the turn of the century (after 1901) the couple had already begun their family with their oldest son Isaias Hellman III being one year old. During their time at the estate they had three more children, Frederick, Florence and Marion Frances.

The 1910 census shows that the family had a staff of eight living with them, (4) servants, a cook, a governess and the butler. On July 22, 1910 a terrible fire broke out in the power and engine house, and it was reported in the paper that Mrs. Hellman fought with bravery and cool-headedness to manage her workers to stifle the fire and save the estate, and the efforts proved successful.

By 1913, the Hellman family made renovations to the house and the property itself, adding more to the estate such as: a swimming pool, glass conservatory and grotto, aviary, garden maze, tennis courts and even a 9-hole golf course. Stories of the lavish parties, 4^th of July celebrations and family get-togethers have circulated over the years and truly show the fun and exciting times this property has seen over the years.

Isaias Hellman

In 1920, Isaias W. Hellman Jr., passed away, after falling into a comatose state. His father had passed away only one month prior, and being that his father was president of the bank, the title was given to Isaias. He didn’t live much longer, and being that he was in a coma, he never had the chance to know of his promotion.

The house remained under the ownership of the Hellman family, and when Frances passed away in 1957, the property was eventually sold to the City of Oakland to be used for conference space. By the 1970’s a non-profit established to restore and protect the estate was co-running the property, but eventually all ownership returned to the City of Oakland as the sole proprietor.

By the summer of 1989, the non-profit took over the care of the home and renamed it "The Dunsmuir House & Gardens," to use as an educational tool for historical preservation and horticulture. The property was listed as a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, and by the City of Oakland as well.

Filming

This 37-room mansion that spans over 16,000 square feet has been used in films over the years between 1976 to the present day. Such films include:  Burnt Offerings, Phantasm, Partners in Crime, A View To Kill, The Vineyard, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Gloria, Case Number 13 and Clint Eastwood’s True Crime.

Conclusion

I felt during this research that whether it was the scandalous rumors and gossip swirling around the Dunsmuir family, or just the history of the Hellman family surrounding the property, both family's stories were just as equally important to share, because both families created the history of that home. 

The home is theirs, always, and with that thought, let us always respect and honor the history of each home, each location we visit and remember that although we might be fascinated with it, or with the stories there are to tell about it, but in the end, this was still someone's home -- their sanctuary, and in many cases, the place where they took their last breath. 

Let us always enjoy, but respect the memory of all those who walked those halls of the Dunsmuir-Hellman House.

Happy History Hunting!!

(Copyright 8/14/2018 - J'aime Rubio, www. jaimerubiowriter.com)

Photo Sources:

All photos of the house, courtesy of Roland Boulware

Photos of Isaias and Frances Hellman; Find-a-grave

Photos of Alexander Dunsmuir, Josephine and Edna Wallace Hopper; (public domain) and newspaper articles.