The John Hopkins Spring Estate is a large estate in Berkeley, California. The associated Spring Mansion was built in the 1910s by East Bay developer John Hopkins Spring and designed by architect

John Hudson Thomas John Hudson Thomas (18781945) was an American architect, who practiced in Northern California. Biography John Hudson Thomas was born in Nevada in 1878. His family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area when he was still young. He attended Yale U ...

. It later became the site of a school founded by educator Cora Lenore Williams. It has been listed as a City of Berkeley Landmark since 2000.

Location

The estate currently occupies 3.25 acres in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

in the

Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges, and overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la Co ...

. Formerly covering 20 acres, it was associated with three separate addresses: 639 Arlington Avenue, 1960 San Antonio Ave., and 1984 San Antonio Ave. The latter address was the carriage house, which was at some point sold off as a separate property. It faces west onto Arlington Avenue and at the time it was built had a sweeping view of San Francisco Bay.

History

, the two-story, 12,000-square-foot Spring Mansion was built in 1912–14. Though modeled after the Achilleion Palace in Corfu that was built by

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

in the 1890s, it was constructed entirely of steel-reinforced concrete. The Beaux Arts-influenced exterior conceals an eclectic interior with elements drawn from the American

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

and the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Ho ...

. Balustraded terraces lead down into the grounds, which were originally designed by

Mark Daniels Mark Roy Daniels (1881 – January 14, 1952) was an architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, and city planner active in California. He was known for creating plans that incorporated existing natural features in order to preserve a sense ...

and include a fountain and a reflecting pool. The house was built by East Bay developer John Hopkins Spring, best known for being one of the investors behind the Claremont Hotel. Spring didn't live there very long, moving out after his 1915 divorce. At that time, his financial difficulties caused him to sell off parts of the 20-acre property, leaving the mansion with less than 4 acres. In 1917, the property was sold to Cora Lenore Williams, who established a new school in the mansion called the Institute for Creative Development (later expanded into Williams College). The school remained there for five decades before closing in 1966. In 1975 the estate was purchased as a private residence and remained so until 2005, when it passed to a consortium of investors. It has been on the market intermittently since then. In 2000, the John Hopkins Spring Estate was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark. It is listed in the California State Historic Resources Inventory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Hopkins Spring Estate Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Houses in Alameda County, California