The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Photograph by Brian Connelly
Jennifer and Mark Hanlon, son Liam, 9, and daughter Caitlyn, 11, love their porch swing in Sunnyvale. The 'century' house dates back to the city's agricultural era.
The Hanlons' Sunnyvale farmhouse turns 100 years old
By JOANNE GRIFFITH DOMINGUE
Jennifer and Mark Hanlon agree: The porch swing is their favorite spot in their 100-year-old Sunnyvale farmhouse. When the Hanlons bought the house in 1993, "the porch was begging for a swing," Mark said. Soon after, they received the swing as a wedding gift.
Mark remembers sitting in the swing on warm fall evenings when their son Liam, 9, was a baby. "He used to fall asleep in my arms as I sang to him and rocked him in the swing." When the cold weather came, they moved inside. "At first it was hard for Liam to go to sleep without singing and swinging," remembers his dad.
Mark, 50, likes to sit in the swing in the morning, reading the paper, watching life go by in the South Bayview neighborhood. "You sit five to six steps above the sidewalk. You feel like you're suspended, and the world is being presented to you."
The Hanlons didn't go looking for an old house 13 years ago when they were house hunting. They were looking for a bigger house. But the farmhouse happened to be available. "Magically," Mark said, "we could afford it."
"The age was not that appealing," Mark said, "but the size and the price were right." Jennifer, 46, says they got a two-for-one: "space and charm."
This is a special year for the house. It turns 100 years old. It was built the same year as the San Francisco earthquake. That is not a coincidence. In the aftermath of the disaster, with its fire and devastation, many families and businesses were drawn to Sunnyvale.
Booming in 1906
For Sunnyvale real estate agent W. E. Crossman, the earthquake presented opportunities. He'd bought 200 acres from the Murphy family heirs in 1898, and he was selling 10-acre lots, the "cream of Santa Clara Valley," at $150 per acre. The Murphy family had owned 4,800 acres they had bought in 1850, the beginning of Sunnyvale.
In 1900, there were 100 people in Sunnyvale. The first elementary school opened in 1899 with 20 students and Miss Jennie Cilker, their teacher. In 1901 there were so many children in the school there were not enough chairs. That year the town changed its name from Murphy to Sunnyvale and the train station was built.
Crossman promoted Sunnyvale in his advertising. "Just the place for a lovely country home. A growing town needs new homes and barns," according to captions on display at the Sunnyvale Historical Museum.
Little is known about the family that built the Hanlons' house. The Hanlons do know they are just the third owners in 100 years. They bought it from the Carl Forsberg family, where it had been for generations.
Maybe the family that built the house came to Sunnyvale by train, arriving at the new station where there were separate waiting rooms for men and women. Each area had its own pot-bellied stove. Or perhaps the home's first owners fled San Francisco following the quake.
Many did come to Sunnyvale in 1906 after the earthquake. Crossman is said to have "lured" John Hendy to the area to build Hendy Iron Works, promising free land. Sam Hendy, John's brother, died in the San Francisco earthquake and the family lost three of its San Francisco plants in the fires. John moved the iron works to Sunnyvale to its present location adjacent to the rail line. The iron works were built in 1907.
The cannery--Libby, McNeil and Libby--opened in 1906. By 1907 it was in full swing. These businesses needed workers.
So maybe the first owner of the Hanlon house came to Sunnyvale with the promise of a job. By 1908, Sunnyvale had a bank, a general store and "three fine churches," according to the Historical Museum displays. The population had grown to 1,500. In 1909 Sunnyvale sported a four-member ladies' tennis team.
And in 1910 the Hanlons' farmhouse had neighbors. A Queen Anne cottage was built next door.
On Christmas Eve in 1912 Sunnyvale incorporated, and the city was truly born.
100-year-old house
A white picket fence encloses the front yard of the Hanlon house on South Bayview Avenue. The fence continues around the 1910 Queen Anne cottage next door, too, with a picket fence between the houses on the property line.
At the Hanlons, the pine porch floor continues into the house, running the full length of the hall. When the Hanlons moved in, 2-inch green shag carpet covered all the floors. "We played some indoor croquet before we removed all the carpet," Mark said.
During the 1970s the owners added a boxy wing onto the house. Porches had been enclosed and added on. "Our house is not one that has been totally preserved," Jennifer said. "It has had some serious modifications, like the Winchester Mystery House. It rambles from its origins as a farmhouse."
Jennifer thinks the 1970s addition destroyed the exterior lines of the house. "But we don't spend much time out there so we got over it."
Inside there are high, coved ceilings. Jennifer painted the pine floors a soft gray. Mark points out ruts in the floor. "I like to think they were made by the steel wheels on a treadle sewing machine" that might have been wheeled across the hall into the parlor. A soft wood like pine can easily mar or dent.
Lintels, like two-inch roofs, decorate the tops of each of the five doorways in the central hall. Liam points out the detail on the original iron door hinges. Some of the doors and knobs are original.
The Hanlons have remodeled and enlarged the kitchen. They have redecorated the living room and dining room, which most likely were parlors when the house was built.
"You can spend a lot of money making an old house new," Jennifer said. "It helps when you have a house-handy person--and Mark is." She points to skylights, new floors, to tiling and plumbing. "It's fun to do the face-lifting."
Mark reshaped the mantel around the fireplace. The family likes having a "real live basement." And that's been there since 1906, they said.
Jennifer said they like to entertain. "It's really neat to have the space."
City Council courtship
Mark Hanlon grew up in New Jersey in a very old house, he said, built in 1804. It was a farmhand's house and full of "neat old things." The house has been torn down, but Mark was able to salvage the casing around one of the doors. This will be going into the family cabin in Vermont.
As a child he went to auctions in Vermont. When he was 14 or 15 years old, he discovered milk cans. "I made a ton of money, buying them at auction and bringing them to New Jersey, cleaning them, painting them and selling them," he said.
Mark rummaged in a corner and then proudly held up an unpainted milk can. "Cabot Farmers Coop" was stenciled in black on the side. Sharp, tangy Vermont Cabot cheddar cheese is a favorite of many in this area.
After earning a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in electrical engineering, Mark moved to Sunnyvale 26 years ago when he went to work for Hewlett-Packard. He now works for Agilent Technologies.
Jennifer Britton grew up in Canfield, Ohio, a city with a code requiring that any city property must be colonial looking. After earning a master's degree in pubic administration, she moved to Sunnyvale and went to work for the city manager. She worked for Sunnyvale from 1987-1992.
Mark was elected to the Sunnyvale City Council in 1987. He served one term, which ended in 1991. Jennifer and Mark were married in Saratoga in 1994.
Today, Jennifer works for the Waldorf School in Los Altos. This private school believes in teaching the mind, body and spirit of its students. Both the Hanlon children, Liam and his sister, Caitlyn, 11, attend the Waldorf School.
"I wouldn't consider us historical buffs," Jennifer said. They are not active in the Sunnyvale Historical Society. But Mark did serve on the council when the city approved funds for the book, Sunnyvale Images, a pictorial inventory of historic buildings in Sunnyvale. Their farmhouse and its neighbor are not in it.
It's hard to know just how many buildings are still standing that were in Sunnyvale in 1906. But Laura Babcock, who chairs the Heritage Park Museum Project and is a member of the Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association, estimates there may be about 10.
The oldest building in Sunnyvale is now a house but was built in 1868 as an office for a distillery, Babcock said. In fact, according to A Windshield Tour published by the Sunnyvale Historical Museum, this building is the oldest brick building in Santa Clara County. It is now a home on Cascade Drive.
The oldest house in Sunnyvale is the Wright Ranch that dates from 1862. It was built in the Gothic Revival style but was remodeled in 1918 into its current Colonial Revival style. It is considered one of Sunnyvale's loveliest and is now a private home on Cranberry Avenue.
The Del Monte building, at 185 E. Evelyn Ave., was built in 1904 for Madison and Bonner Fruit Packing Company. Del Monte bought it at a later date.
The Hendy Iron Works, bought by Westinghouse in 1948, was built in 1907.
There was a lot of building going on in 1906, Babcock said. But not much of it is left today. "I have a hard time imagining what it was like 100 years ago," Mark said of his neighborhood.
About the Museum
The Sunnyvale Historical Museum is in the Murphy Historic Park, 260 N. Sunnyvale Ave. Hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12-3:30 p.m., Sunday 1-4 p.m., other days by appointment. For more information, call 408.749.0220.
On Sept. 30, 2006, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Heritage Park Museum, which also marks the 50th anniversary of the Sunnyvale Historical Society. Groundbreaking is at 11:45 a.m. at Heritage Park, Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 E. Remington Drive, Sunnyvale. The celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a BBQ lunch for $3-$6, live music by the Swamp Foot, children's activities, plus a large antique and collectibles sale. For more information, visit the website at www.heritageparkmuseum.org or call 408.736.4713.
