New marker details history of Keller Ranch house
A new monument will further preserve Clayton’s historic Keller Ranch House by recognizing its archaeological and cultural importance.
The local chapter of E Vitus Clampus will do the heavy work of installing the monument near the Cardinet Trail, so it can be seen from the bridge behind the library and from the trail. The Clayton Historical Society will dedicate it at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8.
The marker details the site’s historical significance, dating back to as early as 2000 BC – when the area was home to the Volvon Miwok Native Americans. When settlers arrived in the 1800s, they discovered many artifacts.
The land on which the house sits may have been a part of Rancho Del Diablo, a Mexican land grant. It was subsequently owned by Clayton’s founder, Joel Clayton. Under the Homestead Act, Clayton acquired 480 acres between 1862 and 1872 and planted grapes.
After Clayton died in 1872, vintner Paul DeMartini acquired 145 acres of the southwestern Clayton Ranch and built the DeMartini Winery – now Clayton City Hall.
In the early 1900s, Charles Henry “Harry” Keller purchased the remainder of the Clayton Ranch and named it Liberty Ranch in honor of his wife, Elodia Liberty. During Prohibition, the vineyard converted to ranchland.
The Keller Ranch House, named Casa Del Sierra, was completed in 1913. It had a Mission style home, with Craftsman elements. The ranch included magnificent gardens, a fish pond, large barns and cattle yards.
Harry Keller operated the ranch until his death in 1940. Elodia maintained a life estate there until her death in 1954. Previously, they had lived in a house they built on Galindo Street in Concord, and that is now a Concord historical house.
The State Historical Resource Commission determined the Keller House to be of significant value in 2001, and it is now listed in the California Register of Historical Resources.
According to the Clayton Historical Society, the Keller House “has been locally identified as a rare surviving building of this period and a fine example of custom home building of the early 20th century.”
Ranch operations continued on the site until 1972, when the Pacific Coast Construction Co. purchased the property.
However, an economic downturn and resistance from Native Americans prevented development.
Seeno Construction Co. bought it in 1978, but sold it to Presley Homes after the city rejected Seeno’s development plan. Presley gave the city the parcel containing the Keller House and the property on which the Clayton Library now sits as part of approval for the Oakhurst development.
Information for this article supplied by the Clayton Historical Society and Dick Ellis.