Palo Alto Stanford Heritage |
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| Inventory photo taken in 1978. | Photo taken January 16, 2010. |
The following is from the Historic Buildings Inventory as revised in 1985:
This one–story rustic Craftsman cottage is a quiet rendition of the style.
This unobtrusive shingled house in the Craftsman mode is the work of Gus Laumeister, an important early Palo Alto builder and, with others of its kind, supplies a significant supportive tone for the Professorville neighborhood. It was built for Cora (Mrs. William H.) Kimball (1857–1946), a widow who brought her family to Palo Alto to take advantage of the University educational opportunities, and who had several houses built in the Professorville area. She and her descendants, notably the attorney Rufus H. Kimball, occupied the residence (with occasional intervals of renting it in the early years) until 1969. Kimball's second wife, Dorothy Abbott Ames, was a daughter of Nathan Abbott, first Dean of the Stanford School of Law, and she grew up half a block away at 308 Lincoln. She attended Stanford 1903–1905, but took her A.B. degree from Radcliffe in 1907, the year she married Richard Ames, son of the Harvard Law School dean. After his death in 1939 she returned to Palo Alto, married Rufus Kimball in 1943, and lived at 1100 Bryant until 1969.
At Stanford she founded the Stanford Music Guild to aid the university's music students. She also started a system of regional scholarships to attract students to Radcliffe from all parts of the country. She returned to Cambridge, Mass, after leaving Palo Alto, and died in her 100th year in 1985.
One of the earliest tenants was Dr. Clelia D. Mosher (1903–1907). A member of a distinguished Eastern family whose father was a physician and an authority on mental illness, Clelia Mosher graduated from Stanford in 1894. Determined to study medicine, she operated a family flower shop to earn the money needed to attend Johns Hopkins University. Returning, she practiced in Palo Alto, served with the city Health Department, and became a member of the Stanford faculty (1910–1928). There her studies and writings on the health problems of women earned her an international reputation.
Black and white photos by Robert Brandeis
This house was built in 1902 by Gus Laumeister and is a Category 4 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The property measures 50 by 105 feet.
Sources: Palo Alto City Directories; Palo Alto Times 1/2/03, 11/20/03, 1/1/04, 12/23/40, 10/21/46, 11/27/85.
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