National Register #100002638
Cunningham-Hembree Estate
9225 Foxwood Drive
Windsor
Built 1968

The Cunningham-Hembree Estate is adjacent to East Windsor Creek, one of the last reaches of Windsor Creek remaining in natural riparian habitat. The property includes three contributing buildings: the 19th century Gothic Revival Cunningham House, the 1931 Spanish Colonial Revival Hembree House, and a detached garage associated with the Hembree House.

The Cunningham/ McClelland/Hembree family was integral to Windsor’s history before there was a town. Through three generations, spanning the Gold Rush era to the construction of US 101 through the original Cunningham homestead, the family contributed land, buildings, and civic leadership to the development of Windsor.

Robert Cunningham was a prominent figure in early Windsor history, settling in the Russian River Township in 1849 where he built the area’s first corral.

The original Cunningham homestead cabin, built in 1849, has been remodeled at least four times.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP Nomination submitted in 2018.

The marker reads for the Cunningham Homestead - Hembree House reads:

Cunningham Homestead - 1847
Hembree House

The original homestead cabin, built by Robert Cunningham, was an 18 by 26 foot, two room dwelling constructed of hand hewn timbers with mortise and tenon joints and redwood logs as floor joists. There was no kitchen or bathroom; cooking was done in the brick fireplace. The cabin was enlarged when his wife Isabella and daughter Mary Jane joined him in 1851. Widowed at age 17 Mary Jane later married James H. McClelland and had two daughters. Upon Mary Jane's death, the homestead was divided between their daughters Clara and Ella. Clara and her husband, Atlas Hembree built their retirement home in front of the original cabin in a931 and occupied their home until Clara's death in 1957.

Dedicated September 17, 2021
By Sam Brannan Chapter #1004 E Clampus Vitus
The Town of Windsor
And the Windsor Museum and Historical Society

The marker reads for the Hembree House reads:

Hembree House

In 1929, in anticipation of their retirement to Windsor, Atlas and Clara Hembree began construction on a 2,850-square foot, five-bedroom Spanish style villa located in front of the old Cunningham House at the end of the cypress lane. Spanish Colonial Revival architecture was popular between 1915 and 1940 following the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and the Panama California Exposition in San Diego. The Expositions may have influenced their architectural choice as well as their sojourn to southern California where Spanish Colonial Revival and its predecessor Mission Revival were popular.

They named their retirement residence "Matapan" from an unspecified Native American language which is said to mean "I sit down."