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Palo Alto Historic Buildings Inventory

375 Coleridge Avenue

inventory photo 375 Coleridge
Photo taken in 1978. Photo taken in 2012.

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

Physical appearance:   This rambling two–story, Shingle Style–Craftsman house in many–gabled and has the prominent bargeboards, braces, and overhanging eaves typical of the style. the windows i the front facade were "modernized" in the '40s, and it is probably that what began as a simpler bungalow was enlarged and modified in the first quarter of the decade. A tennis court on the southwest side fell into disuse and has been replaced by garden.

Significance:   A large example of the Western Shingle–Craftsman style that is found in the older parts of the City, notably in Professorville. The first owner was Camille A. Chaquette, a real estate investor (1911–1925), followed by Miles and Sophia R. Standish (1926–1934).

Standish, a direct descendant of the celebrated hero of Puritan Massachusetts, came to California in 1892 and Palo Alto in 1925. His large lumber and timberland investments in Humbolt and Mendocino counties were managed by the Standish–Hickey firm. He served on numerous San Francisco and State boards and commissions. His son, Allen, a Stanford graduate, was his successor in the lumber business and a rancher in the Milpitas–Alviso area. He was a member of the Board of Freeholders that drew up the 1948 Santa Clara County charter.

From 1941 to 1956, the house was owned by Lucio M. and Oliene Mintzer. Mrs. Mintzer's brother Donald Tressider was President of Stanford University after World War II. As a young woman, she participated in the Tressider enterprises at Yosemite as Director of Entertainment and manager and staff member of the Wawona and Ahwanee hotels.

The present owners [1979], William and Blanche Callaway, succeeded the Mintzers in 1957.

375 Coleridge corner view
greenery map

 

This house was built in 1908 and is a Category 3 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The architect is not known, but the builder may have been either H.T. Taylor or Gustav Laumeister. The property measures 150 by 150 feet.

Note: H.T. Taylor, a contractor who built his own house at 1545 Waverley Street, sold 1590 Waverley to Chaquette in late 1907; Gustav Laumeister is listed as builder of other South Palo Alto residences in the same issue of the Palo Alto Times which reports construction of the Chaquette house.

Sources: Palo Alto City Directories; Palo Alto Times 3/18/08, 12/24/08, 4/21/25, 6/22/32, 2/7/55; interview 1985, Mr. and Mrs. Callaway; Stanford Historical Society, Newsletter, 9, #2, Winter 1985; Deed, September 25, 1907, H.T. and Emma d. Taylor to C. A. Chaquette, Lot 7, Block 18, Seale Addition #1, Book 327 (Deeds), p. 452–3 (Santa Clara County Recorder)

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