Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Arbor Villa: the Home of Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Smith, Photographed by E. T. Dooley
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1950.005--ffALB
Extent:
47 photoengravings in 1 album; 36 x 50 cm.
47 digital objects
Photographer:
E. T. Dooley
Repository:
The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection stored off-site; advance notice required for use.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item],
Arbor Villa: the Home of Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Smith, Photographed by E. T. Dooley, BANC PIC 1950.005--ffALB, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Digital Representations Available
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Purchased 1949
Biography
Francis Marion Smith (1846-1931) was an entrepreneur in California and Nevada who discovered borax and established the Pacific
Coast Borax Company. Its trademarked "20 Mule Team," which hauled borax from Death Valley for refining, became a famous advertising
symbol. Smith put his profits into the Realty Syndicate for land development, a major street railway company, and the Key
Route train and ferry system. He made 25 million dollars in his business ventures, but by 1913, due to short-term debt and
over-expansion, lost his fortune. He was able to partly rebuild his fortune by using the money from his Nevada silver mine
and putting it into the Searles Lake Borax industry in California.
(Source: Hildebrand, George H.
Borax Pioneer: Francis Marion Smith. San Diego, Calif. : Howell-North Books, 1981.)
Scope and Content
This collection consists of an album of 47 photoengravings produced from photographs taken by E. T. Dooley in 1902. It features
views of Arbor Villa, the residence of Francis Marion Smith, in Oakland, California. Walter J. Mathews was the architect of
the estate. Exterior views include sculptures, fountains, the court, the hot house, the grape arbor, the lily pond, and the
deer pen. Interior views include the ballroom, bedroom, dining room, and more.