Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by George Sakkestad Theresa Pfeiffer enjoys a quiet moment with her dog, Havoc, on the front porch of her office on University Avenue. The house will be on the annual Los Gatos Museum Association Historic Homes Tour. Home tour takes a look back in history By Shari Kaplan Some things about autumn--leaves turning colors and weather turning colder--are constants everywhere. For the past five years, another seasonal standby also happens at this time: the Los Gatos Museum Association's Historic Homes Tour. This fall fundraiser for the nonprofit organization takes place Nov. 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and features five authentically restored homes open for docent-led tours. For tour-takers who get hungry or thirsty, LGMA volunteers will serve tea and and other refreshments throughout the day at the Los Gatos Museum of Art and Natural Science, located at 4 Tait Ave. The Mary McCarthy House, a quaint, one-story Italianate cottage on University Ave., was built between 1888 and 1890 by McCarthy--owner of six University Avenue lots--and her husband, Joseph. The home's Italianate features include narrow, tall windows; a sloped, hipped roof and overhanging eaves. After having had several owners, the home was bought by five real-estate agents in 1978 who transformed it into an office. They did a great deal of remodeling. In 1993, current owners Theresa Pfeiffer and husband James Jeffers bought the property for use as Pfeiffer's law office and did some tinkering of their own. The cottage-like charm remains. On another block of University is a red-brick two-story known alternately as "the Honeymoon House" and "the Castle." This mini-mansion has many traits of the Richardson Romanesque style, including rounded arches, rough-faced cut stone, and a round tower with a conical roof. Brick mason Harry Perrin and his brother Charles built this house between 1893 and 1894 for Harry and his bride, Theresa, to live in. Due to a severe recession, mortgage holder P. Cross foreclosed on the property in 1899 and rented it out. Several other owners either lived in the house or rented it to boarders until 1960, when Jeanne and Harold Partridge bought and restored it for use as offices and nicknamed it the Castle. Current owners are Joan Perry and Ronald Lykins, both of whom run their own businesses. The final University home is what originally was Lawson Scott's one-story Folk Victorian, built in 1893. The home now sports another story underneath and a third story tucked in the rear, built by former owner Jim Howell. The house went through a handful of owners but not many structural changes. Among its recent residents were members of the Vodden family, longtime Los Gatans. The bright, roomy home now belongs to Kelly Dougherty and Mark Senigo. The Almeron Skinkle Jr. House on Edelen Avenue has a list of owners as long as its name. Built in 1892 by architect Francis Reid, the home is a Victorian in the Free Classic style and possesses a steeply pitched hipped roof, patterned shingles, gables, bay windows, a round tower and paired columns. Among several additions put in by its series of owners was a carriage house and barn. Almeron Skinkle Jr., his wife, Katie, and their children lived in the house around the turn of the century. Skinkle ran two drugstores and a telephone company in town. Other owners were the DeLong, Puccinelli, Ditri, Gibbs, Groh and Brunetti families. Current owners Pamela and Timothy Murphy have been busy since 1995 painting, redecorating and restoring the home. The tour's lone Craftsman home, the George A. Green House, is located on Glen Ridge Avenue. Its Craftsman features include a low-pitched, side-gabled roof, an unenclosed eave overhang and exposed roof rafters, a dormer and a partial-width porch. Green, who built the home in 1909, ran Green's Drug Store in town, was a councilmember for 20 years and became the first titled mayor of Los Gatos in 1927. The house's three other owners kept most of the original integrity. Current owners are Wendy and Richard Fox. Historic Homes Tour tickets are $17 in advance or $20 on the tour day. Reduced rates are available for LGMA members. For information, call 395-7375. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.