For Immediate Release: 1/22/2019

California State Historical Resources Commission To Consider Nine Nominations for Action

Contact: Jorge Moreno  I Information Officer I (916) 653-1986

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Historical Resources Commission (Commission) will consider nine nominations for federal historic designation on Friday, February 1. The Commission meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the Natural Resources Agency Building, located at 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento (95814).

Some of the nominations being considered by the Commission include Eichler, whose pioneering housing ideas were inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian homes, produced these 218 mid-century houses—popular in many California cities in the 1950s—in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose. The San Diego Gas & Electric Capistrano Substation, a key element of Southern California Edison's (SCE) electrical distribution system is also being considered.

All properties being considered at the meeting include:

National Register of Historic Places Nominations

Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower

Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County

The symbolic east entrance to Palos Verdes Estates is a two-story rustic circular stone masonry tower, designed by Clarence E. Howard and built in 1925. The tower is prominently located at the top of a hill, originally intended as a gate tower and lodging for a gatekeeper.

Housing Tracts of Joseph Eichler in San Jose, California

Multiple Property Submission

San Jose, Santa Clara County

The Multiple Property Submission (MPS) covers the modern mass-produced housing built by pioneering merchant builder Joseph Eichler in the Santa Clara Valley, specifically within the city limits of San Jose. Eichler's ideas about housing were inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian homes, and became enormously popular in many California cities in the 1950s, featuring broad, horizontal homes, contemporary architecture, and innovative indoor/outdoor designs.

Fairglen Additions (Housing Tracts of Joseph Eichler in San Jose, MPS)

San Jose, Santa Clara County

A district of 218 houses in the San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen, constructed between 1959 and 1961, produced by merchant builder Joseph Eichler and designed by the architectural firms of Anshen & Allen, Jones Emmons & Associates, and Claude Oakland Architect & Associates. Thirteen distinct home plans were constructed on the approximately 6,000 square foot lots. The open floor plans emphasize privacy and the relationship of indoor/outdoor living, typical of Eichler homes and subdivisions.

San Diego Gas & Electric Capistrano Substation

San Juan Capistrano, Orange County

Constructed in 1917 as a key element of Southern California Edison's (SCE) electrical distribution system, the point where SCE's 50-Hertz power was converted to San Diego Gas & Electric's 60 Hz. The property is an example of SCE's “Monumental” substations; a subtype of the company's architectural program intended to visually enhance SCE buildings via the use of formal architectural design, coupled with the durable, fire-resistant reinforced concrete buildings. The building was later sold from SCE to SDG&E. Despite demolition of the rear portion of the building in 2018, the surviving portion retains eligibility, as it is both the architecturally significant portion of the building and the space that once held the conversion equipment that converted SCE's 50 Hz power to SDG&E's 60 Hz power.

Weilheimer House

Mountain View, Santa Clara County

A one-story residence associated with town trustee and mayor Julius Weilheimer, and a locally significant example of Queen Anne residential architecture. The property has been converted to restaurant use and retains its historic characteristics.

Air Base Laundry

Mountain View, Santa Clara County

A one-story concrete Spanish Eclectic commercial building, originally used as a commercial laundry, built in 1931 by the Carl Lindholm Company. It is a locally significant example of Spanish Eclectic architecture, reflecting the architectural styles of nearby Air Base Sunnyvale (previously known as Moffett Field).

Santa Barbara Club

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County

Headquarters for a private club that played an influential role in the political, social, cultural and business life of Santa Barbara between 1904 and 1965. Designed by Francis Wilson with 1925 alterations by Soule and Murphy, the building is an outstanding and rare example of Beaux Arts architecture in Santa Barbara, where Spanish Colonial Revival style predominated after the 1925 earthquake.

Security Trust and Savings Bank Building

Long Beach, Los Angeles County

A 13-story high-rise designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. When completed in 1925, the building featured a large banking hall on the ground floor with speculative office space on the upper floors. The property is a distinctive feature in the downtown Long Beach cityscape due to its exceptional attention to detail and use of material, and an outstanding local example of the work of architectural firm Curlett and Beelman.

Hunt Center and Library

Fullerton, Orange County

The International Style Hunt-Wesson, Inc. Headquarters building and branch public library in a campus-like setting. The work of architect William L. Pereira and landscape architects R. Dudley Trudgett and Robert Herrick Carter, the property is significant for its association with Hunt-Wesson, Inc., one of the most long-lived and important companies in Fullerton’s history, and industrialist Norton Simon, a self-made titan of American business.

The National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program that coordinates and supports public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources. The California Register of Historical Resources includes buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific, economic, agricultural, educational, social, political, military, or cultural annals of California.

All nominations and photographs of properties under consideration are available online.

Notices and agendas for Commission meetings are available online 10 days before a meeting at www.parks.ca.gov/Commissions. The public may present oral statements at the hearing at the appropriate time. Inquiries and written comments on the agenda may also be emailed to the Office of Historic Preservation at calshpo@ohp.parks.ca.gov or submitted via mail to Julianne Polanco, State Historic Preservation Officer at Office of Historic Preservation, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001.

General inquiries on the Commission are handled by Twila Willis-Hunter. She may be contacted via phone at (916) 445-7052 or at the same mailing address listed above.

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Office of Historic Preservation

Responsible for administering federally and state mandated historic preservation programs to further the identification, evaluation, registration and protection of California's irreplaceable archaeological and historical resources under the direction of the State Historic Preservation Officer, a gubernatorial appointee, and the State Historical Resources Commission. Learn more at ohp.parks.ca.gov.

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