C.M. “One Nail” Macgregor was not an architect.
Rather, he was a builder of renown in California.

He worked with designs in the 20 and 30’s from famed architect Walter W. Dixon
He built hundreds of homes and apartment houses in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. He stated building in Albany in the 20’s and decided to move his Oakland office to Albany in 1936, He built 1500 homes here, (nearly half of all homes) in Albany and hundreds more in the east bay area.
All strong, sturdy bungalows built with the best materials and methods, Such as all redwood frames, doors, moldings and cabinets,. white oak floors, Plaster walls with Deco Arches, tiled kitchens and baths, He showed it was possible to build strong long lasting homes at a modest price by building several homes at a time using his own crews of masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, plasterers, landscapers and keeping all of them working during the depression, He did not use sub-contractors.
All his homes, whether they were deluxe models or bare bones had a romantic, cozy flair. He used Dixon’s designs and made his own plans and modifications. He varied the blueprints and frequently reversed them to provide more diversity,, Spanish, Tudor, Modern, Arts and Crafts, regardless of style were built with integrity, now proven by a 5-10 percent premium over similar bungalows built then by others imitating his style and plans,
He earned the nickname “One Nail” as he would use that one extra nail,
Every time the building code would call for three nails, he would use four and if the code called for four, he would use five.
I am also grateful he bolted the sill plate to the foundation

Thanks for your blog
John

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