Northside - City of Riverside

was believed to have constructed the residence after his arrival in Riverside in 1902.
Although the Colonial Revival style, of which the Classic Box, or Foursquare, is a
subtype, is commonly seen in Riverside in the first years of the 20 th century,
McAlester sets the period for the style from 1880-1955 (McAlester 2000:321). Though
rare in Riverside, the earliest examples would have undoubtedly been influenced by
neighboring Victorian Era predecessors as the form of late examples throughout the
City are shaped by the sprawling, post-WWII Ranch style.
Assessor’s Records support this evaluation of the blend of architectural styles found
in this early Foursquare as well as the current owners’ (Scott and Joanne Simpson)
discovery of 1893 newspaper shreds found in the attic as insulation. C.G. Atwood is
listed as the owner of the property in 1892, and no figures are listed for building
improvements or trees. The following year, an improvement is assessed at $1200
with the notation, “House + S,” and $1,180 is listed for trees, which are noted to be a
mixture of buds and seeds (Assessor’s Records 1892-1895:Bk. 2, Pg. 3). Clearly, the
home and grove were established by 1893, and the residence is an example of an
early Classic Box, or Foursquare, one of the nine principal subtypes of the Colonial
Revival style built during Riverside’s grove-inspired Victorian Era as it moved into
the Eclectic Period.
The C.G. Atwood House has been associated with several families of long-term
occupancy. Historical accounts suggest that William H. and Mary Wilson, longbelieved
to be the home’s first owners and occupants, had arrived in Riverside in
1902, and Assessor’s records indicate that he either acquired the reduced property of
4.5 acres by 1905 (Assessor’s Records 1899-1907:Bk. 2, Pg. 3; Hall 2003:41). The
Wilsons established a small dairy on the property, maintained a citrus grove, and
raised livestock. Arthur D. Paxton, employed with the Southern California Gas
Company, purchased the home in 1920, and the property’s use shifted more toward
dairy production than citrus. Though the exterior staircase on the veranda was
extant and rooms in the home were already being rented out when the Paxtons
moved in, according to the Paxton daughters, Harriet and Mary Helen, many
alterations and additions were made to the home during the Paxton period such as
the addition of the kitchen and enclosed sleeping porches and alterations and
additions to the rear of the home. The Paxtons continued to rent out the entire
second floor of the residence until they sold the property in 1956 to the Bumsteads
(Mermilliod 2005a). By this time, the area around it had been subdivided as part of
the Oak Manor No. 3 Tract (1954), one of three subdivisions in the early 1950s that
added the Audubon Place and Hiawatha Place cul-de-sacs to the Southeast
Quadrant and the original parcel had been reduced to .84 acres (M.B. 27/33). The
Bumsteads (1956-1978) and later the Osborns (1978-1997) are credited with
preserving and restoring much of the old house and converting the interior of the
home back into a single-family residence (Hall 2003:43). The Simpsons are
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