Today’s Alameda Treasure – 1031 San Antonio Ave., the Tilden Mansion, Part 3

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this story, we took a look at the extraordinary Italian Renaissance Villa that has graced this spot on San Antonio Avenue since 1896, and which has been known for generations as the Tilden Mansion, due to its association with Major Charles L. Tilden (1857-1950). Though Charles Tilden died in 1950, his stepdaughter Marion Mitchell inherited the home and lived in it until her death in 1966. A series of just three owners have been the caretakers since then, and they have kept the grand villa in spectacular condition.

Dueling designers

It’s not surprising that a noteworthy home like this, with such a long and colorful history, would have a fair amount written about it—some of it seemingly contradictory. In researching the home, I’ve read that the dining room was remodeled by both Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck, two of California’s most renowned architects and designers. Could it be that somewhere in the historical record one designer was confused with the other, and their name associated with the remodel? Or could it be that both actually played a part in this home, at different times?

On the website YourHistoricHouse.com, a 2024 article entitled Alameda’s Charles Tilden House describes the home as a Neoclassical style mansion, and states that “Architect Julia Morgan remodeled the dining room in 1910.” Earlier, in 1978, the Benefit Guild of the East Bay held a decorators’ showcase at the Tilden Mansion, and produced a booklet in which the history section stated, “In the late 1920s, Major Charles Tilden asked Bernard Maybeck to redesign the dining room; the result is a fascinating room of simulated leather paneling and hidden cabinets.” Additionally, Sallie Jean Fisher’s 1970 report on the home for the UC Davis art history course Architecture of the United States states, “Major Tilden had Bernard Maybeck re-do the dining room upon moving into the house. The result was a dark wood paneling and orange-red wallpaper and simulated leather which Maybeck copied from an old German castle.” A secret, unseen door is a custom feature of the dining room, leading to a hidden cupboard.

What we have in these documents, then, are reports of two different designers remodeling the dining room during at least two different time periods. The current owner is unsure of the dining room’s provenance, but perhaps the larger lesson to be learned here is how important the dining room was to Major Tilden and his family. A richly appointed dining room might suggest that the Tilden family enjoyed hosting frequent parties and dinners, but reportedly that was not the case. While they did occasionally throw small gatherings, it is likely that the dining room was important simply as a place for family meals and conversation.

A fitting end

It is fitting then, that the room upon which Tilden lavished so much attention was where he took his last breath. A November 13, 1950, newspaper clipping reported on the passing of Charles L. Tilden the evening before: “His son, Charles Lee Tilden Jr., had visited him at 5:30 p.m. and left. An hour and a half later, while he finished his dinner and talked with his nurse, the father of the regional park system and grand old man of Alameda, slumped over in his chair, dead.” After a long life of service and accomplishment, Charles Tilden was dead of a heart attack at age 93, sitting in the home where he had lived for 48 years, in the room that was perhaps his favorite in the house. May we all have such a full life, and such a graceful passing.

His stepdaughter Marion remembered him fondly: “Papa Charlie couldn’t have been a more wonderful man to bring up children. I couldn’t praise him higher. He was kind but firm, and never raised his voice. Our home was quiet, orderly, and I never remember any bickering. I can still see us all gathered around the dining room table even now.”

Nature lover

Perhaps as a foreshadowing of Tilden’s future role as the founder of the east bay parks system in the 1930s – and his love of nature – he had the parlor mantel and fireplace surround replaced in 1915. Using mission art tiles, the fireplace depicts scenes of nature, including rolling hills, tall redwood trees, and flowers. This fireplace remains intact to this day, and is a reminder that it was Tilden who did the hard work of getting the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to sell land for park use, get a ballot measure approved, and then fund the parks himself until they could be self-sustaining.

The von Schmidt travails

Near the end of Part 2 of this series, it was hinted that there were some problems on the von Schmidt side of the family. Charles Tilden’s wife was Lily von Schmidt Tilden. Her brother, Alfred W. von Schmidt, a father of four, lost his wife Jennie in 1903, and then in 1906 skipped town for Tahiti with two of his sons, abandoning his 10-year-old daughter Mabel. Another daughter, Hazel, was 21 at the time. Mabel sought refuge with her aunt, Mrs. Tilden, and was welcomed into the Tilden home on San Antonio Avenue. It was a good thing they had a guest bedroom available in the large house.

Challenged to a duel

In 1909, about three years after Alfred Schmidt had skipped off to Tahiti, he was back in California, having been expelled from the island by the French government for “causing trouble among the natives.” Landing in San Diego, he began sending threatening letters to Major Charles Tilden and local newspapers, challenging him to a duel and accusing him of kidnapping his daughter Mabel—the very one he himself had deserted years earlier. In his letter, von Schmidt stated, “A duel will give him and me a show to see who shall keep dear Mabel. If he will not fight me, then a sharp knife in the back will do him some good, perhaps.”

Major Tilden was vacationing with his family in Yosemite Valley at the time of this letter, but Charles Baird, vice-president of the Overland Freight Transfer Company, of which Tilden was president, commented on von Schmidt: “The man is undoubtedly out of his senses. Instead of being kidnapped, the girl was deserted by von Schmidt about three years ago when he went to Tahiti. She then went to the home of her aunt, Mrs. Tilden in this city, and was cared for there.”

Committed

The 1902 threatening letter to Tilden was not the first time that Alfred von Schmidt was in the news. In November 1894, Alfred sued his brother Edward and his father, Colonel A. W. Schmidt for having him committed to Dr. Potter’s Home for the Inebriates in San Francisco. Alfred had been charged with being “insane and dangerous to be at large,” after he smashed windows at his father’s office in San Francisco, and wrote threatening letters to his brother and father. Alfred, 36 years old at the time, was said to have previously been stricken with malarial fever while living in Fresno, which was reported to have affected his brain. The trial ultimately concluded in February of 1895, with Alfred being awarded $1 in damages from the Potter Asylum for his alleged mistreatment there. Additionally, another warrant for his arrest, initiated by his father and brother seeking his additional confinement to an institution, was rejected by Judge Daingerfield.

Unfortunately, Alfred failed to get the help he needed, and by 1909 he was once again committed to an institution—the Ukiah Asylum—for repeated threats made towards Charles L. Tilden. Sadly, Alfred’s son, George von Schmidt, was having problems of his own, and was sent by order of the court to the Boys and Girls Aid Society, while another son, Alfred von Schmidt Jr., had been sent to an institution in Glen Ellen. A judge in the cases opined gravely, “Insanity runs in the family.”

Another owner emerges

So far, the chain of ownership of 1031 San Antonio Avenue has been described here in chronological order, as Howard Havens (1896), Charles Tilden (1902), stepdaughter Marion Mitchell (1950), Joan and Preston Short (1968), and Sam and Ray Lee Thompson (1978). But as a result of these articles in the Alameda Post , a reader contacted me and added some new information to the mix. She and her husband actually purchased the home from the Shorts in 1972, and owned it for about six years before selling it to the Thompsons. These newly-discovered owners, who will be introduced in our next article, are responsible for a huge amount of renovation and restoration of the house, and deserve a great deal of credit for helping bring the mansion up to the state it’s in today. And it is they who worked with the Benefit Guild of the East Bay to completely decorate and stage the house, along with restoring the gardens, as part of getting it ready for sale in 1978, and also to serve as a Decorator’s Showcase for the Guild. This discovery has added vital information to the story of the Tilden Mansion, and will be explored a bit more in our next installment.

Up next

In addition to introducing these additional past owners, and sharing more interior and exterior photos of the house, we will also touch on a tragedy referenced in Part 2 of this story—a murder-suicide committed by one of the von Schmidt brothers. Learning which brother committed these heinous acts may surprise you. All of that, and more, when our story continues in the Alameda Post .

Contributing writer Steve Gorman has been a resident of Alameda since 2000, when he fell in love with the history and architecture of this unique town. Contact him via steve@alamedapost.com . His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Steve-Gorman .

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