Built in 1905, the John Adams Squire House is one of the earliest homes constructed in Palo Alto and is the best example of Greek Revival architecture in the city. It features the typical elements of this style including a portico and Ionic columnns. The house is named after its owner, John A. Squire, who was a Greek scholar and a meteorologist (interestingly, he had a meteorology lab in the home). It is a private home today but can be viewed from the street.
Constructed in 1906, this historic home represents the growth of residential communities in Palo Alto in the decades following the opening of Stanford University. Similar to the Peck-Wilson House, many of the homes that were built between 1895 and 1915 utilized the Colonial Revival design. Surgeon Carl Willson purchased the home in 1907 and it stayed in the Wilson family until 1975. The home today stands as one of the finest examples of the Colonial Revival design and a reminder of the growth of Palo Alto in its early decades.
T. B. Downing (1864–1916) and his wife Margaret (Sanford) built one of the most ornate and largest houses in early Palo Alto history, arising only three years after the incorporation of Stanford University. The couple arrived in California in 1879 and then to Palo Alto in 1894. T.B. served as an early school board member and on Palo Alto's first City Council. He also invested heavily in Palo Alto, helping it grow at the expense of nearby Mayfield. The growth of the University and the town laid the groundwork for what eventually became twenty-first century technology hub in the U.S -- Stanford University is a large part of the Silicon Valley story.
The famed “HP Garage,” as well as the adjoining two-story house and shed, were the birthplace of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), and of Silicon Valley as a center of high-tech innovation. William “Bill” Hewlett and David “Dave” Packard, who had both been students of Prof. Frederick Terman (later known as "The Father of Silicon Valley"), worked at the property between 1938 and 1940. The two men started out with $538 in working capital, including a used drill press that Packard had brought west with him. In their first major success, they sold eight units of a variable frequency oscillator they had developed to the Walt Disney Company, which needed them for the rollout of its animated classic, Fantasia. Today, HP is a Fortune 500 company with billions of dollars in annual revenues. The property at 367 Addison was the company’s headquarters until 1940, by which time the company had outgrown the original site and moved elsewhere. The property was registered as California Registered Landmark No. 976 in August 1987 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
This large Spanish Revival house was built in 1927 and served as the home of Kathleen and Charles Norris, two acclaimed authors. Kathleen wrote 90 books and by the 1940s was the highest-paid female author in the United States. Her books featured strong lead female characters who lead fulfilled lives, and her books sold well. Charles Norris served as his wife's agent and editor, but he was also a literary figure in his own right. In 1949, the San Francisco Diocese purchased the Norris House and it served as the Newman Center at Stanford University. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and again became a private home around the year 2000.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural demonstration of the Craftsman style of design, Palo Alto's Theophilus Alien House (1905) represents the style of home design prevalent during the Arts & Crafts movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The property is also historically significant for its first owner, Theophilus Allen, who established Palo Alto's first Christian Science Church. The Theophilus Allen house integrates various stylistic influences. Features include a Swiss chalet-style front and rear-facing low pitched single gables, Japanesque exposed and protruding exterior beams, English Tudor style diamond-paned leaded glass windows, and interior woodwork. The house resembles many of the bungalows that emerged throughout the nation, a style tied to the Prairie School and the influences of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Hacienda de Lemos, also known as Waverley Oaks, was constructed during a ten-year-period from 1921-1931 by Pedro de Lemos. Lemos was the curator of the Stanford Art Museum and the founder of the Carmel Art Institute. In addition to working as a curator, De Lemos taught, published and produced successful works of art and architecture. De Lemos designed the historic house and created several of the decorative tiles found inside and outside of the house by hand.
This historical marker denotes the location of the first commercial building in Mayfield, now known as Palo Alto. James Otterson constructed and maintained a small hotel at this site, providing lodging and meals to the cattlemen and lumberjacks who worked in the area when Palo Alto was heavily forested. During this period, this section of northern California produced lumber and beef instead of tech products. The hotel also served travelers and provided temporary housing for early settlers to the area. Otterson sold the hotel in the late 1850s. During the Civil War, the hotel was a gathering place for area recruiters, leading many men to sign their enlistment papers near this historical marker.
The Kee House is one of the oldest buildings in Palo Alto. Built in 1889 by an unknown architect, it existed when that part of Palo Alto was called the village of Mayfield, and is the oldest dwelling remaining from that community. It is also the oldest house on College Terrace, the tract where it is located. It was constructed by Robert Norton Kee, who had a transfer business in Mayfield in the 1880s. It is considered an outstanding example of the Eastlake style of Victorian architecture. It was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
This historic home was constructed for the family of future American President Herbert Hoover in 1920. The Hoovers hired Stanford art professor Arthur B. Clark to design parts of the home, who agreed to the project under the condition that Mrs. Lou Henry Hoover would help him design the home. Clark and Hoover's design was unique, inspired by the architecture of great North African homes in colonial Algeria, this Mission Revival style home was designed to resist fire and blend into its hillside surroundings.
The historic house was constructed in 1914 and was home to microbiologist Frank MacFarland and his wife, Olive. Frank MacFarland served as a member of Stanford faculty for almost sixty years and is credited with revolutionizing aspects of the field of microbiology in addition to taking a leading role in the organization of the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory (now Hopkins Marine Station). MacFarland's academic and scientific work gained him worldwide acclaim. Olive and Frank MacFarland lived in the home, which included a laboratory, from 1914 to 1951.
Located on the Stanford University campus, the Hanna House was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built in 1937, Hanna House (sometimes referred to as Honeycomb House) was constructed for long-time Stanford professor Paul Hanna and his wife Jean. The home is unique in the Wright pantheon due to its incorporation of hexagonal modules and non-rectangular design and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Unfortunately, it is only open to the public for tours on Sundays.
This historical marker is located just a block from the former home of one of the most remarkable women in California's history: Juana Briones de Miranda. Juana Briones built a ranch and eventually owned over 4,000 acres in this area. The successful rancher and farmer achieved her wealth and influence while also raising seven children as a single mother. Awareness of this remarkable California woman grew following the 2008 release of a book about her life, but despite efforts by historians and preservationists to save her former adobe home, the structure was demolished in 2014. Remnants and items of the house are located at the California Historical Society. A large portion of the former ranch is part of the Esther Clark Nature Preserve.
This historical marker honors the life of early Palo ALto settler and women's suffrage pioneer Sarah Armstrong Wallis. Wallis traveled across the Great Plains with her family in the summer of 1844-prior to the United States' acquisition of California from Mexico. In 1856, she and her husband Joseph established a farm in the area now known as Barron Park in 1856. The Wallis' were leading investors in local railroad companies, and as a result, well-connected in area politics. In 1870, Sarah Wallis became the first president of the organization that grew to become the California State Woman Suffrage Education Association. The marker is located in the midst of what was once the Mayfield Farm, the home of Sarah Armstron Wallis until the economic depression of the mid-1870s forced her to sell the property. Despite her financial difficulties, she maintained local influence and corresponded with many national suffrage leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
The redwood tree has long been a symbol for this section of California. Native inhabitants considered an extraordinarily tall redwood tree that had two separate trunks to be a landmark and meeting place. This same tree was identified by Don Gaspar De Portola and his men when they selected a place to camp during their 1789 expedition. The tree was later named El Palo Alto and became the symbol of the city. This historic marker does not denote the location of the great redwood tree where De Portola's men camped. Instead, it marks the planting of El Palo Nuevo in 1969. This tree was meant to be a symbolic brother of the of the one-thousand-year-old redwood El Palo Alto. For many years, residents feared that the 1000-year old tree might perish, but it continues to thrive thanks to the efforts of local citizens and the city. El Palo Alto can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
Built during the 1950s, the Greenmeadow Subdivision embody the 1950s culture comprised of suburban living, the nuclear family, and indoor-outdoor living. However, the homes differ from most tract housing developments that dominated suburban construction. Joseph Eichler, who built more than 11,000 homes in Northern California during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, bucked the "cookie cutter" trend by employing architects and relying on modern designs.
Built sometime around 1867, the Rengstorff House is considered the first built in Mountain View. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the twelve room, 4,000 square foot mansion was built by German immigrant Henry Rengstorff on 164 acres that is now part of Shoreline Business Park. The house was moved to another part of the property twice in the 1980s to save it from demolition and was restored in 1991. The house and grounds are currently open for public tours and is a popular site for Bay Area couples to get married.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This driving tour includes homes that are architecturally or historically significant as well as historical markers that designate the locations where early settlers or prominent citizens lived or made history inside their home or garage. Many of the stops on this tour are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and either in Palo Alto or located just beyond this Silicon Valley community.
