5376 Brookside c1980

Description:
5376 Brookside, Rockridge district, Oakland, Calif.

Date of Document:
1980

Document Author:
Spencer Kerrigan

Geographic Location:
5153 Shafter Avenue, Oakland, Calif.

Context:
"The street's name has changed since then and the house was destroyed by fire during the conflagration some years ago. . . . This is the last house designed and built by Walter Kerrigan as an independent contractor before he became employed by Kenneth E. Bemis. . . . Bemis, founded a chain of restaurants that operated mostly on the West Coast but also in Kansas City, Evanston, Illinois and Washington D.C. There were several of these White Log restaurants in the Bay Area. Two were in Temescal. One was on the southwest comer of 42nd and Broadway, across from Tech. This building was torn down and replaced with what became Dave's Coffee Shop. . . . Dave's was my Dad's last design and construction project. Another White Log was built on the northeast corner of 43rd Street and Telegraph, down a few doors from the original Hickory Pit. . . . My dad gave up designing and building houses as a contractor in the very early 1930s. He was then employed by Bemis to design and supervise the construction of new restaurants and to oversee the company's manufacturing facility at 1431 Grove Street in Oakland. The name of the restaurant company was National Restaurant System. Bemis owned several other companies engaged in construction and real estate. In the late 1930s he purchased a large piece of property that extended on both sides of Skyline Boulevard, midway between Redwood and Grass Valley roads. Later, he purchased Chabot Park Estates, which consisted of a large acreage at the east end of Skyline, abutting the Chabot Golf Course. This property had been previously subdivided. Bemis started its development. My Dad assisted with the development. As an employee of Bemis, Dad designed many of the homes built there, and supervised the construction of some homes for people who purchased lots. The subdivision had strict deed restrictions. Dad's approval of home design was necessary before construction could begin on any lot. Bemis rewarded him for his extra service with a 5-acre lot, an