The intriguing H.J. Goetzman

1125 Bancroft Way (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2020)

How best to describe Henry J. Goetzman? Talented self-taught architect? Pioneering Yukon photographer? Brazen crook?

He was all the above, and perhaps more. In 1891 and 1892, this enigmatic man designed and built four of Berkeley’s earliest shingled houses, and then disappeared from our midst to take on new challenges.

The article The intriguing H.J. Goetzman built four of Berkeley’s earliest shingled houses follows the fascinating trajectory of a unique personality and a few of the houses he left us.