Presented by Anne McKereghan Phone: +1 510.407.0175 Email: a.mckereghan@ggsir.com Lic.# 01385914 Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty www.goldengatesir.com
When I was a child in the late 1940's my friends and I would play on the grounds of this property, the Hatch estate. This was before the second house was built so it was at least an acre of overgrown trees and shrubs, very mysterious to a group of seven year olds. We called it the jungle. One old lady lived alone in the house. We never saw her, but she had a butler who wore a tuxedo and occasionally threw us out. On the bay side of the front yard there was a big oak tree with a rope attached to a branch. We would grab the rope, swing out over the sea wall and drop to the beach. It was a pristine neighborhood beach, just beautiful. On the days we didn't go there we would go to the Alameda Yacht Club. You walked a long boardwalk at the foot of Grand to get there. When I was twelve years old heavy equipment appeared at the beach. We were bewildered. Soon the bay was filled in and a lot of ticky tacky houses were built where once there was rolling surf. Our hearts were broken and our childhood over.
