Los Gatos Weekly-Times Lack of records vexes museum By Jeff Kearns As the deadline approaches for saving a house that some say was designed by famed architect Julia Morgan, the Los Gatos Museum Association has formed a task force to come up with a plan before the building is demolished. The Friends of the Oriental Building began a series of weekly meetings Jan. 13 at the Forbes Mill Museum for a small group intent on preserving a building at the Presentation Center on Bear Creek Road. The Sisters of Presentation say that they're willing to entertain any scheme to move the Oriental-style house off their property. If nobody has any ideas, they want to tear down the old house, which was built just after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and knocked off its foundation in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. "The first thing we need to do is determine how we can stop the demolition," said LGMA executive director Beverly Pvarnick. "If we have enough support from the town and the people in our town, then maybe we can do something." The members of the new group have their work cut out for them. The county parks department is reportedly not eager to have the house moved to Vasona Park, and the best site the LGMA has been able to come up with so far is tucked away behind the Forbes Mill Museum. At last week's meeting, Town Manager Dave Knapp said that proposals to put the house in one of the other parks around town would probably be met with protests. And then there's the question of money. Pvarnick is set to meet with the county Historic Heritage Committee this week to discuss her proposal for a $500,000 grant. The most nagging problem, however, is figuring out if Julia Morgan really did design the building. Even seasoned Julia Morgan scholars come up empty-handed when asked for proof: Morgan had all her blueprints and records burned before she died in 1957. Call 395-7375 for more information. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 20, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.