Item 3 - 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: 3/29/2023 ITEM NO: 3
DATE: March 17, 2023
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 HR-1. Located at 16005 Shannon
Road. APN 527-01-006. Architectural and Site Application S-23-002.
PROPERTY OWNER/APPLICANT: Walker Pearce-Percy.
PROJECT PLANNER: Ryan Safty.
RECOMMENDATION:
Consider a request to remove a pre-1941 property from the Historic Resources Inventory for
property zoned HR-1, located at 16005 Shannon Road.
PROPERTY DETAILS:
1. Date primary structure was built: 1940 per County Assessor’s Database
2. Town of Los Gatos Historic Status Code: N/A
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 1940. The property is not within a historic district or LHP overlay, is not included in the
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, and is not included in the 1990 Anne Bloomfield Survey.
PAGE 2 OF 2 SUBJECT: 16005 Shannon Road/S-23-002 DATE: March 17, 2023
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Shannon Rd.docx
DISCUSSION (continued):
The applicant has provided a letter with their application (Attachment 1), which includes a
summary of the research they conducted, as well as existing elevations and pictures of the
existing residence. The first time the subject property is mentioned in any of the directories is
1952. The property was created by deed conveyance in 1939, and it is unclear when the
existing residence was constructed.
Town records are minimal, showing plumbing and electrical permits from 1994, and a re-roof
permit from 1997 (Attachment 2). The Town has no evidence of when this building was
constructed, and if any major alterations or additions ever occurred.
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.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Applicant Submittal Package
2. Building Permit Records
Request for Removal of 16005 Shannon Road from the Historic Resources Inventory
To Whom it may concern,
According to Santa Clara County records the home at 16005 Shannon Road was built in 1940. I
believe this to be an approximation based on the research we did of the home. We have spent
time reviewing the town Sanborn Maps, 1941 Tax assessments, 1989 Anne Bloomfield historic
resource survey forms, polk directories, and telephone directories for the town and for the
county. Shannon Road fell under the county jurisdiction at least through the 1944 Sanborn
maps.
The first time Shannon Road is mentioned in the Polk directories is 1945 and the first time
16005 is mentioned is 1952. Upon further research it was discovered that the property that
contains 16005 Shannon Road was originally part of the Estate of M.S. Gardner Unit 8 Parcel H
(see attached Map 1943) and in 1939 was conveyed by deed to Oneda Stapp who was a
saleswoman. The Stapp family lived at 238 University in Los Gatos. In 1943 Oneda Stapp
granted the property (to include what is now 16005 Shannon Road) to Samuel C Hord and
Dorothy S. Hord. Prior to this property acquisition the Hords lived on Manny Ave Rt 3 in San
Jose, CA.
As mentioned before the first time the address is mentioned in any type of directory is 1952 to
the Coolidge family. The exact date of building is a bit unknown as the property was part of the
larger estate that belonged to 15985 and 15982 Shannon Road. At some point in the late 40’s to
early 50’s the property and our structure was split up within the Coolidge family. The date of
when the Coolidge family acquired the property or structures was not discovered. Best we can
find in 1952 Adela and Claire Coolidge (both teachers) lived on the property and at some point
the structure/home that is now 16005 Shannon Road. Both Adela and Claire Coolidge were
eventually hired (late 50’s or early 60’s) on as teachers at Van Meter Elementary School.
Attached are the elevations, current pictures, as well as maps from 1943 and 2015-16 showing
the current state of the home. We are asking that the home at 16005 Shannon be removed from
the historic resources inventory and be deemed historically insignificant.
Please feel free to reach out to us with questions or follow up needed. Thank you for your time.
Thank you,
Walker and Kristi Pearce-Percy
16005 Shannon Road, Los Gatos
408-981-9009 ATTACHMENT 1
REVISIONSBYSHEET:JOB NO:SCALE:DATE:CHECKED BY:DRAWN BY:DESIGNERS OF FINE HOMES
761 UNIVERSITY AVENUE, SUITE A LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA 95032
TEL: 408.356.5500 FAX: 408.356.5115OFSHEETS1
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