Father Pitt

This striking design was by Janssen & Abbott, and it shows Benno Janssen developing that economy of line old Pa Pitt associates with his best work, in which there are exactly the right number of details to create the effect he wants and no more. The row was built in about 1913.¹ The resemblance to another row on King Avenue in Highland Park is so strong that old Pa Pitt attributes that row to Janssen & Abbott as well.

These houses are not quite as well kept as the ones in Highland Park. They have been turned into duplexes and seem to have fallen under separate ownership, resulting in—among other alterations—the tiniest aluminum awnings old Pa Pitt has ever seen up there on the attic dormers of two of the houses.

Nevertheless, the design still overwhelms the miscellaneous alterations and makes this one of the most interesting terraces in Oakland.

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1. Source: The Construction Record, September 27, 1913: “Architects Janssen & Abbott, Renshaw building, are preparing new plans for 10 two-story brick residences to be erected on McKee Place and Bates street for E. M . O’Neil, Farmers Bank building. Cost $4,000 each.” The houses as they stand today are stucco-faced, but the side walls are brick. ↩︎