5 Juniper Dr, Lafayette, CA 94549

Historic Lafayette Estate. Offers due Tuesday, 7/31. This grand Lafayette estate with a storied history is available for the first time in over 50 years. On a 1.4 acre parcel, the one-of-a-kind home is perfectly situated with a spectacular large and level front yard and circular driveway, adjacent to the community pool area and tennis court. The back yard, with its framed view of Mt. Diablo, has been the site of fantastic parties and weddings. The home features 6+ bedrooms and four and a half baths, all on one level, plus a big basement area downstairs. Built by a family in the lumber business in the Great Gatsby era, it is no surprise that this house has great bones, of center cut true dimension lumber. With the Spanish tile roof, grand drive-through entryway, magnificent fireplace, and 13 sets of double French doors around the exterior, the architecture is timelessly classic, and the look today is mostly unchanged from the 1920s. The family of lumber baron, E.K. Wood, built the estate at what is now 5 Juniper Drive in 1925 and called it Woodland Lodge. The home is featured on page 110 of the historical book,Lafayette, by Mary McCosker and Mary Solon. Originally, it featured a seven hole golf course, stables, a tennis court, barbecue area, and the large pool area. Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning playwright, Eugene O Neill, and his wife, actress Carlotta Monterey, lived here from June through December, 1937. The estate was later sold to Harvey Lyon, the moving and storage magnate. Lyon, after developing Hidden Valley Estates, sold the remaining 16 acres to Johnson Clark, in 1956. Johnson Clark subdivided it, and sold the mansion at 5 Juniper to Howard and Florence Russell. Johnson Clark, working with Howard Russell, set up the structure of todays Woodland Hill homeowner association, in which 35 surrounding homes, and 5 Juniper Drive, currently share the pool and tennis court. For more information, contact Troy at 925-550-2353