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Palo Alto Historic Buildings Inventory

374 Stanford Avenue
Evergreen Park

inventory photo 374 Stanford
Inventory photo Photo taken March 27, 2006

The following is from the Historic Buildings Inventory as revised in 1985:

Physical appearance:   This two–story house is dominated by its gambrel roof, a trademark of the Dutch Colonial Revival mode.

Significance:  This building is a good example of the Colonial Revival as simplified by the vernacular builder. It was one of the early houses in Evergreen Park, and was built for Eliza H. Yocum, who evidently became interested in local property while completing her A.B. in English at Stanford (19040. Four years later she sold to Dr. and Mrs. Jonas J. Moyer who, in turn two years later, sold to Dr. J. L. and Frances A. McLaren. The Mclarens came from Oakland in 1910 and invested in land in Mayfield and Los Altos. They lived at 374 Stanford only two years until a Los Altos home had been completed.

The house was sold in 1912 to Nathan A. and Imogen Moore. Moore was a sales man for the Mayfield Package Co. at the time; later he clerked for Smith's bicycle and sporting goods store in Palo Alto. After the death of his first wife in 1920, he remarried and in 1933 deeded the property to his second wife, Arcadia.

Successors to the Moores was Everett Strain family. Strain's father owned a ranch in what is now Barron Park in the 1920s. Strain established the Strain Excavating and Paving Co. in 1930, which he operated until 1967, two years before his death. Having married Gladys Whitsell in 1938, he bought the house at 374 Stanford in 1939, and it was the Strain home until the late 1970s. The owner in 1981 was Mrs. Margaret L. Slowik.

side lawn
   
detail
map

This house was built in 1906 and is a Category 4 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The architect and builder are unknown. The property measures 50 by 150 feet.

Sources: Palo Alto City Directories
Palo Alto Times 6/2/06, 2/10/10, 8/5/10, 12/27/20, 12/5/74. 9/5/77
Stanford Alumni Directory, 1957
Book 308 (Deeds), p. 372-2, 6/6/06; Book336 (Deeds), p. 227, 8/21/08; Bood 351 (Deeds), p. 447, 3/4/10; Book 388 (Deeds), p. 458-9, 6/6/12; Book 653 (Off. Rec.), p. 468-9, 5/27/33; Book 931 (Off. Rec.), p. 122-4, 5/1/39 (Santa Clara Co. Recorder)

Interview Mrs. Margaret Slowik, 1981

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