(Berkeley Subdivides: 1905-1920) 

Berkeley saw considerable development in the first two decades of the twentieth century. With the expansion of rail and electric tram, Berkeley was becoming the escape to the country that people like Joseph Mason envisioned.

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Mason and McDuffie

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The Mason family came from the lower economic rungs of London in the mid-1800s. His older sisters relocated to San Francisco and Mason followed.[1] Mason was eventually married and would take his wife to Berkeley for picnics. So enamored with the area, he made many trips out from the city. And with a loan of about $600, Mason started in a wooden storefront building on the southeast corner of Dwight and Shattuck.[2] This area of Shattuck was known as Dwight Station – where the Central Pacific made one of four stops along Shattuck. Initially, he went into business as an insurance broker. Purchasing some land, he divided and sold the land at a profit. Below is an image of Dwight Station from Berkeley's early days: 

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An undated image of Dwight Way Station (most likely in the late 1890s). [3] 

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Future partner Duncan McDuffie was an Iowa transplant when his family moved to Southern California early in his life. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1904, then worked in a local department store as a marketing and advertising manager. McDuffie dabbled in real estate on the side before joining -- and eventually succeeding Joseph Mason. The official story of Duncan McDuffie’s involvement in Joseph Mason’s Realty enterprise starts with the failure to interest Mason’s son-in-law to commit to the business. Mason’s work had intersected with McDuffie when meeting the latter through his work at department store Taft & Pennoyer.[4] McDuffie was a manager for the store but would eventually go into partnership with Mason on 24 February 1905, when the Mason-McDuffie incorporated.[5] 

 

The following video gives a brief overview of Duncan McDuffie's involvement in real estate during the first few years associated with Joseph Mason: 

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One immediate change to the company included the style of marketing Mason-McDuffie employed to sell real estate, as well as bringing on other associates to assist. It was at this time, that the business took off – McDuffie and a few former university cohorts he’d hired on as salesmen were able to sell off all their lots, [6]. April 1906 a fleet of autos was purchased for the sales department – previously the company took potential buyers out in carriages or on the electric rail. Electric Cars made subdivisions and residence parks accessible – (note pioneers of such work by Shattuck and the Realty Syndicate) but author Richard Brandi (in his book Garden Neighborhoods of San Francisco) notes that the rapid commercialization (and affordability) of the car made it more possible – This also changed how houses were built – Residence Parks featured wide streets and garages – either with rear alley access or in some cases dug into and incorporated under the homes’ foundation.[7]

 

Elmwood Park and Claremont

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While discussing real estate in Berkeley, it's important to mention Elmwood Park -- an early subdivision that while not one of Mason-McDuffie's developments, still had considerable influence on the future of Berkeley. The Berkeley Gazette featured a full-page ad for Elmwood Park on 12 December 1905 where it noted: “Things are moving Southeast” touting the Elmwood “with the extension of the Key Route up Claremont” and the new $250k Tourist Hotel.[8] On the same date, another news piece recorded that a map of the Elmwood development was presented at realtors Breed and Bancroft in Oakland. A protest was noted that the extension of streets in the area would depreciate the value of homes. One issue was the extension of Ashby Avenue, (a major thoroughfare in Berkeley) to College Avenue.[9] 

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Elmwood was a planned community that by default restricted people of color. While the neighborhood itself was structured, McDuffie (and others) were concerned about what sort of businesses would be allowed to build up around the area and how it might affect the value of their own tracts of land. McDuffie and others associated with the Claremont Park Company (Louis Titus, Frank Havens, and others) had purchased an undeveloped 125-acre ranch east of Claremont Avenue, (the area that included where Duncan McDuffie and his wife also settled) which was later annexed to Berkeley in 1906.[10].

 

 

It was in everyone's interest to include restrictions on any new developments in the area. At the time zoning was not used as a way of retaining land value or restricting the social fabric of a community by segregation. Therefore Mason-McDuffie communities would have restrictive covenants. These covenants would govern the building on and land use of each lot: limitations on who could live there and what sort of commerce (or lack of commerce specifically) would be allowed. These were residence parks were governed by a home association. Along with common building restrictions to protect the high-end community, was a racial covenant restricting home ownership and residency to Caucasians (white people) and their servants. McDuffie was quoted that such race restrictions were a 'shield', "permanently protecting... homes and stabilizing increasing... land values... they deny entrance to undesirable neighbors and...inharmonious houses."[11] These properties would have a minimum buy-in and require the building of only single-family homes. Deed restrictions were meant to be permanent but often contained language that put an implied lifetime limitation, such as "if prior to the first day of January 1930 any person of African or Mongolian descent shall be allowed to purchase or lease said property or any part thereof, then this conveyance shall be and become void..."[12] Mason-McDuffie as a company would use these restrictions going forward, their next large development being that of the Northlands Tract.

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Hopkins Terrace/ Northbrae: 

 

"The Berkeley Development Company," (one of McDuffie and Titus' side companies) was formed and purchased about 100 lots in the Northlands Development for about $60K, negotiated by Mason-McDuffie, which controlled the sale of the property. This marked “the beginning of the large demand for property in the northwestern section of the college town.”[13] At the same time, the article noted the swift sale of lots with owners intending to build homes in the Berkeley hills and mentioned ten more lots being sold in Mason-McDuffie’s Hopkins Terrace No. 4 the previous week. This post-earthquake boom would last to the end of the year when the company resorted to partnering with the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.[14] Around this time -- Spring 1908 -- the Northbrae subdivision was opening – a scheme to bring the state capital to Berkeley was started with the effort to pass a resolution decrying the condition of the capital building and demand its removal from Sacramento to a more central location: Berkeley. Below you can view/ listen to a short video regarding Northbrae and "the capital site." 

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Involvement with the Chamber of Commerce was not the first time Duncan McDuffie had been involved in city politics. It was in the interest of realty concerns like his and the Realty Syndicate (and their successors) to help 'guide' the development of Berkeley. Where zoning was not established, covenants were a temporary, if not piecemeal 'fix.' In 1914, McDuffie would organize the Berkeley City Club to establish the Civic Art Commission to influence city development. [15]  As time went on, there was a certain level of expectation, even in areas that were not covered by covenants, that property was to be whites-only and devoid of encroachment of any business activity, including that of renting out homes or subdividing property for apartments. In some instances, Berkeleyans would bring complaints to the city council based on rumors alone. In others, petitions were circulated and filed with the city. 

 

 

 

 

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[1] George Emmanuels, Our First 100 Years: The Story of Mason-McDuffie Through the Lives of Its Leaders.  (San Francisco: Emmanuels, 1988) 4.

[2] Emmanuels, 5.

[3] Image: "Dwight Way Station" as featured in Berkeley 1900: Daily Life at the Turn of the Century. (Berkeley, RSB Books, 2000), 89.

[4] [See: Emmanuels, 7 and “Inside Sales,” (San Francisco Call, 27 Feb 1905), 4]

[5] “New Firm Is Well Backed,” (Berkeley Daily Gazette, 8 March 1905), 8.

[6] Emmanuels, 10. 

[7] Richard Brandi, Garden Suburbs of San Francisco: the Development of Residence Parks: 1905- 1924. (Jefferson N.C: McFarland & Co., 2021), 35. [Also note: many advertisements would feature the company’s fleet of cars, including the "Mobilized" advertisement featured in the Juxtapose image of the Studio Building on the previous site page…] 

[8] Berkeley Daily Gazette, “Things are moving Southeast” advertisement, (Berkeley Daily Gazette, 12 Dec 1905), 2.

[9] “Elmwood Park Map,” (Berkeley Daily Gazette,12 December 1905), page 1.

[10] City of Berkeley, Ordinance #4694 N.S. “Landmark Application: the Duncan and Jean McDuffie House” (Berkeley: City of Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission, 3 March 2011 citing Berkeley Historical Society. Quick Index to the Origin of Berkeley’s Names. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Historical Society, 2004.

[11] Slater, 59.

[12] Maya Tulip Lorey, "A History of Residential Segregation in Berkeley, California, 1878-1960." (The Concord Review 24, no. 2, 2014), 5.

[13] “Big Land Purchase in North Berkeley," (Berkeley Daily Gazette, 29 June 1905), 1.

[14] Emmanuels, 10.

[15] Lorey, 6.

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