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| Sherri in Front of the Brix Building |
Capture California, the Game-2013
Adventure: 003, Site 075-Brix Mansion
National Registry ID: 83001178
California Point of Interest ID: P438
Local Registry ID: 213
Team: YOLT
Date: September 15, 2013
Location:
Coordinates:
36°44′31″N 119°46′56″W
Address: 2844
Fresno Street, Fresno
Date Built: 1911
Architect: Edward T. Foulkes
Were not able to get a really good picture of this house, either this year or last year. Last year in the late morning, the house had a pleasant show of shadows. This year, in the evening, we saw another set of shadows. But the shadows do not affect how the pictures are. Rather the house is not just a shoot and show house, but needs careful planning. Understand that you cannot get the whole house so get the character of the house. Both of us enjoyed the house, even though now it is a office building for a couple of lawyers.
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| Brix Mansion |
National Register #83001178
Brix Mansion
2844 Fresno Street
Fresno
Built 1911
Edward T. Foulkes designed this Italian villa for Herman and Helena Brix.
Mr. Brix, born in Germany, immigrated to Coalinga in the early 1880's. He and his wife were among the pioneers of this region in the western San Joaquin Valley.
After failing as a farmer, Mr. Brix went to the gold fields of Alaska where he had more success. Upon his return to Coalinga, he invested in the emerging oil industry, securing his fortune. In 1903, he moved to Fresno, invested in many properties, and built a suitable home, the only pure Italian villa in Fresno.
Today the Brix Mansion is a commercial property housing law offices.
H. H. Brix Mansion (1911)
2844 Fresno Street
Edward
T. Foulkes, Architect
Italian Renaissance Revival
The Brix Mansion was constructed for Herman H. and Helena S. Brix
in 1910-1911. Herman H. Brix made a pioneering contribution to the
development of Coalinga and was influential in the commercial
expansion of Fresno.
Born in Germany in 1862, Brix immigrated to the United States in the early 1880s, eventually arriving in California. He and his wife were among the pioneering settlers of the Coalinga area, on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. After an unsuccessful attempt at grain farming, Brix left to seek his fortune in the Alaskan gold rush. Meanwhile, Coalinga underwent an oil boom. Returning with a modest stake from his Yukon endeavors, Brix formed a water company on his homestead and made a fortune investing in oil properties. By 1915, Brix and his associates owned 1400 acres of west-side oil lands. He was associated with the Confidence Oil Company, was President of the B & B Oil Company, President of the San Francisco Oil Company, a director of the St. Paul & Fresno Oil Company, and a one-sixth investor in the Coalinga Syndicate.
Having relocated to Fresno by 1903, Brix invested heavily in properties in that city after 1909. Not only did he commission his magnificent mansion on Fresno Street, but he was an important stockholder in the Hotel Fresno development. He also was responsible for the construction of the attractive four-story Brix Apartments in 1912. Though Brix died in 1915, his dream of a multi-story office building was accomplished by the Brix Estate in 1922 with the construction of the imposing Brix Building on Fulton Street.
In addition to its historical associations, the Brix Mansion possesses considerable architectural significance. Designed by architect Edward T. Foulkes, it represents a brilliant example of a period-inspired Italian Villa, the only residence in Fresno built in this lavishly-embellished style.
References:
- Guide
to Historic Fresno
- National Registry of Historical Places-Documents
and Photos
- Noehill
Overall Landmark References:
- State of California Historical
Resources (CHR)
- National
Registry of Historical Places (NRHP)
- Noehill
(NOE)
- Fresno – Local
Historical Sites (FRLO)
- Fresno – National
Historical Sites (FRNA)
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