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National Register Properties l Palo Alto Inventory l Books l History Links/Exploring the Archives l Other Preservation Organizations l Architectural Styles l Home and Garden Resources l Places to Visit
PAST Heritage has compiled these resources for ready reference. Please regard them as suggestions rather than endorsements or recommendations. Some browsers regard new windows as popups and may warn you or try to block them. The proper response is "permit".
The Palo Alto Inventory of Historic Buildings was initiated in 1979 with the goal of identifying historic or unique buildings. There are four categories ranging from contributing to exceptional. Properties are listed alphabetically with year of construction. If a property is simply identified as "Professorville", that indicates that it is a supporting structure that is not on the Inventory, but is significant because of its location. As more information becomes available, it will be added. Please contact us if you have information to add to our listings.
Palo Alto/Stanford Properties on the National Register of Historic Places
- 706 Cowper Street, Downing House
- 1247 Cowper Street, Kathleen Norris House
- 1336 Cowper Street, Pettigrew House
- 737 Frenchman's Road, Stanford, Hanna-Honeycomb House
- 380 Hamilton Avenue, United States Post Office — short video
- 420 Maple Street, Dunker House
- 601 Melville Avenue, Theophilus Allen House
- 819 Ramona Street, A.M.E. Zion Church building
- 25 University Avenue, World War I Hostess House — short video
- 95 University Avenue, Southern Pacific Railroad Depot
- 140 University Avenue and 514 High Street, Fraternal Hall
- 860 University Avenue, Peck House
- 900 University Avenue, John Adam Squire House
- 100 - 110 Waverley Oaks, Pedro deLemos House — Threatened by surrounding development.
- 2310 Yale Street, Kee House
- Green Gables Eichler Subdivision (2005)
- Greenmeadow Eichler Subdivision (2005) (Short video about Joseph Eichler)
- Professorville Historical District (marked by plaque) Roughly bounded by Embarcadero Road, Addison Avenue, Emerson Street and Cowper Street
- Ramona Street Architectural District (marked by plaque) 518 - 581 Ramona Street and 255 - 267 Hamilton Avenue — short video about the decorative tiles found on Ramona Street
History Links
- Palo Alto Historical Association website
- Palo Alto Historical Association: Exploring the Archives: A selection of short videos on Palo Alto history.
New — The Roth Building — Community Journal public service announcement with Carolyn Caddes (taped February 2003)
New — The Cardinal Hotel — Community Journal public service announcement with Peggy McKee (taped September 2002)
The Terman Family — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Palo Alto Parks — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Palo Alto Floods — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Early Palo Alto Schools — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
John F. Parkinson — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Dr. Russell V. Lee — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Stanford Memorial Church — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Peter Coutts Tower — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Palo Alto Trolleys — Steve Staiger and Molly Cavers
HP Garage — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Palo Alto Art Center — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Tiles on Ramona Street — Tom Wyman and P.A. Moore
Palo Alto Post Office — Gail Woolley and P.A. Moore
Hostess House — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
Eichler Homes — Steve Staiger and Cherie McFadden
Lucie Stern — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
The History of El Palo Alto — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
The Town of Mayfield — Steve Staiger and P.A. Moore
- Palo Alto History by Matt Bowling
- Juana Briones Heritage Foundation, Palo Alto's oldest house
- The Stanford Historical Society
- All About Homer Avenue, Palo Alto's Corridor of History
- The Palo Alto Weekly On-Line Edition
- California Preservation Foundation
- California Office of Historic Preservation
- California State Historical Society
- National Register of Historic Places
- National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Los Altos History Museum: Follow the link to read more about
- June 10 thru October 31: "By Hand: American Women with Needle and Thread"
- June 30: Lecture on Sarah Winchester, 7 p.m.
Other Preservation Organizations
As part of a June 2008 presentation, Tim Cannan, President of PreservationDirectory.com, at the Architectural Heritage Center's "Old House Fair" in Portland, Oregon, compiled a comprehensive resource guide for historic and cultural resource preservation. The title of the resource guide is Preservation Resources on the Web.
The comprehensive resource guide presents primary online resources in the field of historic and cultural resource preservation, with an emphasis on resources in Portland and the State of Oregon. Topics include researching your historic home; funding sources and tax credit programs available; utilizing your State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO); finding an undergrad/graduate program in historic preservation; historic real estate resources online; preservation event/conference directories; and much more. The presentation cover national resources in depth, so this will be of interest to preservationists and historic homeowners everywhere.
- Preservation Action Council of San Jose
- Victorian Preservation Association of Santa Clara Valley
- San Francisco Architectural Heritage
- Heritage Council of Santa Clara County is a networking organization with a mission of promoting local history in Santa Clara County.
- The Arts & Crafts Society
- The Eichler Network, dedicated to all things Eichler.
- DoCoMoMo, celebrating and preserving the architecture of the mid twentieth century worldwide.
- The Art Deco Society of California, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness and promoting preservation of the Art Deco era. In 1999 they presented preservation awards to two buildings in our area, the Lucie Stern Sea Scout Base and the Hoover Pavilion.
- Since many of Palo Alto's historic buildings have beautiful ceramic tile, you may find the Tile Heritage Foundation of interest!
- Britain's National Trust and their American affiliate, the Royal Oak Foundation
- Royal Oak Foundation membership also includes admission to properties owned by The National Trust for Scotland
- For those interested in gardens, while traveling in the UK you may want to visit the The Museum of Garden History
- More Arts and Crafts Preservation
Resources for Your Old House and Garden
- The National Park Service site to help with Caring for Your Historic Building
- If you're looking for recycled building materials, check Whole House Building Supply, the only architectural salvage source in the mid-peninsula. Call them at (650) 852-9460 to hear about the current week's demolition sales.
- Farther away, there's Ohmega Salvage in Berkeley and Caldwell's (415) 550-6777 in San Francisco.
- For Arts & Crafts Wallpaper, try Bradbury and Bradbury
- Rejuvenation.com sells light fixture reproductions from every period, plus repro hardware, plus some neat humor.
- Arroyo Craftsman features Arts & Crafts inspired lighting designs. Locally, Stanford Electric stocks their line.
- Victorian Preservation Association (VPA) has a great source list!
- The Eichler Network, dedicated to supporting the lifestyle of the 11,000 Northern Californians who own Eichler homes.
- J. J. Burrows & Company historical-design merchants (Check out their Events Page!)
- Old House Gardens, a source for antique bulbs!
- Natural Home by Natürlich supplies REAL linoleum, appropriate for older houses and wonderful to live with.
- Traditional Building magazine
- Victoriana resources for Victorian Living
Places to visit
- Museum of American Heritage: a museum of American invention. Admission is free. They're always looking for volunteers.
- Filoli: Our local National Trust property
- Elizabeth F. Gamble House
- Rengstorff House in Mountain View's Shoreline Park
- Dunsmuir House and Garden
- Ardenwood Historic Farm
- San Francisco Walking Tour
- AOL CityGuide - San Francisco and Professorville
Library Books
Many preservation books are available in the Palo Alto libraries. The Main Library has books that were purchased with a PAST Heritage grant on history, architecture, preservation and restoration of homes. And don't forget to check the links to modern architectural books through on the Eichler page. See Advocacy page for the link!
The books listed below were donated to the Palo Alto Public Libraries by PAST Heritage.
The Ultimate Frank Lloyd Wright, (CD-Rom), Microsoft.
- Arts and Crafts Style, Phaidon Press Ltd., 1996.
- American Arts and Crafts: Virtue in Design, Bulfinch, 1990.
- Elements of Style: a Practical Encyclopedia of Interior Architectural Details from 1485 to the Present, Simon & Schuster, 1997.
- Expressive Details: Materials, Selection, Use, McGraw Hill, 1996.
- Out on the Porch: An Evocation in Words and Pictures, Algonquin, 1992.
- Planning Small Town America, Planners Press, 1990.
- Nineteenth-Century Decoration: The Art of the Interior, Abrams, 1989.
- Ethics and Urban Design, J. Wiley, 1995.
- Old Houses, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1996.
- The Victorian House Book, Rizzoli, 1992.
- The Papered Wall: History, Pattern, Technique, Abrams, 1994.
- Neighborhood Planning, Planners Press, 1990.
- House Styles in America: The Old-House Journal Guide to the Architecture of American Houses, Penguin, 1996.
- A Field Guide to American Houses, Knopf, 1984.
- Rugs and Carpets: Techniques, Traditions and Designs, Mitchell Beazley, 1996.
- Miller's Art Nouveau and Art Deco: A Buyer's Guide, Millers, 1995.
- Period Fireplaces: A practical Guide to Period-Style Decorating, Reed Books, 1995.
- Period Kitchens: A Practical Guide to Period-Style Decorating, Antique Collectors Club, 1995.
- Lighting for Historic Buildings: A Guide to Selecting Reproductions, Preservation Press, 1989.
- Fabrics for Historic Buildings: A Guide to Selecting Reproduction Fabrics, Preservation Press, 1990.
- The Old-House Journal Guide to Restoration, E.P.Dutton, 1992.
- The Beautiful Necessity: Decorating with Arts and Crafts, Gibbs Smith, 1996.
- City Comforts, City Comforts Press, 1995.
- Floor Coverings for Historic Buildings, Preservation Press, 1988.
- Landscape Architecture Sourcebook: A Guide to Resources on the History and Practice of Landscape Architecture, Omnigraphics, 1996.
- Architecture Sourcebook: A Guide to Resources on the History and Practice of Architecture, Omnigraphics, 1996.
- The Secret Life of Victorian Houses, Elliott & Clark, 1993.
For more information or the latest news, call (650) 299-8878.
Or, send us an e-mail.Copyright © 2008 Palo Alto Stanford Heritage. All rights reserved.
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