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Palo Alto Historic Buildings Inventory

737 Bryant Street

737 Bryant 737 Bryant Street
Photo taken in 1978. Photo taken August 2010.

The following is from the Historic Buildings Inventory as revised in 1983:

Physical appearance:   The simple box–like form of this two–story structure, together with a prow-shaped bay and simplified porch detailing, lends Prairie School overtones to a basically Colonial Revival design. The building is surfaced in narrow clapboard and shingles. (A "twin" [now gone] at 846 Bryant showed markedly less sensitivity, in proportion and detailing).

Significance:  The broad overhang of the porch and the angled bay provide the structure with a dramatic horizontal sweep. Colonial Revival and Prairie School stylistic elements are combined in a familiar "Four–square" hipped-roof plan.

Major H.F. Perry (1834–1926), for whom the house was built, was a Civil War veteran who had risen through the ranks and was twice wounded. After the war he entered the limestone mining industry in Indiana and, before coming to Palo Alto in 1901, engaged in gold mining and dredging near Oroville, Calif. In 1921, the Perrys sold to Alfred Engle (Stanford A.B., 1907), a resident of the city since 1903. Engle conducted a real estate, insurance, and loan bueiness in Palo Alto for over 35 years. From 1935 to 1957 the house was owned by Colonel Harry H. and Lola Pattison. Pattison was a retired U.S. Army officer who served in both the Spanish–American War and World War I.

When the Historic Inventory was established, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation owned this house and it was used for office space.

737 Bryant side view sketch map of location

 

This house was built in 1903 by Gus Laumeister and is a Category 4 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The property measures 150 by 101 feet.

Sources: Palo Alto City Directories; Palo Alto Times 5/7/03, 1/1/04, 12/30/04, 11/12/26, 10/8/51, 1/10/58.

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