Good-bye to El Cerrito's "Castle House"

An unofficial El Cerrito landmark became rubble Friday when the steel jaws of a heavy-duty excavator chomped through the 80-year-old "castle house" at 801 Bates Ave.

The three-story home – known for its peaked tower and at the front gate – was built in 1932, when El Cerrito was a recreational gambling destination and the year when approval was granted to build a greyhound racetrack  at what is now El Cerrito Plaza. The home's developer and first inhabitant was Edward C. Gill, second son of successful East Bay horticulturalist Edward G. Gill, whose family home was located at the Gill Tract at San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street in Albany.

Friday's demolition of the structure – which was altered and enlarged in several stages over the years – was foreshadowed in 2009 when an application was filed with the city to tear down the house and subdivide the 46,300-square-foot lot into four parcels, each for a single-family home.

The property owners were listed as Meilin and Alan Lau in an October 2010 detailed analysis of the property and the proposal prepared for the application, which went before the El Cerrito Planning Commission on Dec. 15, 2010. The subdivision application was filed by Richard Lau of 801 Bates, according to the document.

A historic resource report on the property by Page & Turnbull consultants cites local historian Mervin Belfils saying that Edward C. Gill purchased the land around 1927, when it was "a barren, rocky lot without any trees. Gill started landscaping the original six acres, planting fruit trees and imported shrubs. The rear of the property contained a pond stocked with large trout."

Gill was listed in census records as a horticulturalist like his father, and was also apparently a professor and a doctor, the historic resource report says.

A special thanks to contributor Betty Buginas for the attached video and photos of the demolition.