HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-07-11 City CouncilTO:
City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Summary Report
HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: Planning and
Community Environment
DATE:July 11, 1996 CMR:338:96
SUBJECT:Request for a Demolition Permit for a
Residence Located at 1531 College Avenue
REOUEST
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
RECOMMENDATIONS
This is an informational item required by Section 16.49.070 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC)
and no recommendations are included.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
The receipt of a demolition application does not represent any change to existing policies.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The residence located at 1531 College Avenue is a Category 1 building on the Palo Alto Historic
Inventory. On July 5, 1996, the City received a demolition permit application for this residence. The
PAMC requires the demolition application be referred to the Historic Resources Board (HRB) for
review and possible recommendation to the Council. There is an automatic sixty day moratorium on
issuance of the demolition permit. Upon recommendation of the HRB or any interested person, the
Council may extend the moratorium for up to one year. The application will be reviewed by the HRB
on July 17, 1996.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact related to this report.
CMR:338:96 Page 1 of 2
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The application for demolition is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act.
ATTACHMENTS
Photographs
Demolition Application
Historic Inventory Listing
PREPARED BY: Fred Herman, Chief Building Official
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
KENNETH R. SCHILEIBER
Director of Planning and
CITY MANAGER REVIEW:
City
ee: Historic Resources Board
Charles J. Guerrero Jr., 58 Valley Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
CMR:338:96 ,Page 2 of 2
0
O.
o
H
’H
0
0
I
0
04~
t~
0
i
State of California - The Re~ourc~,~ Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
IISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
Set Site
UTM O
Mo.
NR ~ SHL~
Sig ~
Adm~ T2 T3 Cat HABS~HAER " Fed~
IDENTIFICATION Cat.
1. Common name:
2. Historic name, if known:
3. Street or rural add.ress~Z C611e/~e Avez~e (earliem, .1~0.8 a~qd 13-lS_Pa.’Lo ._.._._~to Avenue)
City: Palo J~.to ZiP: County: ~az~t a
4.Present owner, if known: , J. Ckzez~.ez’o. L. Address: 58 Dolled" Street
City: Sa,r~ Fra~cisco~ Ca ZIP: Ownership is: Public []
5. Present Use: Resi~ez~ti8.].Original Use: ]~sident~. al
Private
DESCRI
6.
Other past uses:
PTION’
Briefly describe the present physical al~pe~rance of the site or structure and describe any major alterations from its original
condition:
This small house is made visual~v outstanding .by ~enerous use of machined ornaments.
~Although the general image an~ most of the ornamentation derives from ,Queen Anne
sty]_Ing, there are so~e Stick Style ele~e~ts~ as w~]_~o ~The hous~ retains its rails
and newel~posts as well as its water tower.
7.Lodational sketch map (draw and label site and
surrounding streets, roads, and prominent landmarks):
~NONTH
~ _~?/~ IR~v. 7175)
8. Approximate property size:
Lot size (in feet) Frontage
Depth
or approx, acreage
50 ,
115 ,;
9. Condition: (check one)
a. Excellent "E~] b. Good D c. Fair
d. Deteriorated [~ e. No longer in existence ~]
10. IS the featu}e a. Altered? [~ b. Unaltered?
11.Surroundings: (Check more than one if necessary)
a. Open land [---1’ b. Scattered buildings ~
c. Densely built-up [~ d. Residential ~]
e. Commercial [~f. Industrial ~--1 "
g. Other [~
¯ 12. Threats to site:
,a. None known ~] -b. Private development D
c. Zoning [~] d. Public Works project ~]
e. Vandalism E~ f. Other ~]
1978
1531 Co3_le~e
NO TE : The following (Items 14-19) are for structures only.
14. Primary exterior building material: a. Stone [~ b. Brick [~
f. Other [~
15. Is the structure: a. On its original site? [] ’ b. Moved? []
18. ,Year of initial construction l~90S This date is: a. Factual []
c. Stuoco [~ d. Adobe [] e. Wood []
c:Unknown7 [-"]
b. Estimated
17. Architect (if known):
18. Builder (if known): ;
19. Related features: a. Barn ~ b. Carriage house [] c. Outhouse [~ d. Shed(s) [~e. Formal garden(s) ~
f/Windmill [] g. Watertower/tankhouse~ h. Other [~ i. None [~
pump originally run by noisy one-cylln~er gasol~ne engine
SIGNIFICANCE
20. Briefly state historical and/or architectural importance (ir~clude datesl e~ents, and. persons associated with the site when known):
?his is a superb, elaborately=decorated Queen Anme cottage. Among builders of the
time and locale who might have put it up for Alexar~er Gordon, developer of College
Terrace, were Wi~_liam Peacock (Builder of the similarly-elaborate, but larger, Decker
house at 510 Waverley Street in 190~)j P.P. Q~tinn ~nd E.A. Hettlnger, who built i~
Mayfield as well .as Palo Alto in the 189Os, ~ L.S. Bean, who built a nearby house
in 190~o Like the houses at I~87 ~ 1528 College Avenue, it was meant to be a
model or "come-on" house, according to Birge Clark, who grew.up nearby i~ the 1890s.
By 189~ its occupants were the O.C. (Carter) Coffin .family, whose daughter Bessie
and son James, began their undergraduate studies at Stanford in German (Bessie, A.B.
1898) and Latin (James, A.B. 1900, MoA° 1902). The three or fou~ family cows_
supplied milk to the neighbors° ~he Goffins apparently were renters, for it was
Alexander Gordon ~ho sold the house in 1905 to Ann Eliza Reed and her sister, Clara
Hackley, of Syracuse, N.Y. ~rs. Hackley’s son R~bert attended Stanford and became
a we~l-established civil engineer on the Peninsula (see 353 ~elville Avenue)° Her***
21. Main theme of the h,storic resource: (Che~k only one): a. Architecture r~ b. Arts & Leisure
c. Economic/Industrial [] d. Exploration/Settlement ~ e. Government [---~ f. Military ~
g. e, ionh. Soci ,/Edu ation
22. Sources: List books, documents, surveys, personal interv~’=ws’ ar~ theirdat~’=-s-:-P-°A°toCity/~c~.O;,io~,~.~:A°
o/~ ,./~,. 10/27/~8. 11/15t69; Stam.£ord University A1 .um~i, D, irec~ r~. ~.!::)(~L~ _ ¯~"’-, " ’-" ~" -~O. Book 2~q (:Deeds)- p. 193, 6/3.3/O5; ~oo~ :~zV ~uee~s/, p. ~o,"
p. / o/19 (s=t Co. Secorder);
~’ar~r L~u (Hackley) Vivanco; 1986, Birge Clar~; U.S. Census 1_9OO, Santa_Cla~.a. ~Co:, ,-~...
23. [Date form prepare~:.L~ ~Y tname/: ~
Address: _ 2~0 ]-LaTn-i"Iton Ave .City. Palo Alto,~ Ca 9~301 ’Z~P: ------
Phone:Organization:
(State Use
brother, Albert L. Trowbridge,
bridge became an assistant con~
maintenance at Stanford. Mrs.
school before her marriage in ~
Church in Palo Alto o~ The Reed.
the property to a neighbor, E~
in 1919. Flood was an Army cal
School in San Francisco, 1919-i
19~O-19~6, Mrs. Lily L o Ball o
until 1961. It has been occupl
E.D. 53, P o 6
Only) "
and his wife Alma, also lived in the house. Trow-
roller and engineer in charge of operations and
Trowbridge was an accomplished musician who taught
.928, and was a vocal soloist at St. Thomas Aquinas
.Hackley-T~owbridge tenure ended with the sa.le of
~est L. Walker, and re-sale to W.J. and ~y F. Flood
rain who supervised the R.O.T.C. at Mission High
.928o The Floods kept ~he house until 193~. From
=cupled the house, followed by short=term tenants ¯
.ed since then by Jewell C. Hines°