Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 85

i i. i I 1 'A ''V 1 -'A Last Days Of Historic Mansion Index to Real Estate Financial Rentals RENTALS Apartments 300-309 Boarding 344 Business Locations 370-372 Halls. Garages 373-374 Hotel, Motel, Apartments 321 REAL ESTATE Acreage for Subdivision Alameda County 30-49 Business Property, Sites 22 Contra Costa County 50-69 Income Property 20-29 Industrial Property, Sites 23 Loans on Realty 1 Motels, Trailer Parks 21 Oakland Lots 10 Oakland Homes 11-16 Other Real Estate 70-93 FINANCIAL 325 326 376 Houses Industrial for Leas Multiple Dwellings Duplexes Flats etc. Out of Town Rental Bureaus Rentals to Share Rest Homes, etc Rooms Suburban Vacation Places 323 342 351 327 348-350 328 329 341 343 Business Opportunities Investments Loans on Autos Loans, on Realty Mines, Oil, Timber Money to Loan 110 140 170 1 120 151 For Other Classifications See Index First Page, Section II Too Late to Classify on Page 54 REALTY REVIEW 35 Million Can Come to Party By JOHN FERRIS Tribune Real Estate Writer "Happy birthday, FHA. PnJn.nl Ilnnrinil A Jn.mMlInn ir i i i it J-fcrMii1hmswiiBi ii i nn i inn nn 1- r-toawi)8ti i IwawJ William McKinley was president.

The Boer War was being fought in South Africa. A monthly subscription to the Oakland Tribune cost 50 cents. And skilled craftsmen, working with hand tools, were putting the ornate finishing touches on Capt. Thomas Mein's elegant mansion in Oakland's most fashionable residential district The year was 1899. Now, 65 years later, the old three-story Mein home and its carriage house are awaiting demolition which will clear the.

way for a 34-unit apart- ment building. The Mein dwelling is the Jast to go of jeveral graciois old Street mansions "which" quartered many of Oakland's prominent families during the Victorian era. It stood next door to the famous Latham mansion purchased by James H. Latham for $65,000 in 1873. Death Sentence Economics sounded the death knell for the Mein mansion, as it did for the others in the stylish residential area.

Speaking of the Oakland Lakeshore district in its report, "Design Resources in the Oakland Central District," the Oakland City Planning Department has observed: "Although a few examples of early residential architecture remain, it is questionable whether they can be economically preserved under pressure of increasing apartment development." Nick P. Alevizos, present owner of the property, would like to see the old house preserved but says he has found the planning department's view is true. Today, many of the original furniture and furnishings of the house go on the auction block. Articles to be sold to the highest bidders include marble fireplace SUNDAY, JULY 26, 1964 1-C Ghosts from an older, more gracious day in Oakland's history seem to walk through these rooms in the Old Mein mansion. But the house on Jackson Street is soon to join them in the past, and a three-story apartment house will take its place.

Marble fireplace facings like the one at the left will be among articles to be auctioned at the mansion today, as well as the iron fence and porch pillars seen In front of the house in lower picture. In the top picture is seen the graceful winding staircase, one of the most beautiful examples of this formal centerpiece of home design. facinfisTttW mantels, rod paneling, tables mis yccii inc 1'cucidi iiuuaui -iuiuuiiau auuu ia observing the 30th anniversay of its founding. Thirty years ago, and before, a buyer who was not prepared to make a down payment or a third or more of the purchase price often had to put off the idea of owning a home. Or he had to finance it with a shaky arrangement of first, second -and maybe even third mortgages.

Nor could he take 25, 30 or 35 years to repay the loan. Five years was more like it. Back in 1934 the Federal Housing Administration was a fledgling agency with untried programs. Today, FHA has compiled a record of service to 35 million Americans whose goal has been better housing. It has insured mortgages and loans in excess of $90 billion for the purchase of homes, property improvements or multi-family units FHA operates from the sidelines.

It does no building or lending and under normal circumstances has no direct contact with home buyers. Initial Borrowing Repaid Although FHA makes no loans, its program of insuring lenders against loss on mortgage and home improvement loans has been a major influence in the revolution that has taken place in lending practices. Mortgage terms considered revolutionary when Congress first made them eligible for FHA insurance have now been adopted and even liberalized in conventional mortgage lending. FHA mortgage insurance helps lenders to make financing available to you as a home buyer on terms that you can meet. The home buyer has a wider choice of better homes.

The agency has underwritten mortgages covering almost 7 million home units for a total of more than $63 billion. Insured property improvement loans have helped families upgrade their housing with improvements that are valued at $16 billion. Moreover, the mortgage insurance program has helped finance more than a million with a mortgage value of more than $11 billion. FHA appraisals establish reasonable values for homes. FHA property standards have helped the home building industry bring about greater improvements in construction, designs and materials.

And on top of all this, FHA is a self-supporting agency. Initial borrowings from the U.S. Treasury have been repaid with interest and, since July 1, 1940, the agency has met all its expenses and losses out of income derived from fees, premiums and investments in government 'formed to Assist lenders- Today, its insurance reserves against losses total about $1 billion, proof of the agency's fiscal soundness and of Its service in the area of mortgage financing. A small dark cloud is lurking over FHA at this moment, however. On May 21 the House of Representatives passed the Independent Offices Appropriations Bill cutting the FHA appropriation request for the fiscal year beginning July 1 by $6,125,000.

Most was for operation of FHA field offices. The sum has been ordered restored by a Senate committee, but the House and Senate have yet to get together on the matter. Lenders and builders both have branded the House action as false economy. Emphasizing that FHA does not impose any burden on the Federal Treasury, Carey Winston, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, has declared: "The result of the House action is to make it difficult for home buyers who are willing for FHA's services to obtain it. "The delays also are costly to builders and, Realtors, who therefore discourage people from using FHA loans, thus denying the home buyers of the country the low down payments and longer terms offered by FHA." Congress itself has imposed substantial new responsibilities on FHA from year to year, he pointed out.

"The agency's expenses and jobs only increase as Congress imposes new functions and as the public uses its services," Winston continued. "This federal agency was conceived and has always operated to. assist, not to supplant, private enterprise' he concluded. "FIIA-insured home loans are still the best bargain In the market for borrower and investor alike." to Wtftf iwW-fcwjpW and chairs, stair railings, built-in cabinets, old pictures, a colored glass skylight, round plate glass windows and chandeliers. Old Iron Fence Even the iron fence and porch pillars are certain to attract buyers.

The auction will be conducted by Romano Auction Galleries and will begin at 12 noon. 5TOjCapt. nal owner, helped introduce hydraulic mining to California and later made a fortune in South African mining ventures. His financial resources made it unnecessary to scrimp on construction and appointments. However, Captain Mein did not live long enough to derive much enjoyment from the home.

He had been sentenced to death by the Dutch for alleged high treason during the Boer War and, although subsequently pardoned, never regained the health he lost during a harsh imprisonment. He died May 4, 1900. Capt. Mein's widow, continued to reside in the mansion until her death- in 1926. It was the setting for many fashionable social functions during the first quarter of the century.

William Wallace Mein, the captain's son who also gained international distinction over the years as a mining engineer, made Continued on Page 2-C 4 4 itLrfW-. HI.