Theta Xi Chapter House

1730 La Loma Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Daniella Thompson

Theta Xi chapter house shortly after completion (photo: Picturing Berkeley)

Few houses in Berkeley (or anywhere, for that matter) can boast the picturesque setting and the colorful history of the Theta Xi chapter house. Located at the corner of La Loma and Le Conte Avenues in Daley’s Scenic Park, the house is attractively situated above the naturally wooded canyon of the north tributary of Strawberry Creek. The grounds include a sunken garden with a creekside amphitheater. Now known as Kingman Hall, the building faithfully mirrors the history of both Berkeley and the campus over the greater part of the 20th century. In fact, it can be said to be a microcosm of our city during each phase of its history in the past 90 years.

The house was built in 1914 for Nu Chapter of the Theta Xi fraternity. The chapter had been founded on 22 March 1910 as Theta Xi’s first West Coast colony. Its first house was located at 1739 Euclid Avenue, where it remained until 1914. The 20-room house at 1730 La Loma Avenue was built to the fraternity’s specifications and was completed in time for the fall term of 1914, when all the members moved in. Nu Chapter resided at 1730 La Loma Avenue until 1964. Their secret initiation rites, traditionally held in a dark hall in the basement of the building, were the subject of rumors. Craig Healy, resident of the house from 1969 until 1972, occupied this basement room for a time. He describes it as a large, windowless 20’ x 30’ room. Mr. Healy remembers that at least twenty framed caricatures used to hang on the walls during his residence there. These caricatures depicted members of the fraternity who were BMOC (“Big Men on Campus”) during the ’50s and early ’60s. Mr. Healy also remembers scores of gold-painted, five-pointed wooden stars lined up in a rack on the wall of this basement room.

Nu Chapter was forced to disband in 1964 owing to the strong anti-Greek sentiment prevailing on campus. Mr. Healy reports that prior to his moving into the house in 1969, he heard that a tragedy had occurred there in a fraternity hazing incident. Rumor had it that a pledge had died as a result of choking on a piece of liver in the dark basement room. A new effort to reestablish Nu Chapter was mounted in 1976, when men were recruited and a colony was formed. Tony Gionotti and Charlie Hart, two members of the Beta Epsilon Chapter, were responsible for this recolonization. The Nu colony was granted its charter on 28 May 1977. All recharter members were duly initiated by members of the National Headquarters at the chapter’s current house, formerly Dr. Cornelius Beach Bradley’s house (Edgar A. Mathews, 1897) on 2639 Durant Avenue, designated a Berkeley Landmark in November 1997.

The La Loma chapter house was designed in the European country-house style by San Francisco architects Drysdale & Thomson, who were not an architectural firm but most likely teamed up for this specific project. No information is available about Thomson, who may have been the project’s engineer. The senior member of the team, Charles W. Drysdale, was the right-hand man of eminent San Francisco architect George William Kelham (1871–1936).

Under George Kelham, Charles Drysdale was involved in the
design of the Panama-Pacific Exposition.

Kelham is well known for his distinctive designs of numerous San Francisco landmarks such as the Palace Hotel (1909); the Old Main Library at the Civic Center (1917); the former Standard Oil Building at 225 Bush St. (1922); the original Bank of America building (1924); the old Federal Reserve Building (1924); the Russ Building at 235 Montgomery St. (1927–28); the Shell Building at 100 Bush St. (1929); the Hills Brothers Coffee Factory (1933); and the Mt. Davidson Cross. Kelham was chief architect of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition and chair of the commission of the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939), for which he planned the Court of the Moon, Court of Seven Seas, and Treasure Gardens. Kelham succeeded John Galen Howard as the University of California’s supervising architect, a position he kept from 1927 until his death. His Berkeley designs include Bowles Hall (1928–29), California’s first state-owned college dormitory; the Life Sciences Building (1930); International House (1930); Moses Hall (1931); McLaughlin Hall (School of Engineering, 1931); and Harmon Gymnasium (1933, altered beyond recognition in 1998, when it was reconstructed as the Haas Pavilion). In addition, Kelham was the master planner of the UCLA campus, determined the look of Royce Hall, and personally designed the Powell Library, the Men’s Gymnasium, Haines Hall, and Moore Hall.

San Francisco Old Main Library (photo: Carnegie Libraries of California)

Charles W. Drysdale oversaw all of Kelham’s major architectural projects until his own premature death in 1918. These projects included San Francisco’s Palace Hotel (rebuilt after the earthquake and fire and reopened in 1909), the Panama Pacific Exposition (1915), and the Old Main Library at the Civic Center (1917). Drysdale’s obituary was published in Architect & Engineer (September 1918):

Obituary
Sudden Death of Mr. C. W. Drysdale
Mr. Charles W. Drysdale, who for the past twelve years had been in charge of the office of Mr. George W. Kelham, architect in the Sharon building, San Francisco, died suddenly of heart failure September 4th. A short time before his death Mr. Drysdale was conversing with his chief and apparently was enjoying the best of health. He expired at his desk before medical assistance could be procured. Mr. Drysdale came to Mr. Kelham from Chicago in October, 1906, and had been intimately associated with him in carrying out all the large projects that have been handled by Mr. Kelham since taking up the practice of architecture in San Francisco. Mr. Kelham was especially pleased with Mr. Drysdale’s work in connection with the building of the Carnegie Library in the San Francisco Civic Center. The minutest detail was not overlooked here. Mr. Drysdale personally designed and superintended the construction of the new Elks’ home in San Rafael, himself being an active member of that order. Mr. Kelham pays a high tribute to the worth and character of the deceased. “He was the fine type of man and in every way a credit to the profession,” said Mr. Kelham. Mr. Drysdale was 45 years old and is survived by a widow.

Theta Xi chapter house in a Berkeley promotional brochure (photo: E.J. McCullagh)

After it had ceased to be a fraternity house, the building became known as Toad Hall. Between 1964 and 1969, it was a rooming house for male students. In 1969, the owners put the property on the market with the intention of selling it to a developer who wished to construct a high-rise apartment building. Instead, the building was purchased by Harold Mefford, a Hayward attorney whose professed intention was to provide much needed affordable housing to students, but who in fact rented to all comers, including “a group of musicians.” Craig Healy, who resided at Toad Hall during the Mefford period, says that the house functioned more like a commune than a rooming house and housed at most fifty-percent students. One of the residents was Joy, Country Joe McDonald’s personal secretary, who lived in a basement room. Author/Merry Prankster Ken Kesey (not to be confused with author/future owner Ken Keyes Jr.) and rock star David Crosby used to buy their drugs from one of Toad Hall’s residents, and their cars were often seen parked in front of the house. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Toad Hall was an epicenter of the Berkeley counterculture—the coolest place to live.

The neighbors weren’t thrilled with the building’s transformation. A complaint letter dated 27 October 1969 from neighbor Elena Herr to the Zoning Officer stated:

[...] it is again used as a rooming house with kitchen facilities for couples and single people, who by the way, seem little permanent and some rather strange. The house’s appearance has deteriorated in such a way that it is a threat to the neighborhood. Blankets and pieces of cloth hang from the windows in the way of curtains and the front lawn is being used as a parking lot. In order to reach it the cars go over the sidewalk, or the neighbor’s property. Cars and motorcycles are also being repaired there. It is also unlikely that the building meets the city standards of health and safety. There are at least three dogs that have caused much nuisance barking, and even running after children with the intention of biting. They have also come into my property and destroyed flowers [...]

The Mefford era was short-lived. In 1973 the building changed hands again and became the Living Love Center. On Saturday, 14 April 1973, the Berkeley Gazette reported:

Toad Hall, formerly a fraternity house at 1730 LaLoma Ave. in the Berkeley Hills, has been purchased by the Living Love Center, a non-profit organization that offers “Weekend Happiness Intensives” conducted by Ken Keyes Jr., author of “Living Love—a Way to Higher Consciousness.” The 25-bedroom house was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Harold Mefford of Hayward for $127,000, according to a spokesman for the center. The four-level structure has a spacious hall for gatherings and the property is notable for a sunken garden with a brook. The center is offering an open house every Sunday at 8 p.m., providing free lectures on “how to live a happy, fulfilling life.”

“The Living Love Way” was disseminated via broadcasts on KQED-FM every Saturday evening from 7:30 to 8:00. The Center’s brochure provided the following information:

The Weekend Consciousness Growth Intensive is based on the rapid, modern methods described in the Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes, Jr. [...] We use simple living arrangements in which the participants of the Intensive sleep on a carpeted floor of a large room. The morning breathing exercises are done without clothing. We suggest that you bring a blanket or sleeping bag, a towel, toilet articles, and simple clothing. We request no drugs be brought into the Center, and that there be no sexual activity during the Friday through Sunday period of the Intensive. We ask that you bring no children or pets for they could interfere with concentrating on the program. Wholesome food is provided.

The neighbors found no reason to be satisfied with the new arrangement. A request for service dated 8 May 1973 notes the following complaint:

“A very large bus, possibly a converted Greyhound, used as a permanent living quarters by its owner, is parked conspicuously in the front yard of 1730 La Loma.” “Ugly & offensive.”

The follow-up report states:

Discussed situation with Kenneth Keys [sic]. He has purchased the property and is temporarily living on the bus because he is a paraplegic [...]

Two years later, on 16 June 1975, a memo from Zoning Officer Robert B. Humphrey stated:

Mrs. Elena Herr, 1731 La Loma Avenue, has complained to me about the use of the property at 1730 La Loma Avenue. This is the old Abracadabra Fraternity now occupied by the Living Love Center, founded by Ken Keyes [...] They are the owners since 1973. Mr. Keyes characterized the use of the premises as “monastic” and not unlike a fraternity [...]

Mr. Keyes states that they are tax exempt as a religious organization and operate on a non-profit basis. During the time we talked, a quite audible moaning noise could be heard. Mr. Keyes said it was part of their activity, but seemed reticent about particulars [...]

Robert Humphrey had apparently confused Theta Xi with the real Abracadabra Fraternity, a local organization found only on the Berkeley campus. In the mid-’60s, this fraternity merged with the Delta Chi California Chapter, which thereafter took on the name Abracadabra.

The battle to dislodge the Living Love Center continued for four years, with numerous complaints from neighbors, city inspections, and inter-departmental memos. But all attempts were to no avail. Then the center itself decided to pull up stakes. Mrs. Elena Herr, a longtime resident of La Loma Avenue, says there was a movement afoot to make the center pay taxes, and that was the reason for its relocation. The center itself claimed it had outgrown the premises. On 22 November 1976, the center approached the city of Berkeley with an offer to donate the property for park use if it could be determined that it was located on the Hayward fault line. The city declined the offer. Mrs. Herr says that a neighbor/developer wished to buy the property and build apartments there, and she brought the matter to the attention of the University Students’ Cooperative Association (USCA), suggesting they buy it. The building was in fact sold to USCA in 1977.

Kingman Hall in the 1990s (photo: Kingman Hall)

The ancient house dog Xochitl, now deceased, at the entrance (photo: Kingman Hall)

Student co-op buys Living Love home

The Living Love Center, 1730 LaLoma St., has been sold to the University Students’ Cooperative Assn. for $300,000, it was announced. Escrow is expected to close June 15 and the sale is contingent on financing arrangements. The Living Love Center, a communal “consciousness growth school teaching the science of happiness” is moving to a 115-acre farm-university in St. Mary’s, Ky., according to Marsha Laughter (pronounced Law-ter originally, now pronounced mirthfully as it looks). The center, based in Berkeley since 1972, will become the “Cornucopia Institute” in Kentucky, Mrs. Laughter said.

The Daily Californian, 24 May 1977

USCA dedicated 1730 La Loma Avenue in October 1977 as Harry Kingman Hall, in honor of the general secretary of Stiles Hall (University YMCA), who in February 1933 inspired 14 U.C. students to start the first student housing cooperative in Berkeley. USCA is now the largest student residential cooperative in North America, housing over 1,200 people.

La Loma façade, 2004 (photo: Daniella Thompson)

Whatever happened to the original windows? (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004)

Photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004

The 51 residents of Kingman Hall carry on the traditions of their various predecessors in the annual Living Love party, an initiation rite that takes place each fall. This writer had occasion to witness a small part of the ceremony when she went over to complain of the loud shrieks emanating from the creekside garden one evening. Residents and initiates dress in togas (or sheets draped as such). One by one, the newbies descend, book in hand, into the dimly lit entrance hall, where an electronic keyboard provides eery background music. Whether this tradition incorporates occult artifacts from the Theta Xi or Abracadabra fraternities is not publicly known.

Theta Xi chapter house, aka Kingman Hall, was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in January 1999. The building and the grounds are listed in the California State Historic Resources Inventory.

Sometime after the landmark designation of the building, Kingman Hall replaced the 2nd- and 3rd-story windows with aluminum ones. The original windows were made of wood, with true divided lites in the upper panes. The new windows have dark frames and internal grilles between solid panes. The window replacemet appears to have been done without a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004

(photos: Daniella Thompson, 2004)

Kingman Hall from the air in 1994. The wooded thicket left of the parking lot conceals a creekside patio and amphitheatre. The small house below Kingman Hall is the Lydia & William Atterbury house (McCrea & Knowles, 1898) at 2656 Le Conte Ave. Several large oaks used to grow in the middle of Le Conte Ave. to the left. The cutting down of one of them generated the outpouring of sentiment expressed in this protest letter to the Berkeley City Council. Click the photo for an aerial view of Daley’s Scenic Park.

 

Copyright © 2003–2007 Daniella Thompson. All rights reserved.