Kentfield - Charles Bach Collection, c.1895-1930
Owning Institution: Marin County Free Library
About this Collection
Charles H. Bach, born in Erfurt, Germany in 1841, married Emilie Rittmeyer and moved to San Francisco (by way of Amador County) around 1874. He joined the malting business of F. Scherr, which he eventually purchased, and renamed the Charles Bach Company, Incorporated. On July 14, 1892, he bought 5.733 acres of land in Ross Valley for a down payment of $10.00 in gold coins. On this site he built his home, which the San Francisco Call referred to as a "country residence." Bach called this retreat Quisisana, named for a resort on the island of Capri where the family, which included five children, stayed in 1884; the name translates to "here you can recover." Sometime between 1896 and 1897, the family became permanent residents of Kentfield. A fire on January 19, 1901 destroyed the home, and soon after it was replaced with a late-Queen Anne-style estate designed by architect Hermann Barth of San Francisco. After Charles' death in 1904, his eldest son, Alfred, raised his own family on the estate. The images included here depict the Bach estate in Kentfield as well as the College of Marin. View this collection on the contributor's website.View our statement on digital primary resources and historical description.
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