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This Place Matters
The Historic Preservation Board is doing a series of short stories called “This Place Matters”. Every month, they will highlight a different Campbell Landmark home. Click on the titles below to learn about the history of each house.
- Lucy C. Bull House
- The First J.C. Ainsley House
- Louis & Edward Genasci House
- James Henry Campbell House
- J.C. Ainsley House
This Place Matters #9
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
The January featured Landmark is the Gilman House located at 151 N. First Street. and Grant Avenue. Built in 1900, it has watched over the transformation of our downtown from a rural, agricultural area with orchards and dirt roads when horse and buggies passed by, to today’s Civic Center with City Hall just across the street.
The house was the original home of an early settler, Mrs. Maude Gilman. Mrs. Gilman is reported to have been an active member of the Campbell Methodist Episcopal Church. That church was located at the northwest corner of Campbell Avenue and North First Street, currently a Starbucks, and stood at that location until 1955.
This single story, Colonial Revival Cottage home is unique with its wide corner entry, wooden porch and many cantilevered windows. The windows allow for more light and opened up the views on all sides of the house. It also features a hip roof with dormer gable above the front entrance and a combination of narrow ship lap siding below with redwood shingles above. Leaded and Stained glass windows adorn many of the front three façades.
It is a fine example of adaptive re-use as the current owner has done extensive restoration while turning it into his business. When he purchased the house, most of the doors and door frames along with decorative molding had been removed. Fortunately, he found them stacked and preserved in the basement, and he was then able to figure out the puzzle and have them reinstalled.
In talking with the owner, he shared out an interesting story about the home. About ten years ago, shortly after he had purchased it and moved in, an elderly lady came to the front door and knocked. She asked if she could come in for a few minutes, just to look around.
Welcoming her in, she said that she had lived here as a child. She said that she was now 86, but remembered how she loved to sit by the big window in the dining room (on Grant) and watch the buggies go by on Sundays on their way to church. Back then the ‘side’ streets were dirt, but the town sprayed them with oil starting on the main road (Campbell Avenue) to help keep the dust down. She also said that the house was a hangout for all the local kids after school.
Before she left, she told him that the house had spirits. She made her way back out to the front door, but paused, laughing. She said she was just a silly old woman and paused again. Turning back briefly, she told him, “Oh, they’re still here.” Unfortunately, the owner did not catch her name.
Want to learn more about Campbell’s historic structures? There’s a free app for that. Search for: Historic Campbell, available for Android or Apple.
This Place Matters #8
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
This month’s featured landmark home is the first J. C. Ainsley House at 84 North Third St. The Queen Anne cottage style house is estimated to have been built in 1874, on a 7.5 acre ranch. It originally stood on the northeast corner of East Campbell Ave. and Winchester (Road) Blvd. Its story is another example how homes were saved rather than demolished by moving them to new locations as the township grew.
Yet another house built by George Whitney, it shows his talent for creating unique details in the Queen Anne Style. The wide shiplap siding made of clear heart redwood, was likely sourced in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Ornately carved brackets support the eaves, with cut scallop shaped shingles and decorative work underneath. The one story house with no basement and an unfinished attic, had a half story added in 1983. The addition maintains the exterior architectural integrity of the Queen Anne style.
When John Colpitts Ainsley first arrived in Campbell in 1887, he purchased this house and ranch lands. Originally from England, he came to the United States in 1884 to seek his fortune in America. While still a bachelor, Mr. Ainsley began to experiment with canning fruit on a stove in his backyard sheds. It was here that J.C. figured out how to keep our locally grown peaches, pears, apricots and prunes from spoiling, while maintaining their flavor and color. His canning methods allowed the fruits to be shipped back to eager buyers in England who were looking for quality above and beyond what they could get locally. J.C. Ainsley is credited with inventing canned fruit salad.
In 1891, his “Washboiler Cannery” produced a thousand cases of fruit. (See Jeanette Watson Campbell the Orchard City). Mr. Ainsley went on to become a highly successful business man, building the J.C. Ainsley Packing Company, while providing good employment for many of the town’s residents. He married a local young lady, Alcinda Shelly, on May 1, 1894 and they had two children.
In 1921, the Campbell Union School District purchased the house and property and built the Campbell Union Grammar School, now the Heritage Village Office Complex. The district moved the house to the rear of the property to make way for the new school building, where it was rented to the first school principal for $25 a month. At one point the house was converted to a Manual Arts shop for students when the principal’s wife decided their growing family needed more room.
During the Great Depression, the house was put up for sale, and in 1930, it was sold to the only bidder, the school custodian and volunteer fireman, Antone Ferro. Mr. Ferro bought the house for $150. In 1933, he moved the house once again, by using horses, a capstan and a system of 12 foot long wooden skids with short wooden rollers rather than a wheeled vehicle, to its current location on North Third St. This method of house moving was common in Campbell because it allowed the structures to be maneuvered through the orchards.
Want to learn more about Campbell’s historic structures? There’s a free app for that. Search for: Historic Campbell, available for Android or Apple.
This Place Matters #7
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
The seventh featured Landmark home is the Louis and Edward Genasci House at 207 N. Central Ave. It is located in one of the earliest sections of the original Benjamin Campbell family land holdings.
Likely built around 1900, it is a one-story rural California Farmhouse style cottage with some Queen Anne and Greek Revival accents that many home builders added. The steeply pitched roof and wide shiplap siding showcase the boxed cornices, and long double hung sash windows with molded cross pieces. In the 1930’s, the previously open front porch was enclosed to make a sun porch. The original two-story wood frame, two door barn still sits at the back of this property and can be seen from the street.
Louis Genasci Sr. immigrated to the United States from Switzerland in 1885. In 1893, he married his wife Albina at the Mission San Luis Obispo, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury Herald. The Genasci family arrived in Campbell in 1911, and opened a thriving grocery and general merchandise store in the new downtown business district, on Campbell Ave. Their sons, Ed and Louis Jr. were the delivery boys while Louis Sr. and Albina ran the store. The family became well known for their many civic contributions to the community.
The town was very concerned about not having any fire protection after two big homes burned down between 1896 and 1902. In June of 1913, the town fathers including Louis Genasci Sr. decided to establish a volunteer fire department. However, the volunteers immediately faced significant challenges. Thirteen hydrants were installed on a few of the new downtown streets but the water pressure was inconsistent. Funding for equipment such as hoses, hooks and ladders, buckets and a hand pulled chemical “fire engine” were not available. The volunteers bought their own badges for about $1.00.
Ed Genasci, who later became chief of the volunteers, was designated coupler of the hose company when the new fire department started. According to Jeanette Watson’s book, Campbell the Orchard City, the volunteers were called to fires by the ringing of the church bells in those early days. This proved to be problem on Sundays, because folks were also called to worship with ringing of the church bells. In 1914, a fire bell was purchased from the city of San Jose for $40.
After a disastrous fire took out many of the businesses on Campbell Avenue at First Street in October of 1917, voters passed a resolution to create a formal fire district, but funding was still hard to come by. It was still a volunteer fire department and they would raise funds by washing down buildings as part of their fire drills and the owners gave them donations.
According to local reports, in 1935, Louis Genasci Sr. fell off his bicycle into a mud hole on his way to a fire at 2 a.m. on a rainy morning. The volunteer fire department had recently become “bicyclized” so they could get to the fires more quickly and if needed, cut through the orchards and hoist their bikes over fences. They became famous as newspapers started writing stories about the “Fire Laddies” in the “Bicycle Fire Department”. Even Paramount and Universal Pictures came to shoot a news reel.
Ed Genasci served as Chief of the Campbell Volunteer fire department from 1919 until 1941. Later he served as a civilian deputy Fire Chief for the US Naval Sailing Association during WWII.
In the early 1970’s, Ed donated a treasure trove of saved items from his family’s old store to the Campbell Historic Museum. Included were loaded display cases, signage, a merchant’s apron, canned goods and merchandise. Now, all of it is on display in an exhibit at the Museum, at 51 N. Central Avenue in Downtown Campbell.
This Place Matters #6
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
October's featured historic home is the James Henry and Jessie Campbell House at 91 South Second Street. It is the most significant historic home directly related to town founder, Benjamin Campbell.
Built in 1895, it sits on what was once part of a 160-acre ranch that Benjamin purchased from the United States Government in 1870. The 20,000 square foot lot was a gift from Benjamin to his son James Henry Campbell and his wife Jessie Agnes McKenzie. James used the land for dairy farming for many years, but when he married Jessie he decided to subdivide parcels.
The two-story Queen Anne Cottage style home is a fine example by local builder George Whitney who built many of Campbell’s original historic homes. Several of these homes still stand in downtown. Whitney’s attention to detail and craftmanship can be seen in the porch brackets, the turned wooden pillars and the wrap-around front veranda, and the unique cut eve shingles which was a builder’s signature in that time. A large basement was added to the house around 1905. James and Jessie created a “milk room” under the coolest, north portion of the house, since there was no refrigeration at the time. It served as a cooling room for milk from their Jersey cows to be stored and kept for a short time. According to Jeannette Watson’s book, Campbell the Orchard City, Jessie used large pans for the milk which were placed on rotating racks. Later, the cream would be skimmed off the top and churned into butter. James and Jessie sold the milk, cream and butter to the townspeople. Benjamin Campbell and his wife Mary who lived a block and a half away on what is now Campbell Avenue, would frequently stop by. Remarkably, this house has had only two owners. It remained in the Campbell family until the 1950’s, when Joseph P. and Connie Russo purchased it completely furnished for $112,000 from Jessie Agnes Campbell, who was now a widow. Mr. and Mrs. Russo worked in real estate and Joseph saw something unique and charming about the old house and grounds. They lovingly restored it and enjoyed sitting on the front porch watching traffic, according to their son, Joe Russo Jr.
After his parents passed away in the early 2000’s, Joe Jr. and his wife Mary Ann became the sole owners of the property when Joe’s brother who lived in Visalia declared he was not interested in it. This next generation of the Russo family has done extensive restoration, seismic retrofitting and needed upgrades to the house. While doing the seismic retrofitting to the basement, the Russo’s came across an old 7 lb. flat iron and the top of a wooden barrel. The top shows the words, “Farmers Union Campbell”.
The Farmers Union was one of the first commercial businesses in a newly created downtown business district on Campbell Ave. The Farmers Union store started in 1894. It offered free horse drawn delivery to locals, since traveling to San Jose for supplies was an all day journey at that time. It advertised groceries, general merchandise, hardware, grain and feed. The two stately Palm trees that frame the front yard of the house were planted in 1895. This house is a historical treasure in our city.
This Place Matters #5
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
September's Landmark home is the J.C. Ainsley House (No. 2) at 112 N. Second Street. This classic Queen Anne Victorian Style house was built before 1900. It once stood at the site of the Ainsley Cannery on N. Harrison Avenue. When the cannery needed to expand in 1919, the house was moved by a capstan arrangement using a horse for power to its current location. It was moved a block at time in this manner. It moved south on Harrison to Campbell Avenue then to Second Street. This was the Ainsley’s second home in Campbell. It became their son Gordon Ainsley’s home in 1924, when J.C. Ainsley’s third and final home was finished on the corner of Bascom and Hamilton Ave.
This house is defined by its projecting second story gables and extensive entrance porch on the first floor that wraps itself around the corner of the house. It is embellished with a few decorative elements such as its horizontal shiplap siding, French doors, brick chimney and symmetrical placing of windows. It is a fine example of the Queen Anne Style, showcasing good design, composition and craftsmanship, and it retains most all of its original materials and design features.
In 1964, Thomas and Audrey Tuttle purchased the house from Mrs. Alice Cowdrey, an active member of the Campbell Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Campbell.
At that time, four bedrooms on the second floor of the house had been transformed into a separate apartment with its own bath, kitchen and back stairs entry. The Tuttles were raising ten children and quickly returned the apartment to its original design. All of their children went on to graduate from Campbell High School. Now in her 90’s, Mrs. Tuttle still lives in this wonderful house.
This Place Matters #4
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
August's featured Landmark home is the E. R. Kennedy House at 61 Catalpa Lane. This part of Campbell is historically referred to as the Kennedy Tract and later the Four “Cs” Tract that includes Cherry, Catalpa, El Caminito and California Avenues west of Winchester Blvd. At the turn of the century, it was ranch land owned by Erle Russell and Bessie Kennedy.
This outstanding example of Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture was built in 1930, for Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy who fell in love with the style while on a visit to southern California. It features white washed stucco siding with red-tiled hipped roofs, a terra cotta chimney and a flagstone entry. The original home had three bedrooms upstairs and a formal living room, dining room, breakfast nook, kitchen and library downstairs, with one bathroom on each floor. In the 1960’s a family room/apartment was added on north side
Inside, the doors, door frames, and trim along with wall inset drawers and storage, are all solid mahogany. The main entry features a mahogany parquet floor. Numerous old growth trees can be seen on the property, including a huge Buckeye in the back yard and a grove of five Redwoods in the front yard.
The Kennedys had this house built to replace their old ranch house on Winchester Road after deciding to start subdividing their land. Starting with the development of Cherry Lane, many of the Kennedy Tract homes were built from 1941 through 1949. Prior to development, El Caminto was part of Kennedy Avenue, so named for the family.
Mr. Kennedy was a local farmer and realtor and also president of the Campbell Water Company from 1914 to 1918. In the early days of the company, he was a bill collector who went door to door, carrying a leather pouch with change, to collect water payments from households. In 1908, for private households with five or less family members, the monthly rate was $1. Each additional person cost 15 cents.
Bessie Kennedy was an energetic and determined member of our city’s Country Woman’s Club, starting in 1912. She was a driving force and instrumental in getting the club’s goal of a real library built in our downtown. This historic library building was completed in 1923, and still stands at the southwest corner of First Street and East Campbell Avenue.
The Kennedys later owned and operated the Kennedy Water Company which served customers west of Winchester Boulevard to Hazel Ave. Erle and Bessie owned and operated their water company until 1946, when they sold it to the San Jose Water Company, another family-owned water supplier.
In 1960, the E.R. Kennedy House was purchased by Courtland Watson and Jeanette Gomes Watson. Jeanette Watson became the first female council member and first female mayor (1988) in the City of Campbell. She lived there until 2006.
The current owner purchased the home in 2006, and is raising two children. One of whom, now a high school Junior, has extensive knowledge on the history of the house and is happy to share when asked. The owner has done some extensive restoration, seismic retrofitting and needed upgrades to the home. The family loves this house and has no plans to sell it at any time soon.
This Place Matters #3
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
July's featured Campbell Landmark home is the Young-Sartorette House at 1888 White Oaks Road.
Like many of our city’s Landmark homes, this house survived because it was moved, rather than being torn down. Designed and built by H. B. Painter in 1928, for Earl and Virginia Young, it was originally located on the west side of Bascom Avenue at the end of Woodard Road on three acres of land. This part of Bascom Avenue was then called San Jose-Los Gatos Road when the area was populated by walnut orchards and chicken ranches. The house sat near the rear of the property with a horseshoe driveway and formal gardens.
The house is a unique example of the English Tudor Revival Style with added French cottage motif. The arched front entry is framed by marble flagstone and features a capped turret. Although mostly hidden now by massive cedar trees, the five steeply pitched, gabled roofs and ornate front window details can be seen from the street.
Earl Young was a local farmer and insurance agent and was Vice President of the Prune and Apricot Growers Association. The Youngs lived in the house until 1946, when they sold it to Collette and Charley Sartorette who raised horses on the property. Mr. Sartorette was also a well known local educator and served on the Cambrian School District’s Board of Trustees for many years. A Cambrian Elementary School is named after him. The Sartorette family lived in the house until the 1970’s.
In the late 1970’s, a large portion of Bascom Avenue was being developed for new housing, and the Satorette house was in the way. A significant impediment prevented the house from being torn down; it had been placed on Santa Clara County’s list of historic homes!
A Campbell couple, Rudi and Joanna Herz inquired about buying the house which Joanna “felt sorry for” because it was vacant, neglected, and covered with vines. The developer told them he would give them the house for free if they bought a now vacant lot and moved it to the back of the original property. They agreed, and in 1981 the 2,500 square foot home was cut from the foundation, rotated 180 degrees and slowly moved to its new location on White Oaks Road. After years of careful restoration and historic research, the Herz’s applied to have the house listed as a State of California Landmark which was granted in 2008. In May of 2009, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Besides the Young-Sartorette House, there are only four other buildings in Campbell that are honored in the National Register of Historic Places. They are: the Campbell Union Grammar School, the Campbell Union High School, the J.C. Ainsley Mansion and the Galindo-Leigh House.
This Place Matters #2
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
Continuing with the Historic Preservation Board’s Celebration of featured Campbell Landmark homes,is the Littleton-Martin House at 1690 Littleton Place (formerly listed as 1228 Harriet Avenue).
This stunning, two story farmhouse was built around 1905, on a sprawling 26 acre ranch. Mostly hidden from the street now, the house had a foundation of red brick with shiplap exterior siding. The front entry is reminiscent of a fine southern mansion, like something from the movie, “Gone with the Wind”. A large front door is framed by two narrow, divided light windows and a half round window overhead. With a balcony hovering over the open front porch area, the triangular shaped overhang is supported by six grand columns. This part of the home could be called a unique interpretation of Greek Revival Architecture.
The Littletons, an English couple, built the house but occupied it for only a few years before returning to England. They left due to their displeasure over the noise from the railroad’s new Vasona Junction that was built in 1907, near Pollard Road and Winchester Blvd. As the crow flies, the junction was about ¾ of a mile from the house. This “wye” saw daily trains from San Jose bound for Palo Alto or Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. At the time, our valley was covered with vast orchards and huge oak trees, and the sounds from the trains could be heard for miles.
Harriet and A.J. Martin purchased the house, where she lived after his death. Harriet Avenue in Campbell is named after her. Mrs. Martin married Arthur Michael Roesch after A.J.’s death, and the house was again sold in 1938 or 1939.
Felix and Mary Bersano purchased it and moved their family from Oakland. The Bersano name may be known to many longtime residents, as Dick, Ed and Don. All are Campbell High School graduates and their children are all graduates of Los Gatos High School. The family also owned and operated the Italian restaurant Villa Felice in Los Gatos for many years.
The Bersanos raised their family and called this ranch ‘home’ until 1953, when they sold it and moved to Los Gatos. Sadly, the next owners were not kind to this historic property and let it deteriorate, before selling it once again.
The house would now have its fifth owners, and fortunately the new owners wanted to give the 100 year old house a restoration overhaul before selling it to its current owner, who has continued with major restoration efforts inside and out. The house survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, the orchards are gone, but a fully restored historic home, a carriage house and two of the giant oak trees still grace the property.
Note: Some information for this story came from Casey Jay | Bay Area News Group, September 26,
2011, entitled: Bersano family visits the restored Campbell farmhouse where they lived in the 1940s.
This Place Matters #1
By Susan Blake, Historic Preservation Board
The first featured home is the Galindo-Queraz-Leigh House located at 140 Peter Drive.
One of the most significant and possibly the oldest home in Campbell. This magnificent house started out as a primitive board and batten cottage in the 1830s’. Originally part of Santa Clara Mission’s grazing land prior to 1848, it was deeded to Juan C. Galindo when Mexico ceded California to the United States. Mr. Galindo enlarged the cottage using Ohlone Indian labor, buying lumber from the Mission, as his family grew to include eleven children.
John D. Gueraz bought the house in the late 1850’s and his additions reflect his Swiss heritage and Louisiana French background. Mr. Gueraz continued to enlarge it, creating a salt box style with inward swinging iron pinned shutters on all the windows.
High A. Leigh, an English sailor, settled in the area in 1874. Mr. Leigh and his mother Delicia Leigh purchased the house and 180 acres of land from Mr. Gueraz for $16,300, in cash. It remained in the Leigh family until 1971. Leigh Avenue is named after the family.
This house has a National Historic Register Listing. The present owners are to be commended for the outstanding care they have taken of the house. They have done much needed updating and renovation, while preserving the architectural integrity and uniqueness of this local treasure.
“When we lose a Historic Place, we lose part of who we are.”
~National Trust for Historic Preservation