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Six historic homes open for annual tour
By Shari Kaplan
For its last Historic Homes Tour of the century, the Los Gatos Museum Association has outdone itself in both the number and variety of local residences it has "borrowed" for a day of guided public tours.
The nonprofit LGMA's annual fall fundraiser, which this year features six houses, takes place Nov. 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For participants who get hungry or thirsty in between houses, LGMA volunteers will serve tea and refreshments throughout the day at the Los Gatos Museum of Fine Art and Natural History, 4 Tait Ave.
The first of three houses on Los Gatos Boulevard is a 1 1/2-story Queen Anne Victorian on the 100 block, built in 1893. It is known as the Spreckels House, named after two of its many former owners--Richard and Anna Spreckels. Richard, whose uncle was Adolf Spreckels of Spreckels Sugar Company fame, worked at the family factories in both San Francisco and Hawaii and used the property as a summer home. The couple and their children later made it their permanent residence for a number of years.
During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the house slid off its foundation and many walls came down, but owners Ted and Sarah Anderson made sure it was safely and attractively restored to its pre-temblor state. Together with their son and daughter-in-law, Drew and Robin, the Andersons did much of the repair work themselves.
The Elijah S. Whitney House stands proudly on the 200 block of the Boulevard, a cream-and-green example of a Stick Victorian. The attributes of this style include overhanging eaves, a gabled roof with cross gables and wooden wall cladding interrupted by patterns of horizontal and vertical stickwork boards raised from the wall surface.
Whitney, who once owned 13 acres along the Boulevard, built this house and sold the rest of his land for development. He also kept busy as an orchardist, real estate agent and as the Los Gatos excursion agent for the Union Pacific Railway. Current owner Alf Gerhardt was once babysat by neighbor Anna Spreckels.
Also on the Boulevard's 200 block is a whimsical lavender Queen Anne reproduction built in the early 1990s by Mark and Gerry Triplett. The house's predecessor, an impressive Queen Anne from 1895, was so severely damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake that its owners, Harry and June Fromm, had to have it razed.
Current owner Kiturah Humphrey and her family gave the house its distinctive paint job, decorated the interior and planted colorful flowers, shrubs, vines and trees in such a way that no matter what the season, something is blooming. The house was featured earlier this year in the St. Luke's Garden Tour.
Over on Chestnut Street is the Ellen Barker House, whose use of square nails, combined with the dates on old newspapers found lining the walls, reveals it to be around 110 years old. Once a simple farmhouse, it has grown to become a cheerful Queen Anne decorated in navy and white. The original carriage house remains in the back.
The house sits on property that was subdivided into many lots and blocks that became an alphabet soup during subsequent property sales. Although the house has had many residents, its nickname comes from former owner Cora Ringlep's mother, who lived on the property--and quite possibly in this very house--until her death in 1925.
Also on Chestnut is a 11Ž2-story Queen Anne Victorian built in 1894 by C.M. Meriam, a lumberman who personally chose the redwood used in building. Meriam named the house Villa Tuscalum after an area in Rome that Chestnut Avenue reminded him of.
Following a string of owners, former Los Gatos Mayor Patrick O'Laughlin and Margaret Kilkenny moved in during the mid-1980s, repaired substantial damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake and rearranged and converted some of the rooms. All restoration was done to match the original details of the house.
The tour's only non-Victorian is at 47 Broadway, a two-story Italian Renaissance Revival with some Spanish Revival features. Built in 1921 for Charles L. Nichols and wife Anna May Lyndon Nichols--daughter of prominent Los Gatan James H. Lyndon--the house's distinguishing traits include the symmetrical façade, stucco cladding, ceramic tile roof, elaborate arched first-story windows, a recessed entry and the front porch's balustrade and urns.
Over the years, the house's owners made several additions, including a six-car garage with attached recreation room that stands behind the main house. Current owners John and Jean Richardson have decorated the house to maintain the flavor of its original architecture.
Tickets are $17.50 in advance or $20 on the tour day. Cost for senior citizens or LGMA members is $15. For information, call 408.395.7375 or 408.354.2646.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
