Willow Glen Resident

News

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

The Roberto Sunol Adobe dates back to 1836. It was originally built by Roberto Balermino, a Christian Indian from Mission Santa Clara who was emancipated and granted his own land. Current owner John Bruzzone recently renovated the adobe which is attached to a Monterey Colonial.

A Willow Glen cornerstone is restored

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

The off-white Monterey Colonial looks out of place at the busy industrial leg of Lincoln Avenue. The All-American white-picket fence guards the 1844 structure from speeding cars, while a mission black fig tree's lush canopy hides the adjacent adobe that is attached to the home. Both dwellings have managed to defy time and the changes that have sprung up around it in Willow Glen. Somewhere along the way the property became a rare gem, a magical portal into the city's past. Now it will be recognized for what it is. The 171-year-old Roberto Sunol Adobe is now on the national register of historic places and a California State landmark. It is a shining example of Willow Glen's love affair with its past.

Roberto Balermino, a Christian Indian from Mission Santa Clara, built the Roberto Sunol Adobe in 1836. He was one of the few Native Americans born and raised at Mission Santa Clara who became emancipated and granted land of their own. Balermino's modest adobe home, only 18 feet square, was part of a 2,219-acre ranch named Rancho de Los Coches, or Ranch of the Pigs. The name of this ranch, however, was deceiving. The Willow Glen native actually raised sheep. Balermino held on to his property only until 1847, when he sold it to Don Antonia Sunol to pay a $500 debt.

Sunol expanded the one-room adobe home with three additional brick bedrooms. In 1853, Sunol sold the home to sea captain Stefano Splivalo, who in turn added his own touch. Splivalo added a second story to Sunol's brick additions and then encased the subsequent structure in the familiar wooden Colonial frame that is visible today.

Various cacti are now scattered on the land. A walk around the building offers a view of the patio, gardens and a rustic outhouse tucked away in a far corner.

One man, John Bruzzone, saw the importance of retaining the home and the city's heritage. The Preservation Action Council of San Jose recognized his restoration efforts. On Sept. 28, the day before Willow Glen begins it Founders Day weekend celebration Bruzzone will be honored by the preservation action council.

"We realized what a great service John Bruzzone did for our community," says Preservation Action Council board member Jim Zetterquist. "It's one of the finest examples of how historic preservation should work."

The council was struck by how a single resident bought the building, recognizing its value to the community and saved it, Zetterquist says.

"It's still viable and productive as a functioning building," he says. "It's a productive location for a business. They use the 1836 adobe home attached to the Monterey Colonial to store their records, and the home itself houses a law office."

Bruzzone, whose family founded the Pied Piper Exterminators in 1934 and settled on Willow Street, currently owns the Roberto Sunol Adobe.

"It was 1973 when I first laid eyes on it," Bruzzone says. "The adobe itself is an example of how people at that time built their homes of dirt and straw and lived from what the area and ground would produce."

Many Native Americans of the area became proficient in making adobe bricks from their work on the local mission. The process consisted of clay soil, water and a "binder"--either weeds, straw, manure, animal hair, blood, tules, birds nests or a combination of these. Balermino's building became the home for him and his wife, Manuela, and children Juan and Maria Regina.

Bruzzone wanted to acquire the property to allow him an entrance on Lincoln Avenue. He already owned the property behind the adobe, and didn't know much about the historic building's past.

"I talked to the owner at the time, and she was interested in selling it," he says.

Soon after the acquisition, he became engrossed in the research he began while the purchase was being processed.

"The more and more research I did, the more interested I became in restoring it," he says.

Along with Balermino and Sunol, another name that became closely associated with the building since the turn of the 20th century is that of Laura Ville. This name etched into the front gate is the last remaining mystery associated with the home.

One legend speaks of a daughter of one of the homeowners who died at a very young age. Another points to the Laurel trees in the nearby area. None, however, have been confirmed.

Bruzzone's infatuation with the property peaked when he discovered the Willow Glen community had convinced the city to move Interstate 280 over 15 feet in order to save the home from being demolished in 1966.

Bruzzone, along with adobe specialist Gilbert Sanchez, worked on the restoration for three years; it cost $300,000.

The project was the second for Sanchez. He had previously restored the Peralta Adobe.

"I used to go by and wonder about the concrete columns John was placing out front," Sanchez says. "I lived in Willow Glen, and one day he knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to work with him on his adobe."

Sanchez agreed and got to work. The building consisted of a brick and straw adobe attached to the two-story Monterey Colonial. Although the exterior of the three-bedroom adobe home is wooden, the interior walls are brick.

"It's just stacked mud and stacked brick," Sanchez says. "We had to take the roof off and then put concrete to reinforce it."

The work on the two-story building was a little trickier.

"We had to lift the second floor to reinforce and connect the first and second floor," he says. "The hardest challenge was to do the structure work and add heating and electrical without being obvious."

Sanchez's reason for restoring the building, he says, was simple.

"Why do we save anything? Without our history, who are we?"

He wasn't the only one to feel this way. During the process, various historical societies began to show interest in the project.

"It gave us more enthusiasm for the building's restoration," Bruzzone says.

In 1977, their hard work earned the building historic landmark status, both state and national.

"It's important to do this and save our historic buildings for posterity, for people of the valley and especially Willow Glen, which we've been a part of for the last 70 years," he says. "I'm happy and glad that we've been able to do this so we can hang on to a piece of history. So many old buildings have been torn down unnecessarily already. We want to advocate the restoring and keeping in place of our historical homes for those wanting to enjoy the past."

The 27th Annual Italian Family Festa and Willow Glen Founders Day celebration will be kicked off with the Una Delle Piu Belle Esperienza Italiana: The Ultimate Italian Experience, where John Bruzzone and the Pied Piper will be inducted into the San Jose Preservation Action Council's Hall of Fame. The Italian Gala is set for Sept. 28, 6-9:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $95. Proceeds will help preserve historic resources throughout San Jose. Space is limited.

The Roberto Adobe is located at 770 Lincoln Ave. For more information, call 408.998.8105 or visit www.preservation.org.