Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

When he put his house back together following the Loma Prieta earthquake, Len Pacheco put in a window treatment to bring light into the sitting room off his kitchen.

Design Matters

Len Pacheco's developed his passion for architecture in a lifetime of travel

By Dale Bryant

Construction's running behind schedule at Soda Works Plaza, the new structure on the corner of E. Main Street and College Avenue. Blame Len Pacheco. He's the planning commissioner who suggested that developer Dave Flick use dentil molding on top of the building.

But Flick's not complaining about the delay. "When Len saw a photo of the old Los Gatos Hotel that used to be on that corner, he suggested that we use the same type of molding," Flick says. "It's not easy to make; we had to send it back to have it redone because it wasn't done right, and that's what's holding us up, but Len was right; it'll make the building more authentic and improve the project."

Like many developers and architects who've been before the Los Gatos Planning Commission, Flick knows very well how detail-oriented Commissioner Leonard Pacheco is.

But while some developers accuse Pacheco of being "nitpicky," Flick contends that those who complain are usually pushing inappropriate projects and inferior materials. "Len really knows materials, and he knows how to read plans. Nothing gets by him," Flick says.

Mike Abkin, who recently stepped down from the Planning Commission, agrees. "Developers who have a reputation for throwing things together cheap often are frustrated with Len." But he says of his former colleague: "Len's philosophy is we're going to be looking at this every day in our town; we need to get it right."

Pacheco isn't shy about voicing his opinion at Planning Commission meetings. And because he's so quotable, those who don't attend the meetings may get the impression that he's doing all the talking. Most commissioners, for instance, were full of praise for an architect's plan to disguise a proposed gymnasium at Calvary Church as a row of townhouses.

But it was Pacheco who was quoted in the newspaper with these memorable words: "I don't know if this is brilliant or bizarre. I'm a little bit concerned by this design because you're asking us to approve what appears to be the back lot of a Hollywood movie studio. These are fake façades--do you also have little wind-up people to make it look more real?"

Sandy Decker, chairwoman of the Planning Commission, says the more she gets to know Pacheco, the more she realizes how multifaceted he is. "He's a world traveler; he speaks several languages, he knows a lot about architecture and design," Decker says. "The word I associate with Len is 'palimpsest.' It refers to something that, when you rub it, earlier layers show through."

Decker actually knew of Pacheco by reputation long before she met him. "I probably knew of him 25 years ago," Decker recalls. "He and Diane [Roberts] were a very sophisticated couple. Len had a flair about him, and I knew he was designing judges' chambers."

Someone who has known Pacheco for 25 years is former Los Gatos Mayor Pat O'Laughlin. It was O'Laughlin who suggested that Pacheco submit his name to fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission in 1994. "I thought he'd make a great commissioner because he's a landscape designer and an architect all rolled into one. In fact," O'Laughlin says, "Len has the talent of six people all rolled into one. He has the strongest design sense of anyone I know. And he cares passionately about Los Gatos."

When O'Laughlin and Pacheco met, Pacheco was working for Santa Clara County as a graphics designer in the public information office. Because he was an in-house resource, he not only designed brochures but became the resident expert on public space interiors; everyone looked to his expertise on issues involving furniture, textures, colors--the things that make up the interiors of buildings.

That's how he happened to work on the renovation of the old Superior Courthouse in downtown San Jose--and that's what he was doing when Decker heard he was designing judges' chambers.

That renovation also turned out to be what Pacheco calls his "first real adventure in historic preservation."

Pacheco has served on the town's Historic Preservation Committee since 1992. A New England native, Pacheco says, "I grew up in a historically aware community where we had prerevolutionary structures--which, of course, we took for granted."

Pacheco was born in Massachusetts in 1934 and was raised in a big Portuguese family. He attended private schools and went to Providence College in Providence, R.I. It was the U.S. Navy that sent him to California.

With the draft active, Pacheco joined the Navy and attended officer candidate school. He was stationed at Moffett Field in 1958. Pacheco liked the Navy so much, he remained in the reserves for 26 years after his four years of active duty, retiring in 1980 with the rank of captain. "I had a great time in the Navy," he says. The Navy gave him an opportunity to travel, something that is one of his great passions. "I went to the Far East on an aircraft carrier; my last exercise was observing NATO maneuvers in Portugal."

A premed major in college, Pacheco had always been interested in architecture. He had spent some summers doing architectural work for his brother, who was an engineer. So after the Navy, he went back to school and took art and design courses with the idea that he might study architecture. Instead, in the mid-1960s, he went to work as a graphics designer for the county.

What brought Pacheco to Los Gatos? "I met a woman ... " he says.

That woman was Diane Roberts, the other half of that sophisticated couple Sandy Decker was aware of 25 years ago.

Roberts and Pacheco shared many interests, including design and architecture. Roberts works doing architectural renderings. "We were together for 17 years," Pacheco says, "and we're still good friends."

In fact, Roberts spent three years on the town Planning Commission, and when she stepped down, it was her seat to which Pacheco was appointed.

Although the two are no longer "together," they appear to be as close as two people who aren't together can be. A vase of lush lavender peonies sits on the table in front of the sofa in the sunny sitting area outside Pacheco's kitchen. "They're from a peony tree I used to have. It was dying, so I gave it to Diane, and she nursed it back to health," he says.

The two travel to Europe together at least once a year, and both have developed a passion for Italy. Though they had been there several times, three years ago they rented an apartment and stayed a month, shopping in the local markets and cooking some of their meals in. "That was it," Pacheco says. "Italy just has it for me. I like their food, and I like their attitude. Italians seem very sensitive to people, to human interaction." A long stay in a small Italian village--a different one each time--has become their annual pattern.

A one-time Francophile who once spent six weeks studying French cooking in a farmhouse in Burgundy, Pacheco now calls himself a "budding Italianophile." He takes Italian classes on an ongoing basis at West Valley College and is frustrated because the current class meets the same night as the Planning Commission.

"We go to Italy to watercolor," Roberts says. "We'll go out to lunch and hang out for a while. Then we spend a couple of hours watercoloring. It's a great way to see the country and not a lot of tourists."

Recently, Pacheco says, he's wondered if he could live in Los Gatos part of the year and Italy part of the year. "The answer," he says, "isn't no."

The two also attend trade shows in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Although Pacheco retired from the county in 1995, he continues as a consultant on the new wing of Valley Medical Center, working on finishes, patterns, colors, signage, landscaping, way-finding--anything that's design-oriented. He does similar consulting work for other clients.

He travels to furniture trade shows to keep up. "You have to stay abreast of things because they change so fast," he says.

Roberts says, "I just go along for the ride." Last month, they went to the Design Center in Los Angeles, where they attended lectures and programs and managed to take in the new Getty Museum as a side trip.

His professional interest in furniture has proved a boon for Roberts. "He brings me furniture all the time," she says. "He'll bring over a chair or a lamp and say, 'This didn't work out for me.' I have a house full of Len rejects," she says with a hearty laugh.

Pacheco bought his home in the hills above the Almond Grove District in 1970, and he quickly tells you that he's the second owner of the house built in 1904. He says the former owner, Marjorie Robertson, was a dean of women at Los Gatos High School. He points out the house--a small blur--in a panoramic photograph taken of Los Gatos in 1905. Robertson's two daughters occasionally dig up old photographs of the house and send him copies, which he treasures.

Pacheco also prizes an old photographic panorama of Fall River, Mass., his hometown.

Though Pacheco is an outspoken member of the town's Historic Preservation Committee and has a reputation as a devoted preservationist, it would be a mistake to think that he's obsessed with things historic.

His modest home is a tastefully eclectic mix of old and new, foreign and domestic. A zebra-skin rug was the gift of an old roommate who honeymooned in Africa; there is a map of old Portugal, architectural pieces, miniatures from Istanbul, hand-colored engravings from his most recent trip to Italy and an enormous collection of coffee-table books on design. "That poster," he says pointing to the wall, "is from a museum in Zurich."

Although Pacheco has always had an appreciation for old buildings, it was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that served as a wakeup call for him. "I think it was a trigger for the whole town," he says. "It made us aware of what a treasure we have."

His own home suffered extensive damage. "After the earthquake, I started really looking at things," he recalls. "The more you look, the more you realize how crappy things are put together."

Still, Pacheco says, it's important to have an objective set of criteria in deciding what's worth saving. He thinks the National Trust Guidelines for Historic Properties serve very well. "Sometimes," he says, "I just have a gut feeling that something should be saved."

The Buffalo Trading Co. building was one of those his gut said was worth saving. But after reviewing the findings of the architect who specializes in historic preservation, he changed his mind.

As is the case whenever an old building is demolished, though, he took special pains as a planning commissioner to ensure that what went up in its place--in this case, Soda Works Plaza--would improve the area. He says now he thinks it was the right move.

Because of his extensive travels, his work with design and his fascination with architecture, Pacheco is never without ideas about how to preserve and improve Los Gatos. He doesn't always find a receptive audience.

"One day some grumpy person chewed me out right in front of my house!" he says with dismay.

On the other hand, he admits he may give the impression that he's not always open to other people's ideas. "I have to be real careful not to give the impression I'm designing the town," he says. "Everybody's input is valuable."

Pacheco cites the charrette--several hundred residents, business owners and design professionals who came together four years ago to set the direction for Los Gatos Boulevard development--as a good community process that allowed Los Gatans to make a major contribution to the planning process.

When Pat O'Laughlin was mayor, he appointed Pacheco to a blue-ribbon committee to come up with ideas for improving the Town Plaza. Up for the task, Pacheco put together a big scrapbook of parks he'd visited all over the world. "I had visions of walkways, benches, fountains," he recalls. "But it turned out most of the people on the committee pretty much wanted to keep it just the way it was."

O'Laughlin knew when he suggested that Pacheco apply for the Planning Commission that his friend would be in for some disappointment. "Burnout is always a factor for someone who cares so passionately and who puts so much of himself into a job." Still, O'Laughlin says , "It's his sensitivity that makes him so valuable. If the windows are out of scale, he'll say so. Len wants to get it perfect. That's why he keeps sending plans back."

The way O'Laughlin sees it, "A perfectionist is just what we need on the Planning Commission. The easy thing is to say, 'Sure. Go ahead.'"

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