Dunsmuir House was built by Alexander Dunsmuir, who came to the Bay Area in 1878. The son of Robert Dunsmuir, a wealthy coal baron from Victoria, British Columbia, Alexander oversaw the family business in San Francisco.

When Alexander purchased the large estate in the rolling East Bay foothills, the land featured fruit orchards, farms and vestiges of the Spanish rancho days. The elegant mansion was built as a wedding gift for his beloved Josephine in December 1899. Tragically, Alexander became ill and died while in New York on their honeymoon. Josephine returned alone to her new home where she resided until her death in 1901.

In 1906, the estate was purchased by I.W. Hellman Jr. who worked for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, as a summer home for his family. They dubbed their estate Oakvale Park. By 1913 the mansion was remodeled to accommodate the growing Hellman family and their acquisitions from European travels.

The Hellmans enjoyed the estate together for fourteen years until Mr. Hellman died in 1920. Mrs. Hellman kept the estate, where her children and grandchildren came for long summer days, until the late 1950's. During the Hellman era the landscaping at the northern end of the estate was developed, and the swimming pool and Dinkelspiel House were added to the estate.

The estate was purchased by the City of Oakland in the early 1960s with the intent of using the grounds and mansion as a conference center. The latter did not prove feasible and a non-profit organization was formed in 1971 to preserve and restore the estate for the public benefit. For many years, the non-profit group and the City jointly operated the estate.

In June 1989 an Agreement was entered into between the City of Oakland and the non-profit Dunsmuir House and Gardens, Inc. whereby the City gave the non-profit full responsibility for funding, operating, promoting, preserving, restoring, developing and improving Dunsmuir House and Gardens Historic Estate. The 50-acre estate is to be used as an educational, historical, cultural, and horticultural resource.

The Dunsmuir House mansion has been designated a National Historic Site by the United States Department of the Interior and both the mansion and the Carriage House have been designated Historic Landmarks by the City of Oakland.

The Dunsmuir mansion, designed by San Francisco architect, J. Eugene Freeman, is an example of Neoclassical-Revival architecture popular in the late 1800s. The 37-room mansion features a Tiffany-style dome, wood paneled public rooms, 10 fireplaces and inlaid parquet floors within its 16,224 square feet. Servants quarters in the house are designed to accommodate 12 live-in staff.

Golden Gate Park's landscape architect,

John McLaren, is said to have assisted the Hellmans in designing the Dunsmuir gardens. A wide variety of trees, including Camperdown Elms, Bunya-Bunya and Hornbeam, still grace the estate's gardens and expansive meadows. In addition, the Hellman estate contained a golf course, formal croquet court, tennis court, swimming pool with Mission-style bathhouse, glass conservatory with grotto, an elaborate aviary, formal garden maze, and Japanese garden.

Scottish Highland Games have been held in the Bay Area since the mid 1860’s, organized mainly by the Caledonian Club of San Francisco, and periodically by the St. Andrew’s Societies of San Francisco and of Oakland. The  first Highland Games at the Dunsmuir House was in 1974, organized by the Black Raven Pipe Band (pictured on the cover). We are proud to be able to continue that tradition of holding games here some 30 years later. Scottish Highland Games held outside Scotland are a link to the native homeland to foster the customs, cultures and traditions of Scottish heritage. The Scottish connection with the Dunsmuir House estate comes from Alexander Dunsmuir who established the Dunsmuir Mansion in 1899. You may see some of the Dunsmuir volunteers here today wearing a Perthshire District tartan—Murray of Atholl. The Dunsmuir family originally came from Perthshire in Scotland although Alexander was the son of Robert Dunsmuir, a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. Robert immigrated to British Columbia to work in the Canadian coal mines. by the 1880’s, he had become one of the richest men in Canada.

The origin of games in the Highlands of Scotland dates back to the days when clan chiefs would organize athletic events to select the strongest and best warriors for the battlefield. Tests of strength and skill were given, with prizes awarded to the winners. Malcolm Canmore—Malcolm III (the one who defeated Macbeth), is credited with organizing the first Games at Braemar in the 11th century. Modern Highland Games stem from Victorian times and include the traditional athletics, bagpipes, and Scottish dancing, with Clan societies, vendors, and Living History groups added here in the U.S. We hope you will enjoy the diversity here at Dunsmuir and come again next year!