Oakland - Lucille Guiton Allen had enough money to buy her dream home, but there was a problem.

It was 1959, and folks in the Oakland hills were not selling homes to blacks. So, Allen wore her all-white beautician's uniform to get a closer look and neighbors mistook her for a maid. Then Allen persuaded a white real estate agent to buy the house and transfer it to her family.

The house was burned to the ground during the 1991 firestorm. On Wednesday, city officials, including Mayor Jerry Brown, came to the rebuilt home to pay tribute to those who have come back since the fire, and to honor Allen's legacy and pioneering spirit.

Her home was the only one that was reconstructed just as it had been before the fire that took 25 lives and destroyed 3,000 dwellings and structures.

Brown honored Allen, who died in 1998, by reading a special letter of recognition and placing a bronze plaque at the home, located in the 6000 block of Manchester Drive.

The castle-like Allen House was designed in 1928 by California architect Albert Farr, who also designed Jack London's "Wolf House" in Sonoma County. Construction was completed in 1929. After the fire, the home was reconstructed by Plath and Co. General Contractors in San Francisco.

"The family found some drawings in the basement," said Tonna Boyette, Allen's niece, who works as a general contractor in Sacramento. "My aunt had a lot of fortitude and vision. She really wanted this house and she was smart enough to get it."

Wednesday's program was held to honor Allen's determination, Brown said. "And her strength of character, her desire to be a part of the American Dream, and for her vision that brought the house back to life after the fire."

Others at the ceremony included neighbors from the Upper Rockridge area, civic and business leaders, Oakland Fire Chief Gerald Simon and firefighters from Engine 19.

Allen's husband, Boley, died in 1994, and she approved the plans only two weeks before she died. The home, with its elegant staircase, wrought iron grillwork, hand-painted ceilings, decorative rosettes and plaster moldings, had become a symbol for the black community and a venue for social events.

"She had a hard time getting the house," said Boyette. "She paid 70 percent (through the white real estate agent), and when the sellers found out they wanted to stop the sale, charging fraud.

"But my aunt sold some more property she had and paid the other 30 percent. The sellers then sold her the lot next door because they figured whites would never want to buy it now."

Boley Allen had worked as a longshoreman and owned Guiton Liquors. His wife operated Lucille's Beauty Parlor for many years.

They could not tour the house as potential buyers because of their race. "She managed to get close enough to see the living room when she saw it up close for the first time," Boyette said.