Oral History: Sherril Lercari – Barber

A memory walk up Springhill Road Sherril Lercari – Barber

A primary entertainment activity in the l940’s was to take a Sunday ride into the country with a picnic lunch. Our family was living in Oakland and enjoyed our weekend rides and picnic lunches. One Sunday in 1945, we came from Oakland through the tunnel to Lafayette. We visited Orchard Nursery and went on to have our picnic. Somehow, we ended up on Springhill Road. It was springtime and everywhere the land was covered with wild mustard several feet high. My brother Fred and I had a wonderful time playing in the field making tunnels and secret rooms. We met Nat Martino and my parents purchased the property on Springhill Road.

An architect was hired to draw plans for a house and it was soon under construction. (I believe that Marchant was the architect and that our home was one of his early plans.)
Our family would come out from Oakland every weekend to check on the construction and enjoy our new space. A family friend built an eight-foot picnic table with benches attached which was left on the property for our weekly picnics. My brother and I loved playing in the creek behind the house, exploring the pools and the tree trunks of the old Bay Trees. I particularly enjoyed holding the gentle salamanders, letting them crawl from one hand to the other, their skin was so soft and moist. Later I learned that their tiny teeth were in the shape of a “v” in the roof of their mouths to hold onto insects, the main staple of their diet,

The neighborhood at this time was just beginning to be developed. There was plenty of open space and property to explore and new friends to meet,

The Buralho family owned the property at the corner of Pleasant Hill Road and Springhill
Road. The property now belongs to the Lafayette School District and Springhill School sits on the ranch property. The lower field, now used as a playground, was a hay field. The Buralho brothers (I only remember one name, Frank.) raised hay on that field and made haystacks in the fall when the hay was cut. There was a small vineyard on the North West portion of the property. (San Reliez Court is currently located there.) In the spring Frank would hitch his horse to a hand plow and plow between the vines. As kids, any activity of this sort was exciting and we would attend the event interested in everything; the plow, the horse, his blinders, the harness and the way Frank negotiated the plow through the vines.

On the other side of Springhill Road, across from the Buralho property, under the Eucalyptus tree on the corner, was what we called a bus stop. It was a small, white structure, three sided and with a slanted roof. The roof was higher in the front than in the back. Inside were benches attached to the walls. We were told it was for busses, though I cannot ever remember a bus stopping there. It was, however, used by the newspaper delivery people to drop their bundles for the paperboys. Don Fibush was one of the neighborhood boys who picked up his papers at the corner. He rode his horse as well as his bicycle on his delivery route through the neighborhood.

Just across from Frank’s vineyard was a bridge that crossed the creek and went up the hill. (In the l950’s, the bridge needed repair. A cable, left over from WWII, said to have been used under the water across the entrance to San Francisco Bay to keep submarines from entering, was used to strengthen the structure of the bridge.) The Ingram’s and the Hopkins’ lived up the hill. The Ingrams, Jack & Venita, had two boys, Jack and Stewart. (I can’t remember who was the oldest.) Jack Senior loved to build. He built two houses just after you cross the bridge as well as his own up the hill. The cottage on the left was an English type story book house with a circular staircase to the second story. Made of wrought iron, the stair case, as well as other wrought iron pieces in all Jack’s houses, were forged by Mr. Jennings at The Lafayette Forge. The house was quite small with a living room and kitchen on the main floor and bedrooms upstairs. The house sits at the edge of the creek and received extensive damage to the patio in one very rainy winter. The house on the right was, according to Venita, built by her suggestion, in the Eichler style with a flat roof and an interior courtyard Up the hill was the Ingram’s main house. An enormous Valley Oak grew in the center of the patio. Venita was a devout gardener and raised beautiful rhododendrons and azaleas in this shaded oasis. When the family went to Pinecrest for the summer, I was hired to keep the garden watered.

The inside of the main house showed Jack’s ideas and thoughts on construction. From the main entrance, you stepped down several steps with a wrought iron rail, into the living room. The corner fireplace was raised above the floor with pipes that curved from under the base, up the back and over the top, facing back into the room. Open at both ends to the room, this design created convection heat; drawing cool air in at the base, pulling it up behind the fireplace, where it was heated and then returning the warm air to the room. A step beyond the living room was a sunroom. It was narrow and rectangular in shape, with a great deal of good light. The windows on three sides were small and a bit waverly. They were the discarded windshields of early cars. Jack recycled and repurposed many things before it was popular to do so. (Actually, we all did, as this was just after World War II and many things were scarce, or not even available,) Some of the furniture in the rest of the house was built in, designed and created by Jack.

Just beyond the Ingram’s house was a flat area that had been prepared for another house. The pad had been carved from the side of the hill leaving an exposed sandstone rock wall. This was a favorite destination to explore for fossils. We found many seashells on our visits to this place which we dubbed “fossil hill”, From this we learned that this part of where we were living had, at one time, been under the sea.

Up the hill lived the Hopkins family. Mr. Hopkins was a professor and ham operator. He had a very tall radio tower at his home. In the summer, when the grass on the hill dried, we would hike up the hill with our cardboard boxes in hand, to go sliding. My brother tells me he took a different route, up through the creek, to go sliding, Exploring the hillsides was great fun. We kept track of the different wild flowers as they came up and bloomed through the spring and early summer. Buttercups, Indian Soap Plant, Wild Onion, Lupine and many others were species we identified and awaited their seasonal appearance. Having this opportunity kept us in touch with the seasons.

From the bridge, if you turned right, there was a large piece of property that bordered the creek and Pleasant Hill Road. The “older” boys used their knot tying skills to secure a rope to a branch of one of the Bay trees; this was our swing across the creek. We would grab the rope, run up the bank, climb on and swing across to the other side. After we landed, we would run up the bank on the other side and swing back for the next person’s turn. This property was sold in the 50’s to a family with the last name of Graves. They built two houses: one for the family and one for Gramma. I remember he ran for the Governorship of California, but did not continue beyond the Primary Ballot.

On Springhill, our house was the first one on the right. Across the street two houses were being built, others up the street, up Martino Road and Brown Road. With all this construction, there was plenty to explore. We all learned how houses were built as we kept track of the progress after the workers went home. We watched, talked with one another, compared the progress and learned about the progressive steps in building. (OSHA would have a fit – that is something totally unacceptable today.) After the electricians left, we liked to pick up the “slugs” that were punched out of the wire boxes. We were taught to respect the work, the workers and their time. We enjoyed trying to figure out where the different rooms would be in each house. Some houses had unique plans and rooms.

Up Martino Road, the corner lot, later purchased by the Borowiak’s was a great place to play. The Jordan’s and McKeown’s were the next houses, across the street from each other. Mae and Jim Jordan had two children: Steve and Susan. The ladies of the neighborhood would periodically gather together in a sewing group. I remember one sunny summer day several of the “young ladies” joined their mothers sitting on the Jordan’s front porch with hand work. We were sewing doll clothes together and buttons on a blouse. Mac (Irving) and Elsa McKeown had a much older boy, Robin. Their house had a basement, (most unusual for the neighborhood), which a few years later held a pool table. We enjoyed learning the rules of the game, racking the balls, aiming and shooting the balls into the pockets. Of course, we put things away when we were through or we wouldn’t be invited back to take part in this activity. Mac was a Pharmacist in Berkeley and Elsa was the Librarian for a school in Pleasant Hill. During the summer she would hire me to help clean her upper cupboards. I would stand on the counter and hand things down, Elsa would wash and dry them; I would wipe down the shelf and return the clean items to their proper place. The McKeown’s had a pear orchard in front of their home,
The neighborhood children were hired to pick the pears when they were ripe,

Nat Martino lived further up on the left. His was one of the original farm houses in the neighborhood. His son, Louis lived up the road to the right. His son Jim lived up the hill to the left. (There are oral histories from the Martino family members in the archives of the Lafayette Historical Society.) The Stanley family home was located directly at the end of the road. Mr. Stanley was a member of the Lafayette Elementary School Board. Lafayette’s Middle School bears his name – M. H. Stanley Middle School. The road ended here and was our departure point for hiking up into the hill. We always went with one or two or more friends. We would hike across the hill to what is now Leslyn Way, making an arc, returning to Springhill Road. In the 1960’s Martino Road was extended to the top of the hill. This created new construction sites.

Next door to our house was a partially completed house. A Mr. Claire owned this property. He lived in the Oakland area and came out every once in a while. He drove a black Hudson and usually dressed formally in his suit and Fedora hat. The front yard had a large depression with two Eucalyptus trees that crossed the crevasse. We loved testing our balance by walking across the “bridge”. Mr. Claire’s house was sold to the Taylor family. The Harris family built the long narrow redwood house across the street from Mr. Claire. Redwood was used in most of the houses built at this time.

The Banducci’s and Fowler’s lived in the next two houses. These two homes were built after we moved in. Across from their homes, Brown Road went up the hill. The Baird family built their house on the west corner. Their original house sat across Pleasant Hill Road, just across from the entrance to Springhill Road. (It was later sold to the Ballachey family, Edgerton, Maude and their children Mike and Elizabeth. Mr. Ballachey was a professor at U.C. Berkeley; Mike became a Judge for Alameda County. When Pleasant Hill Road was widened, that house was moved up to a hillside across from Acalanes High School with access from Deer Hill Road.) Above the Baird family lived the Underhill’s. There were springs between the two homes. Mr. Baird was in the refrigeration business and had a walk-in refrigerator between the main house and the apartment.

Above the Underhill home was the home of Dr. Ellis and then Dr. Frank Brown’s home. Dr. Ellis and his wife had two girls, Susan and her younger sister. They put in a swimming pool; the first real in ground pool in the valley, During the 1950’s the Ellis family made the pool available for Red Cross swimming and Life Saving lessons. The kids in the neighborhood took these lessons, passed the exams and earned both Red Cross certificates and badges for either Girl or Boy Scouts.

The Moran family lived on Brown Road across from the Baird’s. Their house was built at the same time our house was built. Marchant was also the architect for their home. Bernie, Marge, their daughter, Jan and Marge’s mother, Katie lived in this house. They became good friends. When my mother went to work in Walnut Creek at the Klad-Eze Children’s shop on Main Street, it was Katie who cared for us. The house was later sold to the Black family. Don Black was Lafayette’s first Mayor. The Lipscomb family are current owners,

Back on Springhill Road, the Condit, Fibush and Schneider family’s homes were next. These homes were some of the earlier homes in the valley. The Condit family had one son, Phillip. Phil became the president and CEO of Boeing.

The Fibush family had four children, Don Jr., Bev, Judy and Chuck. Don and Dorothy (Dot) were the parents. Don Sr. was called to the Navy and was sent to the Pacific. Dot wrote a book, “Dark Clouds and Silver Linings”. She tells the story of life on Springhill during this time. (There is a copy in the Lafayette Historical Society.) The Fibush family was one of the few families that had two cars. Dot’s car was a “woody wagon”. When she was going “to town” to shop, she would ask neighbors if they needed anything. This was the caring community of Springhill Road,

Next to the Fibush home was the Schneider home. Jack was the owner of Orchard Nursery. His wife’s name was Markie. Their children were Susa and Glen.
Susan was a good friend and we shared many fun activities. We were both stamp collectors. (At that time, the mailman drove his own car on the route through the neighborhood. He always carried stamps and we could buy the new issues from him. At Christmas time he would drive his route two or three times a day to deliver the volume of packages and letters.) Some days we would get together at one house or the other to put new stamps in our books, trade our extras and talk about the stamps and their countries. Through our collecting, we explored other cultures of the world, learning about landmarks, dress, customs and famous people.

One year for Christmas, Susan received a pony from her grandfather, A small stall was built behind the house, next to the creek. If we wanted to ride, we took part in caring for the pony: brushing, feeding and mucking out his stall. We would saddle up the pony, bring him to the fence, climb the fence and then hop into the saddle. (We were so short that standing on the ground our legs could not stretch enough to get our feet into the stirrups.) The riding route was a circle from the stall, around the house, through the pear orchard and back. One time, when it was my turn, the pony decided to speed up to a gallop and ran under a low hanging branch of a pear tree. Thank goodness I saw it coming and ducked as flat as I could onto the saddle, getting close to his neck. I made it back to the barn intact from an exciting ride.

In mid summer the pear orchard received an enormous flat bed truck full of lug boxes. This was a fun time for all the kids in the neighborhood. It was the largest drop of lug boxes accessible to the neighborhood kids. We would stack two on end and one across the top. Lining them up, we created tunnels to crawl through. One year, the older boys build a very large, round structure. Our tunnels became the entrances and exits to the “house”. We could actually stand up inside. It was the largest thing ever created from the pear boxes. It was a marvel that something so large could be constructed from the boxes. As the pears ripened, we were hired to pick the pears and load them into the lug boxes. This was the end of our box construction for the year. To pick the pears, we had “uniforms”: over the head aprons with large pockets across the bottom. Dressed in our aprons, we would climb the three-legged fruit ladders to measure the base of the pear with a pear ring. If the pear sat on the ring and did not slip though, it was the right size, picked and put into the pocket of our apron. When the pockets were full, we would climb down the ladder emptying our fruit into the lug boxes. If the pear passed through the ring, it was left on the tree for another day. After several days of picking, the boxes were filled. The flatbed truck returned, loaded the boxes of our labor and took the pears to the cannery in Oakland. The leftovers, mostly the smaller pears, were used by the neighborhood moms for personal canning and baking. In later years Jack planted holly trees where the pear orchard was. After pear picking, we hulled the almonds and walnuts. There was always something for us to do outside in the neighborhood.

In the early l950’s, the property between the Fibush and Schneider homes became a neighborhood pool. In the early l950’s, Neighbors bought memberships to build the pool. Swimming and Red Cross Life Saving lessons were taught at the pool. It was a wonderful place to spend a hot summer day.

Across from the pool is a small cottage owned by Mrs. Baird’s mother, Mrs. Biscomb. The Racine family purchased the home. Next to Mrs. Biscomb was the Annis family. Mr. Annis was a Chemistry teacher at Acalanes. Some days he walked to school.
Then next house belonged to the Nichols family. Mr. Nichols worked with the F.B.I. I remember his nickname was “Nick,” his wife’s name was Polly. They had two children, a boy and a girl. Their son flew with the Blue Angel’s.

Next to the Nichols’ family was the Jones family, up the steep driveway. Harlan Jones was a professor at U.C. Berkeley. His wife’s name was Helen.

Next to the Schneider home was the Eshelman family. He was an attorney. Kay (Kathryn) was his wife’s name. They had (I think) three children. Ted is the only name I remember.

Next was the McAuliffe home and then one of the original neighborhood ranch homes. At this point the rod jogs a little. The ranch home belonged to Lester and Marilyn Hink. They had one son. Mr. Hink was the owner and CEO of the J.F. Hink and Son Department store on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. In addition to his executive duties, Mr. Hink was a poet who wrote regularly. He printed his own book of poems, “Musings of a Merchant”. (A copy is in the Lafayette History Room collection.) Some of his poems were about the Springhill Valley. He also wrote monthly poems for his store. They were mailed out to customers on a postcard with the promise of a free gift when presented in the store. The Hinks were building a home on the very top of the hill. The road up to the house was named Leslyn Way. (A combination of their first names; Lester and Marilyn,) It was a huge home with a spectacular view towards Mt. Diablo, Concord, and Benicia; close to 180 degrees. When finished, the Hinks held an open house Christmas party for the neighbors. It was a memorable evening.

Living on the top of the hill, Marilyn met a variety of wildlife creatures that visited her patio. Included in this assortment were a number of rattlesnakes. From these experiences, she worked with a Professor in the Herpetology Department at U.C. Berkeley. He wrote the definitive set of two-volumes on Rattlesnakes. Marilyn had a collection of snakes that she took to classrooms, Boy and Girl Scout meetings and taught the audiences about the area’s snakes. She also stressed proper, appropriate and safe behavior when meeting a snake on our outdoor adventures.

Just beyond the ranch house, a bridge crossed the creek. Down this driveway to the left a house was built by the Fraser family. They owned Wm. F. Fraser home goods store in Berkeley. Two other homes were built to the right of the driveway. One belonged to the Hicks family: Larry. Francis and their two girls. Francis Hicks was an artist.

Beyond the Fraser’s home was the area now called “Blackhawk”. This area was originally a “landlocked” pear orchard with no access from Springhill. When it was sold and opened up, most of the homes were designed by Marchant. Jack Marchant built his home in this new development. (There is a file on Jack Marchant in the Lafayette History Room.)

Going up the hill and around the corner, the Hoskins home was on the right and the Dore home was on the left. Both homes were built before l945. A little further on, Springhill Court went to the right. The Burger family lived in the ranch house on the court. Their older daughter was a baby sitter and also taught swimming lessons both at Acalanes High School and in our neighborhood pool in the summer.

Beyond the court, an unpaved driveway went off to the left to the home of Dr. and Mrs. Jennings and their children. Dr. Jennings was a pediatrician with a practice in Berkeley. They had a son and a set of twins. Springhill Road, at this point also was unpaved. It led up to Buckeye Ranch at the very end.

Bob Keeney lived at Buckeye. He drove a large dump truck which towed his tractor. He had horses and taught riding lessons. Horse manure could be purchased and delivered for garden use. He built a small western town, a rodeo ring and an enormous barn. There were many kids who boarded their horses at the ranch, took riding lessons and competed in the yearly events. Engraved silver bowls were given as awards for excellence. Hay rides could be arranged during the fall. Bob also sponsored motorcycle hill-climb events. These were exciting for the neighborhood boys who sneaked up the creek to watch. (There is a file on Buckeye Ranch in the Historical Society files.) The property was sold to the Bay Area Girl Scouts and is called Twin Canyons Camp. After the property was sold. Bob and his wife moved to Vacaville.

Before Lafayette became a city, there were Improvement Associations in the various neighborhoods. A person was elected to represent the neighborhood at a regular meeting. These neighborhood associations brought people together. Springhilll Road Improvement Association had a yearly neighborhood picnic. There were games: gunny sack relays, three legged races for the children, Good food was served and neighbors had an opportunity to visit. Everyone knew one another. Both the adults and the children. There was a good feeling of community.

I attended Lafayette Elementary School for about six weeks. My third-grade class was one of the four that were housed in the Auditorium. Vallecito School was in process of completion. Following Easter vacation, we were bussed to Vallecito School for the remainder of that year. My class stayed at Vallecito for the fourth grade. Fifth grade was back at Lafayette Elementary School. Montecito School was under construction and I spent sixth grade on that campus. Seventh grade found me back in the Auditorium at Lafayette School, this time with two classes in each half of the Auditorium. M.H. Stanley Middle School was just beginning construction. Our eighth-grade classes were also at Lafayette School. Our eighth-grade graduation was held on the stand built for Acalanes Graduates on the Acalanes football field. The following year Stanley was opened.

Although we were moved from school to school, and the mix of students changed, we all knew one another. Through elementary school, the school bus was our transportation to school. When we started high school, we walked the quarter mile to and from school.
(We often joked that it snowed every day and was uphill both ways.) I walked with my friend Diane who lived on Val’s Lane in Reliez Valley. She would walk to the end of Val’s lane, along the pathway next to the Eichler style home built by Jack Ingram, across the bridge where we would meet on Springhill and walk together to school. Pleasant Hill
Road was only two lanes, with no signal and lots of traffic. It was a challenge to cross the road. Walking to school in the early mornings was definitely a way to wake up and it set the tone for life patterns. We observed the differences in seasons by the changes in both flora and fauna. We walked rain or shine. Once in a while we were lucky to have a ride.

During my eighth-grade year, two major events occurred; one nationally and one internationally that were broadcast live on television. (Television was fairly new and only a few families had sets.) The national event was the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of the United States. Our classes were divided into small groups and driven to homes whose parents had volunteered to have a small group of eighth graders invade their home for a few hours. We watched the inauguration with interest and awe. It was amazing to know that what we were seeing was taking place clear across the United States. The international event was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Our classes were again divided into small groups and we visited homes to watch this historic and monumental event. It was even more amazing to watch from half way around the world as it was taking place. These two events made me feel like history was truly a part of my life.

During my Freshman year at Acalanes, my younger sister, Marilee was born. She was born at the new Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek. It was a marvelous new hospital with an amazing idea for the maternity ward: the baby’s “cribs” were actually drawers next to the mother’s beds which slid into the nursery area.

Growing up in Lafayette in the 40’s and 50’s was an experience of living in a semi-rural area. Outside was our playground. We knew all our neighbors and many of the people who lived in other parts of Lafayette. Lafayette was definitely a community/