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Published on 05/15/1996 All articles from this issue

Where Los Altos began

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Historic homes link Los Altos to its simpler past

In an occasional series the Los Altos Town Crier has beenpresenting profiles of Los Altos neighborhoods. The area in today'sstory includes University and Orange avenues in what many referto as the historic part of Los Altos. This week the city celebratesHistoric Preservation Week which is sponsored by the NationalTrust for Historic Preservation.

When Gary Carson-Hull and his family moved to Los Altos from SouthernCalifornia 17 years ago, he said he didn't have much feeling aboutolder homes.

They moved into the 1909 craftsman bungalow at 580 Orange Ave.,not because they were history buffs, but because the house wasfor rent and they needed a place to live.

The owner, a Stanford professor who didn't like crowds, was tiredof history classes from De Anza College coming by and lookingat the house. So he moved to Los Altos Hills.

By the time he decided to sell, the Carson-Hulls wanted to buy.

They paid $185,000 for the two-bedroom two-bath home. "Wecould have bought a four-bedroom in Fremont for less money,"he said. But they'd become hooked on history.

"We just sort of fell into this neighborhood and fell inlove with it," Carson-Hull said.

Today, a small cottage in the neighborhood might cost $375,000to $400,000, said Lois Wolcott, a realtor with Cornish & Careyand a specialist in old Los Altos. Larger houses on larger lotscould cost more than $1 million, she said.

Since his family moved in, Carson-Hull has researched the houseand served eight years on the Los Altos Historical Commission.Living in the house is "like owning a very large antique,"he said.

He likes the dark, heavy wood trim, the wooden open beams, leadedglass windows and hardwood floors.

They recently bought Stickley furniture, the oak mission stylewith slats, for the house.

The Carson-Hull house is just one of the 125 buildings in LosAltos identified as having historical value and put onto a historicresources inventory by the Los Altos Historical Commission. Ofthe 125 on the list, 27 are in the area around University Avenue,including Orange and Palm avenues and Edgewood Lane, from EdithAvenue in the north to El Monte Avenue in the south.

One of the goals of the historical commission is to consider developingan historic district in Los Altos.

"If we do decide to do a district, that's one of the strongestareas (University, Orange avenues) that has the potential forit," said Vance Phillips, building official with Los Altosand staff liaison to the historical commission.

The Carson-Hull house was built by Al and Faith Robinson whenOrange Avenue was a grassy plain with no trees. Faith Robinsonwas the sister of Paul and Guy Shoup.

She and her brothers built the home at 368 University Ave. in1909 for their mother. Guy Shoup built his home at 452 UniversityAve. also in 1909, a year after Paul Shoup built his home at 500University Ave.

Houses were also going up in 1909 over on Orange Avenue, downthe street from Carson-Hull's house.

The two-story craftsman mix home at 654 Orange Ave., built thatyear, is now owned by Barry and Irene Grenier.

Like the Carson-Hulls, the Greniers first met the neighborhoodas renters. The Greniers owned their dream home in Marin Countyand considered their time in Los Altos as temporary while BarryGrenier was starting a business.

"I remember looking at it (654 Orange Ave.) from across thestreet and thinking about what I'd do with it," Irene Greniersaid.

After they bought the four-bedroom, two-bath house for about $400,000in 1984, Grenier began buying gardening books from the 1920s tosee what plants were used then in landscaping.

"I'd never paid attention to old flowers before."

Grenier glows when she talks about her house.

"That warmth, that special feeling that only an old housecan give," she said. "It's something that comes withage and mellowing, that can't be duplicated."

She did have the kitchen remodeled. But she and her husband hauntedsalvage yards to find the old, rippled glass from the right timeperiod for the glass cupboards in the new kitchen. And she foundold, period drawer pulls.

She said the new hardware, which copies the period hardware, is"too thick."

Early owners left behind some furniture and books with notes.Through them she has traced previous occupants and is in touchwith Charles Denny, now in his 80s, in Eureka, who grew up inthe house.

"It's like I'm still meeting this house as I learn aboutit.

"I feel like the current caretaker of the house, that itwill live on and that I can enjoy its grace."

A little further down the street from the Grenier's house is thefirst church that was built in Los Altos at 461 Orange Ave.

Following the flurry of home building in the 1908-1910 years,the Episcopalians built a chapel in 1914 which was designed bythe well known architects Coxhead and Coxhead. For years it stoodalone in a field of wild grass.

In 1962, Foothills Congregational Church bought the building andis now one of three churches in the neighborhood.

Bea Teer lives around the corner at 551 University Ave. in a 1929Spanish home with red tile roof. It is the only Monterey stylehouse in Los Altos, according to the historical inventory.

Teer, a retired Los Altos antique dealer, had her eye on the housefor years. She bought it in 1989, before the Loma Prieta earthquake.

But her home had no interior damage. "It's built like a fortress,"Teer said. The wooden beamed ceilings and thick original wallsmake it "a nice tight house. It feels good. It's a feel-goodhouse."

When she remodeled her kitchen, Teer found newspapers from 1928and 1929 crumpled up beside the studs, "used for insulation,"she said.

As the remodel progressed, she put the old papers back so someday someone else can find them, too.

Outside she has a patio trellis covered with ivy that is originalto the house. It has trunks the size of trees. "We savedthe ivy but the arbor collapsed in the earthquake (in 1989),"she said. She also treasures two redwood trees next to her patiowhich were part of the original landscaping.

During the drought of the early 1990s she watered them even duringwater rationing. "The city fined me $500," she said.She shrugged. Teer is passionate about preserving the historicdetails of her house.

"I love all the original iron work and the oak front door,"she said.

What began as a bare field is now a neighborhood filled with gracioustrees and residents who consider their homes historic treasures.

Last night, the Los Altos City Council affirmed this as HistoricPreservation Week, celebrating the role of history as a way offostering community pride and maintaining community character.

By living in an old house, Grenier said, "I feel like we'repart of the story, too."

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