The majority of shoppers hunting for deeply discounted DiGiorno pizzas and other bargain treasures at Santa Rosa’s Grocery Outlet on Fourth Street are likely unaware that they’re pushing carts on historic ground. Decades before a grocery store sprung up here, this was the site of one of the most elegant private homes in the city, built for one of the region’s most powerful men: Joseph T. Grace.
A beer baron, investor and prominent community figure, Grace’s name is still seen throughout Santa Rosa, from Grace Pavilion to his eponymous street, yet there’s no remaining sign of the Grace mansion, which local media lauded as having “played a starring role in a period of Santa Rosa history.”
From potatoes to a beer empire
Born in Oswego, New York, in 1875, Joseph Grace arrived in Santa Rosa with his family when he was 2 years old. An entrepreneurial teen, he sold “Bodega Red” potatoes with his brother Frank, and the brothers used the proceeds to open up a grocery store at Fourth and A streets. It was their later purchase of the Metzger Brewery in 1897, however, that would change their future and the history of Santa Rosa.
The duo renamed the operation Grace Bros. Brewing Company and quickly dominated the local beer market. The company acquired breweries in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Fresno, supplying beer throughout the entire state, and by the 1940s, Grace Bros. had become the fourth-largest brewery in California, according to “Grace Bros. Breweries, History & Memorabilia” by historian John C. Burton. Beyond his brewing empire, Grace was instrumental in establishing the Sonoma County Fair, cementing his reputation as one of Santa Rosa’s most influential civic leaders.
Building a landmark
About a year after the 1906 earthquake, Grace decided to build a house unlike any other in Santa Rosa. The disaster had damaged a large brick dwelling on his property on Fourth Street and McDonald Avenue — a structure built in the 1870s that had been “one of the handsomest and most costly dwellings” in Santa Rosa, according to the Press Democrat. Rather than repair the home, Grace saw an opportunity to build something much more splendid in its place.
Construction began in 1907 after the former brick structure was demolished. The new mansion incorporated some of the elements from the earlier dwelling, including the foundation and original roof. The family moved in that December, and within a few years, the Grace Mansion had become one of the city’s most prestigious addresses and the center of social activity.
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