Beulah Rest Home - Oakland

Oakland Tribune 1928 ⁶

The Beulah Rest Home was a retirement home for Christian workers in the Beulah Heights neighborhood at 4690 Tompkins Avenue. ²

The land was donated by Carrie Judd Montgomery. A c.1896 structure had been in use as retirement home since 1913. ¹⁰ Planning for a new, larger home began in 1926 to replace the original building when it was badly damaged in a fire. ⁸ When funds were raised, construction would begin. ⁴ Ground was broken in April, 1928, ⁷ the cornerstone was placed in October, ⁵ and construction completed in November. The firm of Wythe, Blaine and Olson were the architects. ^6,11

Mrs. J.W. Henderson was the "prime mover" in the establishment of the home. ¹ She was president of the building committee.

In 1951, ground was broken for a new wing; ⁹ it was completed in 1953. An addition to that wing was made in 1958. ¹¹

1926 Sanborn excerpt1950 Sanborn excerpt1957 Sanborn excerpt

Other Uses

In 1996-1997, the building was used by the American Veterans Housing and Rehabilitation Program. Initially it was to provide housing for veterans who needed traditional and emergency housing. That morphed over time; in June 1997, only 8 of the 25 tenants were veterans. Neighbors were unhappy because they said the facility attracted transients. The city eventually shut the facility down because the group failed to get needed permits. ^14,15

Present Day

The building still stands at 4690 Tompkins Avenue.

In 2017 the building was vacant. The owners obtained approval to convert the building into a 40-unit condo project, and listed the building (along with eight adjacent "partially occupied" cottages and an occupied single family residence) for sale at a price of $5.6 million. ³ The property was sold on August 24, 2017, at a price of $6.195 million according to public records.

The Beulah Rest Home was designated as a Heritage Property by action of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board on July 9, 2018.¹² The main purpose of the application was to make the building eligible for consideration under the Mills Act.

In 2019, the new owners finalized the process of converting the main building into 40 condominium units, and separating this building from the adjacent cottages and single family residence through recordation of a parcel map.¹³ Although the individual units could be sold as separate condominiums, the building is entirely owned by the most recent developer and is currently rented as individual apartments under the name The Paloma at Oakland Hills.