Latham-Glenn Mansion - Oakland

1893 ¹

The Latham-Glenn Mansion was at Jackson and Lake Street (now 17th Street) from 1873 until 1957. The estate included a large house, greenhouse, and separate billiard room and bowling alley, all on landscaped grounds near Lake Merritt. There was also a stable and carriage house, and the grounds included what is known as the Latham-Ducel Fountain.

The original builder went bankrupt before completing construction. ⁹

James and Henrietta Latham bought the unfinished estate in 1873 for $65,000. James Latham died in 1876 during a voyage to Europe at age 46.

The family of Dr. Hugh J. Glenn bought it in 1881. They had only lived there 15 months when Dr. Glenn was murdered in Colusa County in 1883. ⁹

In 1885, Horace H. Seaton, capitalist, purchased it. He died of a heart attack 4 years later at age 46. ⁹

From about 1889, it was the home of Martin W. Murry and his family. Murry made his fortune in mining, and died at only age 50 in 1894. He died less than a week after his stepson, Charles Griffin, died of typhoid. ²

The home still appears on the 1903 Sanborn maps, but by then the house had been modified, and the northern 1/3rd of the lot had been divided and another house built by Capt. Mein. ³

Murry's widow, (Mrs.) Griffin Murry, sold the home in 1897 to Edward G. Lukens, president of the Judson Dynamite and Powder Company and the ill-fated Western Fuse Factory. ^3,4 Lukens' son, George Russell Lukens, was a state senator; he dropped dead of a heart attack at age 43. Edward's widow Emma Lukens lived there until her death in 1925.

After the death of Emma Lukens, it was purchased by Edgard Buttner, and used as a boarding house known as the Senator Hotel. It was sometimes called the Senator Guest House. In 1932, the Ivy Room restaurant opened.

The 1950 Sanborn shows it as a boarding house. A fire in 1952 destroyed the stables, which were being used as a dance studio. ^6,7 The estate was demolished in 1957 to make way for apartments. ⁸

undated photo. Note fountain in yard