The Willow Glen Resident Clark House receives a historic designation Home of Willow Glen's first mayor joins short list of local landmarks By Cecily Barnes Willow Glen earned another historical landmark at the San Jose City Council's Nov. 24 meeting. In addition to the Robert-Sunol Adobe and the Buffington House, both on Lincoln Avenue, the council granted historical status to the Clark House, where Willow Glen's first mayor, Paul Clark, lived. Because of the designation, the integrity and original design of the building will be protected by law. Live Oak Adult Day Care, which owns the home, has been upgrading the structure, and plans to restore the front room as an area open to the public. "We're restoring the dining room, living room and library, refurnishing them like they were in the 1900s, with period furniture and everything," said Leta Friedlander, Live Oak's executive director. "We're doing a display with vintage photographs and information on the mayor and his wife." There will also be information about the architect, Frank Delos Wolfe, who already has several buildings listed in the national register of historical landmarks. Most of the structure will be used during the day as a center for older adults. Although the building just won historical landmark status, the Live Oak Adult Day Care has proceeded with its upgrades and additions according to historical landmark guidelines. "The historical landmarks commission approached us and said they would really appreciate our restoring and keeping the building, rather than demolish it," Freidlander said. "It's been a long, arduous process to restore this 90-some-odd-year-old building that was in terrible decay and needed a new foundation. But now we have a foundation that would support a shopping center." The home was built for Mayor Clark in the early 1900s. Clark had been active in protecting Willow Glen from the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and became Willow Glen's first mayor when the community incorporated in 1927. His wife, May, founded the local chapter of the Housewife's Club, a group that recommended low-cost health foods and policed local grocers to see that farmers were getting fairly paid. She was also a member of the National League of American Pen Women, and published a series of poems and two novels. May Clark called their home Casa Mañana, because of its modern structure and design. Paul Clark died at age 71 in 1932, and five years later, May Clark committed suicide in the bathroom of their home, leaving specific instructions in her will that no one in her family was to have the home. After her death, the house was auctioned off for $8,500 to the Minton family, who lived there until 1942, when the Combs moved in. When the Combs left, the home was transformed into a day-care center. Freidlander says she hopes to have the center open by spring. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 2, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.