Left Coast Architectural History

27/07/2024

The Richmond Historic Preservation Commission needs two new bodies. Please spread the word to anyone who lives or works in Richmond, CA and has some Preservation-related chops.

The City is currently looking to fill several vacancies on its Design Review Board, Planning Commission, and Historic Preservation Commission! There is no deadline for applications, but applications will be reviewed on a first come first served basis.

15/06/2024

A joint opposition letter from the California Preservation Foundation regarding AB2580:

15/06/2024

Another (!!!) new housing bill - AB-2580 - seeks to undermine and stigmatize historic preservation. Please use the link below to learn more and send a letter to law makers:

AB 2580 unfairly stigmatizes historic preservation and overlooks the cost-effectiveness of historic rehabilitation in providing and retaining affordable housing. The bill reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of existing preservation programs and, as admitted by its proponents, is the first step t...

14/05/2024

The iconic chapel will be moved to storage while church officials debate next steps. The shift of land has been averaging about 7 inches each week.

26/03/2024

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) today designated the
seven-acre Sunset Magazine Headquarters, in Menlo Park, CA, as a Landslide nationally significant site that is threatened... Advocates want anyone concerned about the threat to contact the mayors of Menlo Park and Palo Alto, and to attend an April 24 webinar hosted by the California Garden and Landscape History Society (CGLHS).

24/03/2024

We took a rainy but beautiful day trip up to Pope Valley (far north end of Napa Valley) to reconnoiter the Henry Haus Blacksmith Shop. It’s amazingly similar to my great-great-grandpa Seymore Alf’s shop in the Mojave desert. They were built within years of each other, although the Haus shop operated until 1950 (ours was retired in 1916). Aside from having been electrified and having a few more modern pieces of equipment (or more antiquated, if you count a dog wheel that powered a belt-driven circular saw!), it has also been frozen in time and felt incredibly familiar.

Thanks to Napa County Historical Society for giving us a peek into this treasure trove!

22/02/2024

The City of Richmond's "Rooted in Richmond" tour app is receiving a Governor's Historic Preservation Award!
(See comments for a link to the "Rooted in Richmond" synopsis.)

OHP 2024 February ePost   View in web browser     2024 February Preservation ePost   Celebrating and Seeking Excellence! On behalf of Governor Gavin Newsom, the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP)

21/12/2023

My colleague, Christopher VerPlanck, got an Op Ed published in the San Jose Mercury/East Bay Times today responding to recent legislation "streamlining" (eliminating) our work and recent articles about how NIMBYs are allegedly weaponizing preservation. It's an opinion many of us historic resources consultants stand behind. Have a read:

Without preservation we would have no Palace of Fine Arts, Alamo Square, Tonga Room, Alcatraz or Paramount Theater

07/11/2023

Landmarks of my childhood (grew up a couple miles away). What a loss. 😩

The twin blimp hangars – which measure 17 stories tall, 1,000 feet long and 300 feet wide – have been at Warner Avenue in Tustin since World War II and were known as the home port a fleet of blimps and eventually helicopters. The hangars were decommissioned in 1999.

They are two of the world’s largest freestanding wooden structures and both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A massive fire was burning the historic north blimp hangar in Tustin, an Orange County landmark that dates back to World War II.

23/10/2023

My recent lecture for the volunteers of Rancho El Cerritos on the Monterey Colonial architectural style.

16/06/2023

Took a detour to an old project site today and discovered that the historical plaque that was required mitigation for demolition of the building has been installed. I did the Historic American Building Survey written documentation for the project and wrote the text for the plaque. (I refuse to be held responsible for the typo, if you find it. 🤦‍♀️)

07/06/2023

Coincidentally, exactly a year ago I was evaluating the Tilden Park Golf Course clubhouse (1937), when yesterday it’s “sister” clubhouse at Lake Chabot (1940) burned down. Both designed by architect Earl R. MacDonald for the WPA.

The historic clubhouse at Oakland’s Lake Chabot Golf Course was gutted in a two-alarm fire Tuesday morning, but hours later, golfers had already returned to the links.

01/06/2023

On a research pilgrimage in Daggett, CA, where I’m gathering info for the National Register nomination of Alf’s Blacksmith Shop (ca.1890), where some of the 20 mule team borax wagons were built by my great great grandfather, Seymour Alf. Icing on the cake is that I get to stay in my ancestral home just next door; a (in part) 140 year old adobe. Second photo is the wagon my g-g-grandparents came to California in, 1878-1882 (water tank is a later modification).

24/03/2023

Fresh website, hot off the press!

Professional website for Left Coast Architectural History and Caitlin Harvey, architectural historian.

21/03/2023

Tucked in a warren of narrow South of Market alleyways is a house, barely distinguishable from the industrial lofts and warehouses that hem it in. It has been drastically altered and appears unremarkable today, but is the oldest residence in the neighborhood. It is well known that the South of Market district was hit hard by the 1906 earthquake; filled ground was liquefied and fires from broken gas mains swept through the neighborhood consuming wood frame lodging houses and factory buildings. Residents who survived fled, leaving a desolate neighborhood that did not recover for many years, especially when debate over the regulation of fire-proof construction dragged on. At the small property on Rodgers Street, however; the Tierney family persisted. Their circa 1872 house had been destroyed, but John Tierney, a mechanic, was determined to rebuild. Years later, at a 1928 neighborhood picnic, Tierney won a contest for “the oldest resident South of the Slot,” having lived on Rodgers Street for 57 years. His 1934 obituary noted that he was “credited with having built the first house south of Market Street following the 1906 fire, starting the work ten days after the ashes were cold.” Even as late as 1913, it was the only property on its block face to have been rebuilt. Eventually it was subsumed by laundry plants, foundries, and a bottling works, but remains a "first" in South of Market history.

14/03/2023

Not out of the woods... Consider contacting your/the Supes.

"The San Francisco Parks and Recreation said it will take considerable public pressure and political will to save the Trocadero House. Sunset District Supervisor Joel Engardio said the board would have to find the funds to repair the building in a tough budget cycle.
"I would say to all the residents who see this as a beloved place, that have their memories, to contact your city supervisors all over the city to let people know what this place means to you," said Supervisor Engardio. "Because it's going to take a city-wide effort to rebuild this place."

Work was underway Monday to protect the historic Trocadero House in San Francisco's Stern Grove against the incoming storm.

14/03/2023

Berkeley's "Holy Hill" neighborhood was established after 1923 when a devastating fire cleared the area and it became an enclave of religious seminaries. Among them was the Unitarian Starr King School for the Ministry, which was described as “a liberal center of graduate study in religion.” Its 3-year degree program was adapted to include non-traditional courses in psychology, family relations, community analysis, and leadership, setting it apart from other seminaries and taking a revolutionary approach to training ministers for practical work within their congregations. The seminary's progressive ideals are reflected in their Modernist building, which the Oakland Tribune dubbed “the most unusual chapel in the west;” because of its circular “ultramodern” chapel. The building, as it is today, was designed in 1955 by architect Frank F. Ehrenthal. A Unitarian himself, Ehrenthal also designed the iconic onion-shaped Sepulveda Unitarian-Universalist Society church in Los Angeles. Both buildings implement a round chapel in their designs, which if not a formal Unitarian tenet, reflected Ehrenthal's own appreciation of equality and interpersonal connection within his religion and reflects his study and consultation with “members of the congregation to come up with a Modern design that would meet their needs. He presented a round building where people could face each other on equal footing.”

Oakland Tribune, 28 April 1955. LA Conservancy, "Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society, The Onion," https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/sepulveda-unitarian-universalist-society-onion.

25/02/2023

You can still spot these tiny reminders of the 1906 earthquake in the city today.

08/02/2023

The efforts of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) are evident in so many public places throughout the Bay Area, often in the form of stone walls, picnic shelters, and other rustic recreational facilities. In 1935, the WPA supplied labor and partial-funding for a rather sophisticated sporting ground, however; the Tilden Park Golf Course. The WPA cleared twenty-thousand eucalyptus trees, graded and greened a course designed by nationally renowned golf course designer William P. Bell, and built a log cabin style clubhouse designed by architect Earl R. McDonald. The opening of the course and clubhouse was feted with an invitational tournament, concert, and buffet dinner for local dignitaries and golf stars. Opening day for the public was teed-off by Major Charles Lee Tilden (namesake of Tilden Regional Park). Although golf is often seen as a sport for the affluent, the Tilden Park course has always been municipal, open to the public, and maintains a casual and approachable atmosphere. The facility has long been home to the Tilden Park Golf Club and Tilden Women's Golf Club, who have played the course but also partied at the Tilden Tee Club restaurant located in the clubhouse. The Clubs even mounted strong objection in the 1960s and 70s when the clubhouse restaurant became too posh; wanting to retain their casual grill and soda fountain. Arson almost destroyed the clubhouse in 2005, but it remains today as a well-loved rest stop for golfers traversing the lush emerald greens of Tilden Golf Course, set within the golden hills of an East Bay Regional Park established for the people.

(Third photo courtesy of East Bay Regional Parks archives.)

20/01/2023

I'm so pleased to announce that the Old Stone Hotel in Daggett, CA is freshly minted to the National Register of Historic Places! The nomination (written by the Daggett Historical Society with minor help from Left Coast) was unanimously approved by the State Historic Resources Commission this morning. They made a number of favorable comments and were delighted and amused by the hotel's associations with Western legends Aaron Winters (borax discoverer) and Death Valley Scotty (lovable con man).

07/01/2023

It's the first Friday of the year and I am making good on taking Fridays off to work on personal projects. Today was exciting in that I started work on the National Register of Historic Places nomination that I've promised the Daggett Historical Society for the Alf Blacksmith Shop. This is my great-great-grandpa's blacksmith shop where he built some of the wagons that hauled borax out of Death Valley. (The old picture below is one of the wagons sitting in front of the shop. My grandma is the little girl in the middle.) This place is deeply significant to me, but hopefully the powers-that-be agree that it's significant to national history, too. I feel ol' grandpa Seymour smiling on my effort... or at least twitching his ample mustache.

22/12/2022

Happiest of holidays to clients and colleagues! Thanks for another successful year. Here’s to 2023!

20/12/2022

The Richmond Historic Preservation Commission (on which I sit), in collaboration with many local experts, recently launched the “Rooted in Richmond” app. Head to the App Store to download and start exploring Richmond’s historic spots by bike, foot, car,or even from your sofa.

By Kathy Chouteau Rooted in Richmond is Rich City’s new multimedia historical walking tour that includes 16 stops along six miles and follows the Richmond Greenway. It puts “Hundreds of years of Richmond, Calif. history in the palms of your hands,” according to the Apple Store. The tour is fre...

13/12/2022

A Fizzy Family Affair:

In 1921, this Craftsman bungalow in Mill Valley's Sycamore Park neighborhood was built by Edmund Meyer. Meyer was born in California to French parents in 1891 and was the proprietor of a soda water factory. He and his wife, Florence, had an infant daughter, Audrey. They likely had the house constructed as a rental property to generate additional income for their young family. Its first occupants were the Oliver B. Hervers family.

The Hervers were from St. Louis and, for many years, Oliver Hervers was the proprietor of the O.B. Hervers newsstand and stationary shop. However, in 1916, he had co-founded the Mount Tamalpais Pure Spring Water Company. As becomes evident from the newspaper article pictured, Herver's business partner in the water-bottling venture was none other than Edmund Meyer, who would build and rent the house on Sycamore Avenue to Hervers' family. Also in 1916, a few months before the bottling company was founded, Meyers had married Florence... one of Oliver and Christina Hervers' daughters.

With business relations and a family affair in the mix, the bungalow represented more than a common rental transaction. The Hervers continued to live in the house until 1935, shortly after Christina Hervers' death. Oliver Hervers left Mill Valley, but the Mount Tamalpais Pure Spring Water bottling company continued successfully for some time; eventually moving into the realm of carbonated beverages and sodas. There are numerous accounts in newspapers of the men donating cases of soda to community groups and events throughout the years. In 1940, Audrey Meyer, Oliver Hervers' granddaughter and Edmund Meyer's daughter, was working as office staff for the bottling company. Edmund Meyer eventually merged the family business with the Coca Cola Bottling Company.

30/11/2022

Would you believe it if I told you this was once a Craftsman bungalow? (See pic #2 for reference - not the subject house, but an identical one just next door). It was built in 1923 by speculative builder Charles E. Burks, who built numerous houses using the same "cookie cutter" throughout Berkeley and Oakland. Luckily, some still exist in unaltered states, because the late-1960s sure had their way with this one. When the Burgess & Poole Construction Company got a hold of it and converted the single-family house into their offices, they ripped off the porch, added an entrance and new stoop, changed the window openings and installed steel sashes (later replaced again with vinyl), re-clad the front in vertical groove plywood, and supplanted the front gable with an outsized "toadstool" roof (tm). Not attractive, but certainly a revelation to the researcher who thought they were just doing a quick and easy study of some 70s era heap (oops)!

(Pic #2 courtesy of Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assoc.)

07/11/2022

I’m nerding out, because we’re getting some windows replaced in our 1939 house (goodbye aluminum, hello wood!) and they found the original sash weights and pullies still in the walls (and will reuse them)!

03/11/2022

The residents of Bolinas are known to tear down local highway signs to discourage visitors to their town, but at one time they actually tried to attract them. In 1909, the Bolinas Highlands subdivision was laid out by Wallace Sayers and Sherman Smith on the mesa-top overlooking Bolinas Lagoon. It was a subdivision of 58 lots, each 50-feet wide and fronting on a 40-foot wide avenue that skirted the edge of the mesa. The tract was touted for its level ground and unobstructed views of the ocean, coast, and lagoon. When the tract opened, Croker & Company in San Anselmo acted as the sales agent, advertising lots for $500 a piece, though they expected prices to rise with the neighborhood's inevitable popularity. They offered free day excursions to potential buyers, transporting them by horse-drawn rig from San Anselmo to Bolinas - only four hours of “easy driving” - for a luncheon on the beach or at the Lawrence Hotel and perusal of the real estate available. Who could refuse an offer like that... or a view like this?

21/10/2022

Some interesting SF architectural history I was unfamiliar with until now:

14/09/2022

A souvenir of my recent reunion with friends from grad school. We all first met at the University of Oregon’s preservation field school in 2002, where we helped rehab the Ferry House (including reroofing) at Ebey’s Landing National Historical Preserve on Whidbey Island, WA. Twenty years later, one of my friends works for the National Park Service and managed to salvage a shingle while the Ferry House was recently being reroofed once again. She split it in 5 and we each got a bit. Great memories in a bit of shingle!

04/09/2022

My husband and I are doing a little pro bono work to help get this grand old lady - a 1923 Carnegie Library, now the Richmond Museum - on the National Register of Historic Places using the framework of the California Carnegie Libraries Multiple Properties Submission. That’s one umbrella Register listing under which any property that meets the theme can be nominated. Certainly the case here!