Alameda County Biographies

UNITED HOME BUILDERS

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

One of the busiest places in Oakland today is the offices of the United Home Builders which, 
established in 1913, has already become one of the important factors in the development of the 
city. This stable corporation is practically the pioneer of the home building investment idea 
in the city, and its method of operation furnishes a thorough demonstration of the value of a 
publicly-financed company under the direction of practical men and backed by assets greater than 
its market value for its shares. The United Home Builders have introduced into Oakland a system 
of doing business which has proved immensely successful and profitable in Los Angeles. 
Home-building companies are fixed necessities in the development of the west and are here 
to stay. They are founded upon scientific principles and although originally experimental, are 
today as established in principle as banks, insurance companies or any other form of investment 
in which the public's money may participate.
	The United Home Builders combine the best features of the most successful companies. 
The concern was organized after years of close study of the home building investment idea and 
gives to the people of Oakland all that is good in the companies that have proven successful 
elsewhere, as well as added features which make this the best investment of its kind ever 
offered. The profits of the United Home Builders will be derived from the following sources: 
First, by purchasing tracts of home building property, by subdividing this property, improving 
it, building homes on it and taking a profit three ways in the process. Second, by building 
homes on the property owned by others. Third, by buying properties at wholesale and selling them 
at retail. Fourth, by operating in country lands along the same principles. Fifth, by the 
conduct of a general real-estate and insurance business, including every branch, which they 
can do on a larger and more profitable scale than a company with less capital and prestige. 
These sources of profit are not problematical either in theory or practice. The United Home 
Builders are actually conducting a successful business along these lines, as is evidenced from 
the fact that their list of shareholders includes people from various cities and states, 
including Burlingame, San Jose, Point Richmond, Mendocino, San Mateo, Cedarville, Campo Seco, 
Berkeley, San Leandro, Stockton, Fruitvale, Broderick, Riverdale, Angels Camp, Oakland, San 
Francisco, Richmond, Piedmont, Sacramento, Del Monte, Visalia, Amedee, Arcata, Spreckels, 
Oilfields and Santa Cruz, California; Verdi, Tonopah, Lovelock and Reno, Nevada; Topeka, Kansas; 
Portland, Oregon; Osceola and Council Bluffs, Iowa; Chicago, Freeport, Brownstown, Beecher City, 
Dietrich, Greenville, Morrisonville, Mount Olive, Staunton and Effingham, Illinois; Crawford, 
New Jersey; Crown King and Phoenix, Arizona; and Honolulu.
	The founders of United Home Builders include men of years of experience in building and 
real estate in the Bay cities. They spent much time studying the most successful companies of 
other cities before they applied the plan here. The president of the concern is Frederick G. 
Becker, member of the Real Estate Association of Oakland, actively engaged in real-estate and 
building operations in this city for several years past. He was formerly connected with the 
firm of Becker & Eliel, vice president of the Northern Dredging Company in Canada and 
connected also with Becker, Mayer & Company, manufacturers, in Chicago. A. F. Eliel, vice 
president of United Home Builders, has had thirty years' experience in the general contracting 
business in several countries. While in South Africa he was consulting construction engineer 
of one of the largest mines in the world, and for seven years he has been engaged in the 
building business in Oakland. He was formerly connected with the firm of Becker & Eliel. The 
other officers in this concern are: T. A. Mitchell, second vice president, formerly branch 
manager for the Ford Automobile Company in Iowa; B. G. Ensign, treasurer, formerly president of 
the State Bank of Neola, Iowa, and of the Bank of Persia, that state; W. A. Powell, secretary, a 
member of the well known law firm of Schwartz & Powell, of Oakland; G. H. Hungerford, assistant 
secretary; and R. Kittrelle, director. With such men of wide experience and recognized ability 
United Home Builders cannot fail to reap the fullest advantage of the tremendous opportunities now 
being offered in this city.
	Interviewed regarding this enterprise, its purpose and its success, President Frederick G. 
Becker said: "A proposition of this kind financed by the general public is the best for the county 
at large. Any time a clean proposition is put to the public and the people interested, it is a 
boost to the community. It helps all and is a new factor in progress. With a large number of 
stockholders, every one is a silent salesman and a booster. It can be handled on an extensive scale, 
so why not divide the profits with the general public instead of borrowing money from the banks. 
Oakland and Alameda county is an ideal location for a project of this kind. The people have been 
setting the stage for years and the curtain is now ready to rise on the first act of progress. 
Oakland is strictly a home town and Alameda county the hub of all the surrounding counties of the 
state. The United Home Builders are almost pioneers in the field. This section has a million people 
to draw from. The success of this enterprise is assured with the fine management. Many eastern 
people have been interested and are now locating here; also many from the southern part of the state
are realizing the fine climate of Oakland. The people are demanding a better class of homes and more 
artistic, also calling for larger lots, where they can cultivate flowers, etc. The company is 
improving and beautifying its tract. The demand for plastered exterior houses tends to beautify the 
hills around the bay and the color of the homes against the green hills makes it similar to the 
Italian villas in Italy. Oakland has the making of the finest residential city in the Union."
 
Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 54