Built for a banker in 1912 — and once a fraternity house — midtown Sacramento home hits market
A 1912 midtown Sacramento home first built for banker Joseph H. Stephens has hit the market for $1.3 million.
Stephens, a prominent Sacramento resident, was vice president of Fort Sutter National Bank after a 20-year career at Hales Bros. department store, according to a history of the property prepared for a tour of historic homes in the area. Stephens became president when the bank merged with Merchants National Bank.
Stephens also helped organize Ben Ali Temple and the region’s Rice Growers Association, and contributed to the development of Del Paso Country Club. While serving on the state Board of Prison Terms, San Quentin prison escapees took him and other board members hostage. Stephens was shot in the ordeal but survived.
Today, his stately but down-to-earth residence sits on a quiet street at 2531 H St. The updated, modern and spacious residence spans 2,949 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The house features Prairie and Craftsman-style elements from the early 20th century. The superb, vintage craftsmanship of the era has been maintained during renovations.
“The residence’s wide, comfortable front porch and manicured garden space, which was designed by the resident master gardener, are inviting,” listing agent Mark Peters of Coldwell Banker Realty said. “This would be a Prairie-style home, and it has all the features of a typical craftsman. With the shingled exterior and the whimsical windows, (it) lends itself to a craftsman style.
“The front porch is very gracious,” he added. “It’s east facing, a place to hang out and have morning coffee and afternoon wine. It’s just an old-school front porch.”
Another prominent past owner of the house was podiatrist Edward F. O’Brien, who saw patients at there. In 1949, he constructed an annex that served as his office even after the family moved to East Sacramento. The annex has been converted into a den or family room with a bathroom, and at one time served as a mother-in-law unit.
David Ventura and Nancy Simpson bought the two-story home in 2005, according to public records. At that time, a beauty shop occupied the annex, according to the home’s marketing material.
The residence also served as a fraternity and a room-and-board house at one time.
Their house shares a similar history with another midtown home that recently hit the market, at 2101 G St.. When suburbia was on the rise in the 1950s and ‘60s, homeowners moved to the outskirts of town and workers flocked to the city in search of rental housing. Larger homes became apartments or boarding houses.
Decades later, when people began returning to the city’s historic core, many Sacramento homes underwent major restoration to bring them back to their original architectural glory. The house at the corner of H and 26th streets was part of that movement.
“It’s been lovingly restored after urban flight in the ‘70s,” Peters said.
Ventura and Simpson have thoroughly remodeled the house. The work included converting a maid’s room off the kitchen into a breakfast niche with French doors leading out to a breakfast patio.
The kitchen has plenty of refinished cabinetry. When the owners pulled up the flooring, they found a beautiful fir plank subfloor underneath.
“And instead of going over that again, they just had that refinished and turned into a really neat solution for the kitchen,” Peters said.
The bedrooms, including the ensuite primary, are upstairs. A grand atrium area at the top of the stairs leads to all the bedrooms. There’s also a sleeping porch where people used to snooze in the summer with all the windows open, before air conditioning. It’s basically a sun room now, an ideal spot for sipping from a cup of coffee or glass of wine.
Peters noted the home has many spots for sitting and enjoying the surroundings.
“It feels like you’re in a tree house,” Peters said about the design of the house. “There are windows everywhere looking out to all the beautiful trees and out over the street. The current owner is a master gardener and has just lovingly done beautiful work. Lots of little places to sit and enjoy the view.”
The exterior of the house is adorned with rustic shingles under wide eaves. Carved rafter tails extend beyond the eaves. With the second story slightly projecting over the first story, notched soffit boards run between the levels.
A pair of square wood columns supports the formal front porch’s flat roof atop brick piers and a brick base. A gated motor court leads to a two-car garage, a valuable amenity in midtown.
Peters said the midtown location is a big selling point, as well.
“This particular area is just an eclectic, cool, walking neighborhood, so close to restaurants and shops. Everything that you could possibly want to do is just a stone’s throw away.”
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