A fire broke out at the 156-year-old Peralta House Museum in Oakland on Monday, according to an Instagram post shared by the staff that run the 6-acre historical site and cultural center in the city’s Fruitvale neighborhood.
“We are relieved to share that no one was injured and the damage, while significant, was contained,” a statement from the museum read.
Michael Hunt, a spokesperson for the Oakland Fire Department, told SFGATE a small blaze outside had reached the exterior of the building, but that fire crews were able to respond quickly and prevent it from spreading inside. They extinguished the fire within about 10 minutes. “The cause is under investigation,” he said.
The two-story Italianate frame house was built in 1870 by Joseph Peralta, whose family was part of the de Anza expedition from Mexico to California. The Mexican government gave Peralta’s family most of the land in the East Bay where Indigenous people had lived for thousands of years. They settled in what is now Oakland, building adobes that were later damaged by an earthquake, necessitating construction of the farmhouse. An outdoor stage sits at the original location of the home before it was moved to fit the new city grid in 1897.
The property, Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, is now an Oakland and California landmark that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its website describes the facility as “the last vestige of the Peraltas’ 45,000-acre Rancho San Antonio, estimated to be the most valuable Spanish land grant ever made in California,” also calling it “one of the most significant historical sites in the East Bay” and “the birthplace of Oakland.” Today, it’s a popular destination for school field trips and summer camps.
In the Instagram post, staff said the museum’s open hours will be “paused for the week while we air out the building,” but that camp areas were unaffected and would continue operating as normal.
“This incident is a sobering reminder of how precious and vulnerable places like this are,” the post read. “The Peralta House Museum is not just a building. It’s where our community comes to discover, question, and connect with the complicated, layered story of Oakland.”
The news comes just a couple of months after a fire broke out at the historic Camron-Stanford House, the last of the Victorian homes that once circled Lake Merritt. It had just reopened following a lease dispute with the city, the Oaklandside reported. At the time, Sarah Akin, a volunteer and board member of the Camron-Stanford House Preservation Association, launched a $50,000 GoFundMe campaign to help cover the repairs.
Staff at the Peralta House Museum also asked for donations to help support the landmark’s future.
“Thank you to our neighbors who called in the emergency, to the Oakland Fire Department for their swift response, to Anibal at Oakland Public Works, and to our incredible volunteer William,” they wrote. “We are so grateful.”
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This article originally published at Fire breaks out at 156-year-old Oakland landmark, causing ‘significant’ damage.