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Attachment 1 - Applicant's ResearchBelow are the historical and architectural characteristics of 14344 La Rinconada Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95032 for your review. At A Glance ● The construction date of 1938 is incorrect; the correct date is at least 1940. The first proof I have of a structure is a 1948 aerial photograph from the California Room in the MLK library.. ● 14344 was originally a part of a different lot, likely 14330, that was split on May 15, 1939. ● Lewis & Myrtle Bird owned 14344 La Rinconada since at least 1970; other records were too difficult to locate. ● 14344’s original APN was 408-03-018, not the current value of 409-14-019. I am unsure why this is the case; the former value yields no results in any system I could find. ● The only permitted work on 14344 listed on the Property Record was the addition of the pool in 1998. ● Los Gatos did not have jurisdiction over 14344 La Rinconada Dr. until the ‘70s (around 1973?). Consequently, the Los Gatos library had no information on the property whatsoever, and the San Jose library had very few resources available that were of any use – just a single tax record and an aerial photograph in 1948. ● The original construction style was Craftsman. ● On Google Earth you can see that in May of 2011 the brick, siding, and front door were changed as well as new windows. In 2013 you can see the new siding on the front of the house. See pictures below. Data Points Sources Date Acquired Aerial Photographs UCSB aerial photography collection San Jose MLK California Room (1948 only) 2024.05.18 Side by Side Aerial Photographs Cropped and resized by Will Maynard 2024.05.18 Property Record Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office 2024.06.13 1989 Quitclaim Deed Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office 2024.06.13 ATTACHMENT 1 An aerial photograph from July 31, 1939 shows that there is no structure on the property. Contrary to government records, the house was not built in 1938. An aerial photograph from September 26, 1948 shows the main structure on the property. Side By Side Aerial Photographs 14344’s approximate property lines are highlighted in beige. The Property Record shows that the house was built in 1938. However, we know this is not the case from the previous photos. I was directed to the Clerk Recorder’s office so that I could build out an ownership history for the house. I tried to do this but hit roadblocks. The previous owners were Douglas Maynard (my father), Myrtle Bird, and Lewis Bird & Myrtle Bird (held in trust). The earliest record that appeared to be relevant I could find for the property with Lewis Bird was a Quitclaim Deed dated November 9, 1989. This includes a summary of a lot split on May 15, 1939. The measurements detailed in the summary seem to match our property: Portion of Lot 2 of Rinconada Acres Tract No. 106 Map of La Rinconada acres: filed May 15, 1939 Vol. 3 of Maps, page 58, Santa Clara County Records, described as follows: Beginning at a point in the Easterly line of La Rinconada Drive, said point being the common corner of Lot No. 2, and Lot No. 1 of the above described Tract, thence S.69°12’F. along the dividing line between Lot No.2 and 1, 266.68 feet to the Southeast corner of Lot No.2; thence along the Easterly line of Lot No.2, North 20°48’E., 81.47 feet to a point in the Easterly line of Lot No.2; thence N.69°12’W. 266.68 feet to the Easterly line of La Rinconada Drive, thence along said Easterly line S.20°48’W. 81.47 feet to the point of beginning. 14344 La Rinconada is attributed as built in 1938, but with the lot split, it didn’t exist as a separate parcel on its own at this time. While I’m not positive, I believe 14344 was originally part of 14330 – this would have made the original lot an even acre of land and would explain the oddly deep lots of both properties. Looking at the two aerial photos, we can see that the property at 14330 saw dramatic construction changes between 1939 and 1948. In 1939, there was nothing on the lot other than trees. By 1948, the currently-standing 1320 SF house was erected – according to Zillow, this was built in 1941. 14344 could not have been built before 1940. Lewis & Myrtle Bird owned the property since at least 1970. I attempted to track down past owners in hopes of finding more information about when the structure might have been completed, but was unable to trace anything beyond 1970. Records from 1970 onward are organized by grantee / grantor last names in alphabetical order. I used this information to find all records of Lewis & Myrtle Bird but didn’t see the acquisition of 14344 La Rinconada in these records - just the sale of it to my father in 1995. Records prior to 1970, however, are organized chronologically instead of by grantee names. Since I don’t know the dates of transfer, it seemed that the only way I’d track down the previous records was going to be to parse thousands of pages of microfilm looking for the Bird family. The APN changed at some point. The Property Record has an original APN of 408-03-018. This has a strikeout on the bottom right corner of the document and was replaced with the current APN of 409-14-019. The original APN yielded no results in any system I accessed. Perhaps this was the APN of the original property before the lot split. It’s more of a curiosity than anything else and doesn’t appear to be useful on its own at this time. Google street View May 2011 Google Street View 2013 Documents for your review. All will be uploaded and numbered. File # Filename Description Source Date Date Found 01 c-5750_285-91.tif Aerial Photograph of the neighborhood in 1939 Flight CIV-285-91 UCSB Aerial Photography 1939.07.31 2023.05.18 02 SCAN1085.JPG Scan of an aerial photograph of the neighborhood in 1948 Flight 2-173 San Jose MLK Public Library, California Room 1948.09.26 2023.05.18 03 civ-1956_6r-48.tif Aerial Photograph of the neighborhood in 1956 Flight CIV-6R-48 UCSB Aerial Photography 1956.06.09 2023.05.18 04 14344 Rinconada 1939-2024.png Side-by-side comparison of aerial photographs 1, 2, & 3 Google Maps Satellite image added for reference Images rotated, resized, and cropped with highlight of property Compiled by Will Maynard Various 2024.05.18 05 Polk's 1967 Hilton & Helen.jpg Photo of the 1967 Polk’s Los Gatos City Directory Shows Hilton & Helen Bird living at 14344 La Rinconada Dr. San Jose MLK Public Library, California Room 1967 2024.05.18 06 News_Article__Evening_News_publi shed_as_SAN_JOSE_NEWS___Sep tember_14_1961__p34.pdf Birth Announcement for Mary Alice Bird, Daughter of Hilton & Helen Bird Hilton lived at 14300 La Rinconada Dr. before 14344 San Jose Evening News 1961.09.14 2024.05.18 07 1978 Tax Roll.jpeg 1978 Tax Record showing Lewis & Myrtle Bird in 14344 Rinconada 1978 2024.05.18 08 Screenshot 2024-05-19 at 17.28.26.png Excerpt from a 1957 Mercury News article listing 14344 for rent 1957.04.14 2024.05.19 09 Los_Gatos_Times_Saratoga_Observ er_Mon__Jun_8__1959_.pdf Newspaper clipping showing a James Billingsley as the resident of 14344 La Rinconada; whether tenant or owner is unknown 1959.06.08 2024.05.19 100 News_Article__San_Jose_Mercury_ News_published_as_San_Jose_Mer cury- News___April_14_1957__p34.pdf Source for #08 1957.04.14 2024.05.18 Findings- ● Per aerial photography, the main structure at 14344 La Rinconada Dr. did not exist in 1939, contrary to the information available on sites like Zillow listing construction as 1938. ● The structure did exist by 1948. ● The home was purchased from Myrtle Bird in 1995 by Douglas Maynard, my father. ● Lewis & Myrtle Bird owned the home since at least 1978, though they were in Campbell in 1961 [citation misplaced; news article mentioned them in Campbell] ● They had family in the area; Jack Bird & Hilton Bird. Hilton lived at the end of the street, at 14300 La Rinconada Dr. before moving into 14344. ● 14344 was a rental property for some time; at least in 1957. Occupied by James Billingsley in 1959. ● Because this area was annexed by Los Gatos in the 70s, Los Gatos Public Library had no documents relevant to the history of the home (Sanborn maps, etc.); visited the LG library on 7/12 and found nothing. 01. Aerial Photo of Neighborhood 02. Scan of Aerial Photo in 1948 03. Aerial Photo of Neighborhood 1956 04. Aerial Photos 05. Telephone Directory 06. News Article Evening News Published as San Jose News – September 14, 1961 07. Owners Names 08. Screenshot 2024-05-19 at 17.28 Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer (Los Gatos, California) · Mon, Jun 8, 1959 · Page 3 https://www.newspapers.com/image/696801232 Downloaded on May 19, 2024 Copyright © 2024 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved. 10. News Article San Jose Mercury News published as San Jose Mercury News- April 14, 1957