White Mansion (Oakland, California)

White Mansion
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Oakland Designated Landmark No. 42
The White Mansion in 2009
Location	604 E. 17th St., Oakland, California
Coordinates	37°47′50″N 122°14′59″W
Area	0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built	1878 (1878)
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	80000797
ODL No.	42
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 31, 1980
Designated ODL	1980

The White Mansion, also known as the Asa L. White Mansion, is a historic house built in 1878 in Oakland, California. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 31, 1980.

History

It was built in 1878 for Asa L. White (1842–1924), a Canadian businessman who purchased the plot of land from the Remillard Brothers in 1877. The house was designed in the Italianate architectural style.

Asa White was nicknamed, "the father of hardwood on the Pacific coast". With his brothers Jacob and Peter, White was the co-founder of White Brothers, a construction subcontractor responsible for many houses in San Francisco. By the 1980s, the White Mansion still belonged to the White family.

Description of the Physical Appearance

Situated on an expansive lot measuring 75' x 128' at the intersection of 6th Avenue and East 17th Street in Oakland, The White Mansion boasts generous setbacks from the street and is encircled by an intricate wrought and cast iron railing marking its property lines. Though the once sprawling gardens to the rear have vanished, a magnificent Magnolia grandiflora stands as a testament to the estate's original landscaping.

This grand frame house stands as a remarkable specimen of the Italianate architectural style prevalent in the East Bay. Exhibiting a blend of formal elegance and romantic allure, its construction around 1878 aligns it with the later phase of Italianate architecture, characterized by a gradual departure from classical ornamentation towards a vertical emphasis reminiscent of late Renaissance Venetian palaces.

Crafted entirely from redwood, the house features a decorative scheme adorning its horizontal siding. A six-foot-high basement story of false ashlar supports the siding, which extends to the cornice, accentuated by heavily quoined corners. Windows are embellished with slender colonnettes, topped by cornices with dentil ornamentation. Most windows are 1/1 double-hung, with round-headed first-story windows and segmental arch-headed second-story windows. The deep bracketed cornice, adorned with decorative panels and a dentil course, crowns the structure, while small rectangular double-hung windows punctuate its roofline. The hipped roof completes the ensemble.

Dominating the facade is a broad main entrance accessed via wide steps leading to a porch supported by Corinthian columns adorned with cast iron acanthus leaves. A carved 'grotesque' mask serves as the keystone, adding a touch of Mannerist flair. Flanking the porch are panes of windows on the left and a two-story bay window on the right. The secondary facade includes a bay window on the narrow side of the main mass, with a rear ‘wing’ set back from it. A large veranda on the first floor features a balustrade and slender Corinthian columns supporting an arcade, leading to a large door providing access to the house’s core. The second floor is adorned with various single windows and a bay window.

After its original construction, The White Mansion underwent modifications, including a rear wing extension approximately a decade later, along with the addition of a sizable parlor adjacent to the dining room. Around 1910, the second story was extended to the rear, accommodating a 'morning room' above the kitchen. Each addition meticulously matched the construction and detailing of the original exterior work.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Alameda County, California
• List of Oakland Designated Landmarks