Item 2 - Staff Report and Attachments 1 and 2
PREPARED BY: RYAN SAFTY
Associate Planner
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6874
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
COMMITTEE REPORT
MEETING DATE: 08/24/2022 ITEM NO: 2
DATE: August 19, 2022
TO: Historic Preservation Committee
FROM: Joel Paulson, Community Development Director
SUBJECT: Consider a Request to Remove a Pre-1941 Property from the Historic
Resources Inventory for Property Zoned R-1:20. Located at 150 Oak Hill
Way. APN 529-32-020. Request for Review PHST-22-016.
PROPERTY OWNER: Matthias Knaur. APPLICANT: Barbara Chambers.
PROJECT PLANNER: Ryan Safty.
RECOMMENDATION:
Consider a request to remove a pre-1941 property from the Historic Resources Inventory for
property zoned R-1:20 located at 150 Oak Hill Way.
PROPERTY DETAILS:
1. Date primary structure was built: 1908 per County Assessor’s Database
2. Town of Los Gatos Historic Status Code: Historic and intact or worthy special note
3. Does property have an LHP Overlay? No
4. Is structure in a historic district? No
5. If yes, is it a contributor? N/A
6. Findings required? Yes
7. Considerations required? No
DISCUSSION:
The applicant is requesting approval to remove the presumptive pre-1941 residence from the
Historic Resources Inventory. The Santa Clara County Assessor’s Database lists a construction
date of 1908. The property is not within a historic district or LHP overlay.
The property is included in the 1990 Anne Bloomfield Survey (Attachment 1), with a historic
status code of, “historic and intact or worthy of special note.” The survey noted that there was
a veranda on all four sides and that the style of the home is, “generic.”
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DISCUSSION (continued):
The applicant has provided an informational packet with their application, which includes a
detailed description of the current property and structures, pictures of the property, historic
aerials, historic research, and building permit records (Attachment 1). The existing residence is
vernacular in style, with gable and shed asphalt-shingled roofs, horizontal clapboard-clad siding,
and wood-sash windows.
Town records are minimal: electrical permit from 1957, property line clean out from 2006, re-
roof permit for the carport in 2008, and HVAC work from 2016 (also included in Attachment 1).
Per the historic research provided in Attachment 1, there are no architects or builders
associated with the original build, and the previous owners were not significant figures to the
Town. Additionally, as noted in the Ann Bloomfield Survey, the style of the home is, “generic”
and has no distinctive characteristics or methods of construction. Based on the historic
research conducted by the applicant, there is no indication that the subject property has the
potential to yield information important to the history of the Town. An integrity or structural
condition report was not conducted.
The applicant has also provided a survey of the property, provided as Attachment 2.
CONCLUSION:
Should the Committee find that the structure no longer has historic significance or architectural
merit due to the loss of integrity, the structure would be removed from the Historic Resources
Inventory and any proposed alterations would not return to the Committee.
FINDINGS:
A. Findings - related to a request for a determination that a pre-1941 primary structure has no
historic significance or architectural merit.
In evaluating a request for a determination of historic significance or architectural merit,
the Historic Preservation Committee shall consider the following:
1. The structure is not associated with events that have made a significant contribution
to the Town;
2. No Significant persons are associated with the site;
3. There are no distinctive characteristics of type, period or method of construction or
representation of work of a master;
4. The structure does not yield information to Town history; or
5. The integrity has been compromised such that the structure no longer has the
potential to convey significance.
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ATTACHMENTS:
1. Applicant’s Submittal Packet
2. Property Survey
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Intentionally
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REQUEST FOR REVIEW
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
110 E MAIN STREET, LOS GATOS, CA 95030
PLANNING@LOSGATSOCA.GOV
408-354-6872
PLEASE SUBMIT APPLICATION WITH ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS VIA THE CITIZEN’S
PORTAL: https://permits.losgatosca.gov/Login-and-Manage-My-Records
PLEASE TYPE OR PRINT CLEARLY
1.PROPERTY LOCATION:
Address of subject property ___________________________________________________________________
Zoning: ____________________________ Property Size: _________________ APN: _______________
Year built: ____________
Existing use: _______________________________________________________________________________
2.APPLICANT REQUEST:
¨Determination of Significance ¨Removal from Historic Resources Inventory
¨Preliminary Review ¨Demolition
¨Exterior Modifications Outside of a Historic District ¨Other: __________________________________
3.APPLICANT:
Name__________________________________________________________ Phone:_____________________
Address ____________________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________ State ___________________ Zip _____________________
Email ______________________________
4.NAME OF PROPERTY OWNER: (If same as above, check here )
Name___________________________________________________________ Phone:_____________________
Address _____________________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________ State ___________________ Zip _____________________
Email ______________________________
I hereby certify that I am the owner of record of the property described in Box #2 above, and that I approve of the action
requested herein.
SIGNATURE OF OWNER ___________________________________________DATE __________________
The information contained in this application is considered part of the public record. Therefore, it will appear in both the public record file for the site address,
which is available upon request, and on the permitting system on the official Town of Los Gatos website at www.losgatosca.gov.
150 Oak Hill Way, Los Gatos, CA 95030
R-1:20 52,272 sq. ft.529-32-020
1908
Residential
Barbara Chambers
415-381-8350
420 Miller Avenue
Mill Valley CA 94941
barbara@chambersandchamber.com
Matthias Knaur
415-381-8326
150 Oak Hill Way
Los Gatos CA 95030
matthias@knaur.com
7/21/22
ATTACHMENT 1
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
HISTORIC RESEARCH WORKSHEET
Applicants shall provide written evidence and supporting documents to justify their request for a
remodel, alteration, addition, determination of significance, or demolition of a designated or
presumptive historic resource. This worksheet is intended to assist the applicant in gathering written
evidence and supporting documents, and to assist the Historic Preservation Committee during
evaluation of the request.
Applicants shall provide written evidence and supporting documents of the historical and architectural
characteristics, regarding both structures (construction date, alteration dates, photographic
documentation) and people (owner and/or resident names). If written evidence cannot fit on this
worksheet, please attach separate sheets.
The Historic Preservation Committee reviews the application using the Town's Historic District Ordinance
requirements. Copies of the ordinance(s) are available at Town Hall. The Committee meets the fourth
Wednesday of every month. The filing deadline is 20 days prior to the meeting by 11:00 AM.
The applicant shall research the following (please check the box once you complete your research):
1. Los Gatos Public Library (see How to Research the History of a House in Los Gatos):
□Sanborn Maps
□1941 Tax Assessment
□1989 Anne Bloomfield Historic Resource Survey forms
□Polk’s Directories
□Telephone Directories
□Other
2. Santa Clara County Resources (especially helpful for properties previously located in the county’s
jurisdiction):
□Santa Clara County Planning Department records
□San Jose Public Library (California Room)
3. Community Development Department Resources:
□Sanborn Maps
□1989 Anne Bloomfield Historic Resource Survey forms
□Community Development Department property files (permit history)
Research was conducted on (please enter date): ____________________________________
Records and Documents found (please attach copies): _______________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
June 17, 2022
Bloomfield Survey,
Permits from Los Gatos Community Development Center
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HOW TO RESEARCH THE HISTORY OF A HOUSE IN LOS GATOS
At the Los Gatos Public Library
100 Villa Avenue, Los Gatos CA 95030
Locked Cases Area
1. The Los Gatos Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps located on the microfilm file cabinet. These maps indicate
the outline of buildings in 1884, 1888, 1891, 1895, 1904, 1928 and 1944 (please note the 1944 maps
have been relabeled and appear out-of-order, before the 1928 maps). These can be used to identify a
construction date range.
Bookcase #11
1. The 1941 Tax Assessment Survey. The listings are alphabetical by street name. An entry will note how
old the owner thought the house was in 1941 (please note that this information is not always accurate).
2. The 1991 Anne Bloomfield Historic Resources Survey. These listings are alphabetical by street name.
3. A list of the Museums of Los Gatos Historic Homes Tours and programs.
4. A list of the 100 Bellringers and information.
5. As it Was by Dora Rankin.
Bookcase #12
1. The 1924-1974 Polk’s Directories (please note that some years are missing), with reverse listings by
address and then resident name.
2.Business and Telephone Directories, as early as 1881-82.
History Room (Docent Hours: 1:00-5:00 Mondays and Thursdays; 10:00-12:00 Wednesdays)
1. History of Los Gatos by George Bruntz and Los Gatos Observed by Alistair Dallas (979.473).
2. Information in the Residences drawers of the Vertical File, filed by street.
3.The Patrons’ Inquiries, binder #3 Residences, listed by street, located on the shelf above the computers.
These may provide information found under previous searches.
General
1. ancestry.com is available free while inside the library.
2. A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia Savage McAlester (728 M11 in non-fiction)
Project Name: 150 Oak Hill Way Los Gatos HRE
Historic Resource Evaluation - FINAL
Project No: HP1179.2201.00
July 21, 2022
treanorhl.com
TREANORHL
150 OAK HILL WAY, LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
HISTORIC RESOURCE EVALUATION
FINAL
July 21, 2022
Project Name: 150 Oak Hill Way Los Gatos HRE
Historic Resource Evaluation - FINAL
Project No: HP1179.2201.00
July 21, 2022
treanorhl.com
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................................1
2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................1
3. METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................................................................1
4. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................................................1
5. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE ...............................................................................................................................8
6. SITE HISTORY ................................................................................................................................................8
Construction Chronology ..............................................................................................................................9
7. HISTORIC CONTEXT .................................................................................................................................. 12
8. ARCHITECT/BUILDER/DEVELOPER ........................................................................................................... 14
9. OCCUPANCY HISTORY ............................................................................................................................. 14
10. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................................... 14
11. SIGNIFICANCE EVALUATION ................................................................................................................... 16
Current Historic Status ................................................................................................................................ 16
NRHP/CRHR Evaluation .............................................................................................................................. 17
Integrity ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Town of Los Gatos Significance Evaluation ................................................................................................ 17
12. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................................... 21
Project Name: 150 Oak Hill Way Los Gatos HRE
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1. INTRODUCTION
Chambers + Chambers Architects has requested TreanorHL’s assistance in assessing the property located at 150
Oak Hill Way in Los Gatos (APN 529-32-020). The property is not identified in any federal or state inventories.
Constructed in 1908, the property does not appear to be within Landmark and Historic Preservation (LHP)
Overlay Zone; however, it is listed on the Los Gatos Historic Resources Inventory.1 The following report is an
evaluation of the property’s potential eligibility to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP),
California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR), and locally under the Town of Los Gatos criteria.
2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The property at 150 Oak Hill Way in Los Gatos does not appear to be individually eligible for listing on the
NRHP or CRHR as it does not possess sufficient historical significance under any criteria. The property does not
meet any local criteria of architectural, cultural, historical, geographical, or archeological significance defined by
the Town of Los Gatos; therefore, it does not appear to be eligible for local designation.
3. METHODOLOGY
TreanorHL conducted a site visit on June 17, 2022 to evaluate the existing conditions, historic features, and
architectural significance of the subject property. Additional in-person and online research was completed
including at the Los Gatos Public Library, and with Los Gatos city directories, historical aerials and photographs,
newspaper articles, Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office data, Town of Los Gatos Community Development
Department, and various online repositories.
4. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
The subject property is located in the southwestern region of Los Gatos with Oak Hill Way to the east and
Central Avenue to the far south. The surrounding area is wooded with some single-family houses.
1 Town of Los Gatos Interactive GIS Map, http://www.losgatosca.gov/MAP (accessed June 15, 2022).
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Figure 1. The subject property at 150 Oak Hill Way outlined in red (Google Earth, imagery date August 2020).
Constructed in 1908, the single-family one-and-two-story wood-frame vernacular house at 150 Oak Hill Way is
roughly square in plan with projecting elements. The house is capped by gable and shed asphalt-shingled roofs.
The horizontal clapboard-clad house is set into a sloping landscape and is set slightly below the ground level,
three steps down from the driveway. A deck connects to the walkway on the lower level of the southwest
elevation and a detached garage sits at the end of the driveway near the eastern line of the parcel.
The southeast façade is one-story and has a wraparound porch leading to the southwest and northeast façades.
The shed roof covers the porch and is supported by square wood posts. The porch on this elevation has no
railings. On either side of the single glazed main door are wood-sash divided lite and casement windows.
The upper level of the southwest façade has a set of double swing doors opening to the porch. Beneath the
gable end is a shed roof covering the porch. The entryway is recessed and located on the western end. The door
is a bifold glazed door with wood casing, and behind this door appears to be a set of French doors. The primary
window type is wood-sash double-hung. A set of concrete stairs with a wood railing leads to the lower level. The
lower level of this elevation has an open walkway with stone veneer flooring, sheltered under the upper-level
porch. One wood-sash casement window is on the lower-level façade.
The northwest façade is two full stories and has partial-width wood decks on both floors. On the upper level, the
porch railing continues onto the deck. The deck is not accessible but there appear to be wood-sash windows
and a single door on the façade. The lower level has a partial porch that opens to a smaller deck. A
Project Name: 150 Oak Hill Way Los Gatos HRE
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wood-sash casement window with a windowsill and a wood-sash multi-pane window flank a single glazed door
with wood casing. At the east end of lower-level porch is a trellis wall with an opening that leads to a laundry
room.
The northeast elevation is one and two stories. The west end is one story, projects out from the façade, and has
two small wood-sash square sliding windows. The band of fenestration continues onto the east end with a mix of
wood-sash one-over-one, sliding, and multi-pane double-hung windows. A northwest-facing single glazed door
is on the projecting section and opens to a shallow deck with a staircase that leads to a neighboring house. The
east end is two stories. The lower level has a trellis wall with a matching door.
From Oak Hill Way, a driveway runs south along the southwest elevation to a detached partial one-and-two story
wood-frame carport with an enclosed unit. The carport features a gable roof with asphalt shingles. The whole
structure is on a sloping site and abuts a hillside on the east elevation. The unit is obscured by vegetation but
appears to have a shed roof with wood-sash sliding windows. The entry is not visible from the exterior. Under the
unit is a lower level, an open accessory structure built into the hillside with a corrugated metal roof.
Figure 2. Southwest façade.
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Figures 3 and 4. Southwest façade, views of the upper-level porch.
Figures 5 and 6. Views of the lower level, southwest façade (left) and northwest façade (right).
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Figure 7. Southwest elevation from the deck.
Figure 8. Northwest elevation.
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Figure 9. Northwest elevation with a view of the deck, steps, and staircase.
Figures 10 and Figure 11. Details of the southwest elevation, lower level.
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Figure 12. View of the northeast elevation from the upper level.
Figure 13. View of the northeast elevation from the stairs.
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Figure 14. Southeast elevation.
Figure 15. Detached carport and unit, north façade (left), and west and south facades (right).
5. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
Constructed in 1908, the single-family house at 150 Oak Hill Way in Los Gatos is vernacular in character without
a definitive architectural style. The vernacular houses of the late 19th to early 20th century focus on being
functional; they are simpler in form and detail compared to the popular styles of the period. Some characteristics
of vernacular houses that apply to 150 Oak Hill Way include having a gabled or hipped roof over the main block,
porches with steps, raised first floors, and encased eaves with moldings.2
6. SITE HISTORY
The subject property is in the southwest region of Los Gatos, a relatively sparsely developed area of the town.
The house sits on hillside terrain approximately one mile north of the St. Joseph’s Hill Open Space Preserve and
east of Sanborn County Park, both of which are part of the larger Midpeninsula Open Space District. As the
house is on irregular ground, it appears to have been less favored for building. The 1908 deed and survey map
shows the broad block neither as subdivided nor lists a property owner.3 An aerial photograph from 1931 shows
2 Winter & Company, Your Old House, Guide for Preserving San Jose Homes (August 2003), 17.
3 The 1908 map lists the block as “56,” and this number is confirmed by the 1990 Bloomfield survey.
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the area to be wooded with some orchards and single-family houses. The subject property was located on a
large plot of land with orchards to the south and to the west beyond a line of trees. An aerial photograph from
1965 shows an overall increase in natural shrubbery. The orchard to the south of the property is no longer there,
and instead replaced by non-fruiting trees, and the west orchard is replaced by built structures, likely single-
family houses. By the 1960s, urban development in this area stabilized and natural brush becomes thicker with
old and new growth. In June 2021, the Town of Los Gatos published a general plan draft deeming the hillside
area residential and permitting only structures compatible with the “unique mountainous terrain and rural
character of the hillside areas.”
Construction Chronology
No original building permits were found for the property with the Town of Los Gatos or Santa Clara County.
According to the Town of Los Gatos GIS map, the house at 150 Oak Hill Way was constructed in 1908. The
subject property was not documented as part of the Los Gatos Sanborn maps from the 19th and 20th centuries;
today’s Oak Hill Way was shown as West Street on the earlier maps. The house was surveyed in 1990 by Anne
Bloomfield; the style was noted as “generic” and the estimated age as “1900s.”4
According to the permits on file at the Town of Los Gatos, the metal roof of the detached carport was replaced
with a wood roof in 2008. Other permits from 1957 and the 2000s are for electric, mechanical, and plumbing
work.5
Figures 16 and 17. The first sheets of the 1908 (left) and 1944 (right) Sanborn maps, the approximate location of the subject
property marked by a red star (Library of Congress; ProQuest Digital Sanborn Maps via San Francisco Public Library). The
area where 150 Oak Hill Way is located was not recorded in detail.
4 Anne Bloomfiled, “1500 Oak Hill,” Architectural/Cultural Survey, Los Gatos Research, 1990.
5 Town of Los Gatos Community Development.
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Figure 18. 1908 Deed and survey map of Los Gatos, F.G. Harriman, C. E. (Los Gatos Public Library).
Figure 19. 1931 aerial photography of the area, the subject house marked by a red arrow (UC Santa Barbara Library).
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Figure 20. 1965 aerial photography of the area, the subject house marked by a red arrow (UC Santa Barbara Library).
Figure 21. 1968 aerial photography of the area, the subject house marked by a red arrow (UC Santa Barbara Library).
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Figure 22. 2020 Google Earth aerial photograph of the area, the subject house marked by a red arrow.
7. HISTORIC CONTEXT
Located in southwestern Santa Clara County, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Town of Los Gatos
was established in the mid-19th century along the route between Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz. Rancho
Rinconada de los Gatos was granted to Jose Hernandez and Sebastian Peralta in 1840. In 1850, Alexander
Forbes, former vice-counsel in San Francisco for the British Government, purchased 3,000 acres in the vicinity of
Los Gatos Creek on the Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos, adjacent to the old Mission Trail between Santa Clara
and Santa Cruz. The flour mill Forbes constructed on the east bank of Los Gatos Creek opened in 1854. The
town that grew around this mill was initially called Forbes Mill, then Forbestown, and finally Los Gatos after the
large wild cats that were so prevalent in the surrounding mountains.6
The population [of Los Gatos] has grown from less than 500 in 1875 to 1,510 in 1880, 1,915 in 1900, 2,317 in
1920, 3,597 in 1940, and 26,594 in 1980. The town was incorporated in 1887 and kept the same boundaries,
enclosing 1.6 square miles, until December of 1955.
Its economic development as a town began with the construction of a stone flour mill in 1852-1855, on the
east bank of Los Gatos Creek where the southern extremity of the agriculturally rich Santa Clara Valley meets
the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, whence the descent of water could power such an industry. For a
decade, the mill and its workers' shacks stood alone near the ancient trail over the mountains formed by
Ohlone Indians and used from 1791 by Spanish and Mexican traffic between the missions of Santa Clara and
Santa Cruz. Lumber was brought out of the mountains by the same route.
6 Design, Community & Environment, Town of Los Gatos, 2020 General Plan (January 7, 2011), CD-13 to CD-15.
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In 1858, a toll road was built over the mountains. It began in what is now Los Gatos, a little south of the
present district and along the route of what is now South Santa Cruz Avenue. Two roads led from the north
to the toll road, one along each side of the creek. The high west bank road from Santa Clara became the
route of today's North Santa Cruz Avenue, and the low east bank road to San Jose and branching off to the
Almaden mercury mines, became Main Street, crossing Los Gatos Creek near today's bridge and bending
into what is now called Los Gatos Boulevard. With the toll road came a stagecoach route and, in the future
town, a stage stop called Ten Mile House for its distance from San Jose. This developed into the town's
principal hotel, Lyndon House, which stood at the southwest corner of Main and Santa Cruz [from] 1877 to
1963.
Lumbering continued an important activity. The mill went through a succession of owners and [remodels], to
increase its power and remedy undercapitalization. It eventually became an ice plant, and its 1880 addition
survives as a museum listed in the National Register. Farms developed in the area before the town itself.
First, they were wheat farms, later orchards and vineyards. Regular commercial activities began in 1863 when
W. S. McMurtry and J. W. McMillan opened a general store on Main Street east of Los Gatos Creek near the
mill. In 1864, an official post office was established. Other businesses followed, so that in 1875 the Paulson
directory reported two general stores, two blacksmiths, and two saloons, all presumably on Main Street east
of the creek, plus the hotel west of the creek.
[…]
Los Gatos’ economic development took a great leap forward when the railroad arrived in 1877. The
population tripled in three years, to 1,510. The railroad brought tourists and health seekers, many of whom
decided to stay, or at least to come for the summers. The added population required service business from
provisions to realtors, doctors and dentists, to milliners. The railroad line ran west of and roughly parallel to
Los Gatos Creek. The railroad station and yard were at the southeast corner of Main and Santa Cruz […] The
station caused the commercial development to extend to the west side of the creek, where the [Los Gatos
Historic Commercial District] is found today.7
Attracted to Los Gatos’s mild climate, many American and European families began purchasing property and
planting orchards. During the mid-1870s, the Town expanded to the west side of Los Gatos Creek and land
prices increased significantly. Los Gatos was incorporated in 1877 and census records list 1,500 inhabitants
within the Town’s limits. During this late 19th and early 20th century expansion period, Los Gatos became a major
agricultural area known for its apricots, prunes, grapes, and peaches, and the downtown area began to develop.8
It was also the trading center for the surrounding orchards and farms—indicated by the large number of
hardware stores, and by the canneries and dehydrator factory well north of the commercial district.9 The town
continued to be “a mecca for health seekers, vacationers, scenery lovers, and retired persons.” The directory
listings from this time show residents without occupation, probably indicating either principal residence and
occupation elsewhere in the Bay Area, or of retired or wealthy status.10
Fruit orchards and logging, Los Gatos’s main industries through World War I, began to weaken during the
Depression and through World War II. The transformation of Los Gatos from a small agricultural village to an
upscale Silicon Valley community took place during the second half of the 20th century. During the period after
World War II, Los Gatos experienced strong residential and commercial growth. The orchards disappeared and
several landmark buildings (including the old town hall, Carnegie Library, and the railroad depot) were
7 Anne Bloomfield, Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, NRHP Registration Form (February 15, 1991), Pages 8.1-8.5
8 Design, Community & Environment, Town of Los Gatos, 2020 General Plan (January 7, 2011), CD-13 to CD-15.
9 Anne Bloomfield, Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, NRHP Registration Form (February 15, 1991), Pages 8.1-8.5
10 Anne Bloomfield, Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, NRHP Registration Form (February 15, 1991), Pages 8.1-8.5
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demolished in the 1950s and 1960s. A new civic center was constructed and dedicated in 1966. Older homes
began to be restored and real estate prices soared.11 The population grew from 9,000 in 1960 and 26,900 in
1980.12
8. ARCHITECT/BUILDER/DEVELOPER
The research did not reveal any architects or builders associated with the initial construction of the building.
9. OCCUPANCY HISTORY
Built in 1908, the subject property at 150 Oak Hill Way has always been used as a single-family house. The
earliest occupancy record for the property comes from newspaper articles: Robert R. Wondries, the regional
manager at Studebaker Corporation, and his wife Maryly F. (Greuner) lived at the property in 1946-1947. The
address was first recorded in the Polk City Directories in 1949; Lyle A. and Jeane W. Black were listed as
occupants from ca. 1949 to 1954.13 Edyth Harris was listed as the only occupant in the 1956 directory. Korle F.
Coulson, an employee at Cascade Research lived at the house in 1958.14 Louise P. Greuner, the retired widow of
William Greuner, was noted as an occupant from 1962 to until at least 1972.15 William Greuner was a well-known
Oakland real estate broker.16
10. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
The regulatory background provided below offers an overview of federal, state and local criteria used to assess
historic significance.
National Register of Historic Places Criteria
National Register Bulletin Number 15, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, describes the
Criteria for Evaluation as being composed of two factors. First, the property must be “associated with an
important historic context.”17 The National Register identifies four possible context types, of which at least one
must be applicable at the national, state, or local level. As listed under Section 8, “Statement of Significance,” of
the NRHP Registration Form, these are:
A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history.
B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important to prehistory or history.18
11 Design, Community & Environment, Town of Los Gatos, 2020 General Plan (January 7, 2011), CD-13 to CD-15; Peggy Conaway Bergtold,
Images of Modern America, Los Gatos (Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, Ebook, 2015).
12 Archives & Architecture, County of Santa Clara, Historic Context Statement (December 2004, revised February 2012), 80.
13 Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer via Newspapers.com; Polk City Directories.
14 Polk City Directories.
15 Los Gatos City Directories via Ancestry.com; Polk City Directories.
16 “Exciting golf game fatal to realty man,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 9, 1934.
17 National Park Service, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, National Register Bulletin 15 (Washington, DC: United
States Department of the Interior, 1997), 3.
18 National Park Service, How to Complete the National Register Registration Form, National Register Bulletin 16A (Washington, DC: United
States Department of the Interior, 1997), 75.
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Second, for a property to qualify under the National Register’s Criteria for Evaluation, it must also retain “historic
integrity of those features necessary to convey its significance.”19 While a property’s significance relates to its
role within a specific historic context, its integrity refers to “a property’s physical features and how they relate to
its significance.”20 To determine if a property retains the physical characteristics corresponding to its historic
context, the National Register has identified seven aspects of integrity:
1. Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event
occurred...
2. Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a
property...
3. Setting is the physical environment of a historic property...
4. Materials are the physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time
and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property...
5. Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given
period in history or prehistory...
6. Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time...
7. Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property.21
Since integrity is based on a property’s significance within a specific historic context, an evaluation of a
property’s integrity can only occur after historic significance has been established.22
California Register of Historical Resources Criteria
The California Office of Historic Preservation’s Technical Assistance Series #6, California Register and National
Register: A Comparison, outlines the differences between the federal and state processes. The criteria to be
used when establishing the significance of a property for listing on the CRHR are very similar, with emphasis on
local and state significance. They are:
1. It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or
regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States; or
2. It is associated with the lives of persons important to local, California, or national history; or
3. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents
the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or
4. It has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important to prehistory or history of the local area,
California, or the nation.23
The CRHR requires the establishment of historic significance before integrity is considered. California’s integrity
threshold is slightly lower than the federal level. As a result, some resources that are historically significant but do
not meet National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) integrity standards may be eligible for listing on the
CRHR.24
California’s list of special considerations is shorter and more lenient than the NRHP. It includes some allowances
for moved buildings, structures, or objects, as well as lower requirements for proving the significance of
19 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, 3.
20 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, 44.
21 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, 44-45.
22 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, 45.
23 California Office of Historic Preservation, California Register and National Register: A Comparison, Technical Assistance Series 6,
(Sacramento, 2001), 1.
24 California Register and National Register: A Comparison.
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resources that are less than 50 years old and a more elaborate discussion of the eligibility of reconstructed
buildings.25
In addition to separate evaluations for eligibility for the CRHR, the state automatically lists on the CRHR
resources that are listed or determined eligible for the NRHP through a complete evaluation process.26
Integrity
Second, for a property to qualify under the CRHR’s Criteria for Evaluation, it must also retain “historic integrity of
those features necessary to convey its significance.”27 While a property’s significance relates to its role within a
specific historic context, its integrity refers to “a property’s physical features and how they relate to its
significance.”28 To determine if a property retains the physical characteristics corresponding to its historic
context, the NRHP has identified seven aspects of integrity, which the CRHR closely follows the seven aspects of
integrity identified above under the NRHP Criteria. 29
Town of Los Gatos30
According to the Historic Preservation Town Code of the Town of Los Gatos, historic preservation aims to
promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public through:
(1) The protection, enhancement, perpetuation and use of structures, sites and areas that are
reminders of past eras, events and persons important in local, State, or National history, or which
provide significant examples of architectural styles of the past or are landmarks in the history of
architecture, or which are unique and irreplaceable assets to the Town and its neighborhoods, or
which provide for this and future generations examples of the physical surroundings in which past
generations lived.
(2) The development and maintenance of appropriate settings and environment for such structures.
(3) The enhancement of property values, the stabilization of neighborhood and areas of the Town, the
increase of economic and financial benefits to the Town and its inhabitants, and the promotion of
tourist trade and interest.
(4) The enrichment of human life in its educational and cultural dimensions by serving aesthetic as
well as material needs and fostering knowledge of the living heritage of the past.
The council may designate “one (1) or more individual structures or other features, or integrated groups of
structures and features on one (1) or more lots or sites, having a special character or special historical,
architectural or aesthetic interest or value, as landmarks, and shall designate a landmark site foreach landmark.”
11. SIGNIFICANCE EVALUATION
Current Historic Status
The subject property at 150 Oak Hill Way in Los Gatos have not previously been identified on any state or
national historic resources inventory. The property does not appear to have a Landmark and Historic
25 California Register and National Register: A Comparison, 2.
26 All State Historical Landmarks from number 770 onward are also automatically listed on the California Register. California Office of Historic
Preservation, California Register of Historical Resources: The Listing Process, Technical Assistance Series 5 (Sacramento, n.d.), 1.
27 United States Department of the Interior, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, National Register Bulletin, No. 15
(Washington, D.C., 1997), 3.
28 How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 44.
29 How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 1.
30 Town of Los Gatos, Historic Preservation Town Code, Division 3. Historic Preservation and LHP or Landmark and Historic Preservation
Overlay Zone, Sec. 29.80.215. Purposes and Sec. 29.80.230. Designation by ordinance.
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Preservation (LHP) Overlay Zone and it is not located in a designated historic district; however, it is listed on the
Los Gatos Historic Resources Inventory since it was constructed before 1941.31
NRHP/CRHR Evaluation
Criterion A/1 – Association with significant events
The house at 150 Oak Hill Way was constructed in 1908 during the time of early twentieth-century expansion of
downtown Los Gatos and the Town’s agricultural areas. The house, however, is located further away from these
sites, in an area more suitable for smaller orchards. The area appears to have been low-density residential since
at least the early twentieth century. The land was partially developed with single-family homes at that time, but
by the 1960s has mostly remained unchanged. The property is not associated with the early 20th century urban or
agricultural development of the Town of Los Gatos. Therefore, the property does not appear eligible for listing
on the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion A/1.
Criterion B/2 – Persons
No persons of known historical significance appear to have been associated with the subject property. None of
the occupants have been identified as important to the history of Los Gatos, the Santa Clara Valley, or California.
Therefore, the property does not appear eligible for listing on the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion B/2.
Criterion C/3 – Architecture and Construction
The subject property is a wood-frame one-and-two-story vernacular house without a definitive architectural style,
which prioritized functionality. The building follows the construction techniques of the late 19th to early 20th
century, adapted for a sloping location. The modest house has a simple square form with a gable roof, a shed
roof over a wraparound porch, and is clad in clapboard. It is of common construction and materials with no
notable or special attributes, and neither the house nor the detached garage possess high artistic value. No
architect, designer, or builder has been identified. Therefore, the subject property does not appear eligible for
listing on the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion C/3.
Criterion D/4 – Information Potential
Archival research provided no indication that the subject property has the potential to yield information
important to the prehistory or history of the local area, California, or the nation. The property does not appear
individually eligible for listing on the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion D/4.
Integrity
Since the property does not appear individually eligible for listing on the NRHP or CRHR, an integrity assessment
was not undertaken.
Town of Los Gatos Significance Evaluation
For evaluating the local significance of the property at 150 Oak Hill Way, the objectives defined in item (1) of the
“Sec. 29.80.215. Purposes” of the Historic Preservation Town Code are taken into consideration.
§ The subject property is not associated with past eras, events, or persons important in local, State, or
National history. It was constructed in 1908 during a time of Los Gatos’ expansion, but is not located at
the town center nor was it designated for major agricultural use. Since the 1960s, much of the area has
reverted to a natural environment with some single-family properties. No persons of historical
31 Town of Los Gatos Interactive GIS Map, http://www.losgatosca.gov/MAP (accessed June 15, 2022).
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significance to Los Gatos, California, or the United States has been found to be associated with the
property.
§ The subject property does not appear to be significant example of an architectural style. It is a modest
vernacular structure from the early 20th century without a definitive architectural style. The house is
simple in form, with no ornamentation, and no notable attributes. The detached garage is a modest
utilitarian structure. No architect, designer, or builder have been identified.
§ The subject property does not appear to be a unique or an irreplaceable asset to the Town and its
neighborhoods. The building does not reflect the unique cultural or historical heritage of Los Gatos or its
neighborhoods, nor does it appear to be an irreplaceable architectural asset to the Town.
§ The subject property does not appear to yield information relevant to Town history.
12. CONCLUSION
The property at 150 Oak Hill Way does not appear to be individually eligible for listing on the national, state, or
local inventories as it does not possess sufficient historical significance under any criteria.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ancestry.com.
Archives & Architecture. County of Santa Clara, Historic Context Statement, December 2004 (Revised February
2012).
Bergtold, Peggy Conaway. Images of Modern America, Los Gatos. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia
Publishing, 2015.
Bloomfield, Anne. “1500 Oak Hill,” Architectural/Cultural Survey, Los Gatos Research, 1990.
----. Los Gatos Historic Resources Survey, 1990.
----. Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, NRHP Registration Form. February 15, 1991.
California Digital Newspaper Collection, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc.
California Office of Historic Preservation. California Register and National Register: A Comparison, Technical
Assistance Series 6. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Parks and Recreation, 2001.
----. California Register of Historical Resources: The Listing Process. Technical Assistance Series 5. Sacramento,
CA: California Department of Parks and Recreation, n.d.
Design, Community & Environment. Town of Los Gatos, 2020 General Plan. January 7, 2011.
Google Maps.
Historical Aerials by NETR Online, https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.
Library of Congress.
Los Gatos Library, Local History Room.
National Park Service. How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, National Register Bulletin 15.
Washington, DC: United States Department of the Interior, 1997.
----. How to Complete the National Register Registration Form, National Register Bulletin 16A. Washington, DC:
United States Department of the Interior, 1997.
Newspapers.com.
Los Gatos City Directories.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.
San Francisco Chronicle.
Town of Los Gatos. Interactive GIS Map, http://www.losgatosca.gov/MAP. Accessed June 15, 2022.
----. Community Development Department.
----. Historic Preservation Town Code.
University of California Santa Barbara Library Geospatial Collection.
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Winter & Company. Your Old House: Guide for Preserving San Jose Homes. August 2003.
Project Name: 150 Oak Hill Way Los Gatos HRE
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APPENDIX
Town of Los Gatos – Community Development Department
Historic Preservation Committee Application
Building Permits
Bloomfield Survey
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Intentionally
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ATTACHMENT 2