Fountain Oaks

Tucked away in the foothills on Carey Avenue is Fountain Oaks, an estate that represents the pinnacle of luxury during the "Valley of Heart's Delight" era. The property was the grand vision of Gertrude Strong Achilles, an heiress to the Eastman Kodak fortune. (Her father, Henry A. Strong, was Kodak’s first president and co-founder with George Eastman in Rochester, NY).  Arriving in Morgan Hill in the early 1920s, Gertrude bought up over 500 acres of foothills and orchards. In 1927 she poured a staggering $267,000 into building a magnificent 12-room main mansion, surrounding it with natural springs, manicured lawns, and a massive working ranch.

But the estate's most memorable resident was Gertrude's close friend and long-time ranch manager: Charles Kellogg, the "California Nature Singer." Kellogg was a global celebrity who possessed a bizarre, biologically unique throat that allowed him to perfectly mimic bird songs and even extinguish fires or shatter glass using only the high-frequency vibration of his voice. He helped design the estate's unusual guest cottage, which featured an actual waterfall and stream running inside through a huge stone fireplace. For over twenty years, the eccentric naturalist and the Kodak heiress operated Fountain Oaks as both a luxurious social showplace and a thriving agricultural enterprise.

Eventually, the estate was sold in 1955 to the Chiala family, pioneers of Morgan Hill's modern agricultural industry. While parts of the surrounding acreage have been developed over time, the impressive mansion, guest cottage, gate house, and its legendary grounds have been carefully preserved as an iconic, private landmark; the property still owned by the Chiala family. It stands as a monument to a time when wealth meant investing in opulent ranch estates, this one orchestrated by a singing naturalist and a camera tycoon's daughter.