The historic Camron-Stanford house, the last of the 19th century Victorian mansions that once lined Oakland’s Lake Merritt, was damaged in a fire early Saturday morning.
The initial call came in at 12:38 a.m. and 25 firefighters responded, according to the Oakland Fire Department. The fire was under control by 1:20 a.m.
There were no reported injuries and “the full scale of structural damage is unknown at this time,” the department said on social media.
Built in 1876 by Samuel Merritt, the Camron-Stanford house became Oakland’s first museum in 1907. It has been closed since 2024, and the Camron-Stanford House Preservation Association is currently fundraising in order to reopen it to the public.
Bill McInerney, president of the Camron-Stanford House Association, came to the house on Saturday morning to assess the destruction, which was concentrated on rear left side of the building.
“Luckily this is the office and this is the kitchen (that were impacted), so the main structure did not get hit,” he said, adding that he didn’t expect any of the historic objects inside the property were damaged.
The front of the historic Camron-Stanford House in Oakland largely escaped damage from Saturday’s fire, which affected another part of the building. (Sarah Feldberg/S.F. Chronicle)
McInerney has been involved in the association for 25 years, and said this was the first such incident he could remember.
The museum has been closed for the past year and a half, but was planned to reopen to the public. McInerney said the fire would likely set that timeline back.
This article originally published at Historic Camron-Stanford House in Oakland damaged in fire.