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Photo: Bill Myers |
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In 1886, the Worcester, Mass., native married 22-year-old Mount Eden (Hayward) local, Ida Clawiter. As a gift to the newlyweds, Clawiter’s mother, Mary, commissioned the couple’s Eastlake-style Victorian house, which was built at what is now 2033 Central Ave. The house, which cost $5,000 to build, was completed a year after their wedding and was the couple’s home until they died—she in 1939 and he in 1940.
The Krusis—who raised their five children in the home—extensively renovated their house, beginning soon after Krusi’s retirement from his work in civil engineering circa 1910. In keeping with the then-current trends of homebuilding, the Krusis modernized their Victorian-style house by adding a stucco facade and replacing the original wraparound porch with a porte cochere, or drive-through porch.
The interior foyer was trimmed in a more fashionable quarter-sawn oak while mahogany woodwork and a grand staircase were added to the adjacent parlor. Also about this time, two small bedrooms on the lower level were most likely converted into what is now a long, spacious dining room that can easily accommodate a large dinner party. To make up for the lost sleeping quarters downstairs, more bedrooms were added upstairs, creating the five-bedroom, six-bath house it is today.
Although many changes were made to modernize and enhance the home, the family was able to preserve some of its Victorian heritage, evident in the remaining square bay window in the dining room and the original redwood wainscoting in the sitting room, which may have been the original dining room.
After the remodel was completed, Krusi, who was not one to sit back and take retirement seriously, served in World War I before returning home to head the Alameda municipal electric department. Happy to have Krusi back home, the family celebrated by building Alameda’s first municipal golf course on Bay Farm Island and donated land for Krusi Park at 900 Mound St.
After the Krusis’ deaths, the house was donated to the Red Cross during World War II and later became a boardinghouse for many years. According to local lore, a teenage Jim Morrison (well before his days as the front man for The Doors) lived at the boardinghouse in 1957 while his father was in the Navy at Alameda Point.
In 1994, after many years of neglect, the house was restored and turned into a bed and breakfast, which operated for about six years. Today, the historically rich house belongs to Kathy Chang and David Howard, who are raising their two grade-school children in a home they are taking great care to preserve.
“When we bought this house, not only were we not looking for a historic home, we weren’t in the market for a house at all. But when we saw this place, we couldn’t resist,” says Howard.
They admit the mansion is not a typical place for modern-day children to live, but the notable residence, they say, makes the perfect home for a family that simply adores the house. That fondness is what keeps the couple intent on caring for the home for the foreseeable future, a commitment that will allow them to continue to protect and carry forth the home’s unique legacy.
