Palo Alto Stanford Heritage |
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| Inventory photo | Photo taken February 15, 2014 |
The following is from the Historic Buildings Inventory as revised in 1985:
This large shingled Colonial Revival house presents a massive, composition of sculptured roof and dormer shapes, capped by a widow's walk. The grounds are appropriately expansive.
This large home was built by Gustav Laumeister for Mrs. Joshua Fowler, widow of a Spanish–American War officer. She came to the community in 1900 so that her son could attend Stanford. When Frederick married Elsie Branner, daughter of Stanford's second president, John Branner, the young couple was welcomed into the Fowler residence. It was the "anchor" house of the Professorville district. Frederick Fowler became an engineer, with numerous governmental as well as private contracts and consultancies. In the 1940s he was president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Society of Military Engineers.
From 1938–1974 it was the residence of Professor Karl Brandt, a distinguished agricultural economist with the Carnegie Food Research Institute at Stanford.
Note: The front garden was the location for the 2002 PAST Centennial Plaque presentation to 100 year-old homes.
Note: In 2015, work began on rotating the house 90 degrees to face Ramona Street. Renovations were completed in 2018 and the house was awarded a PAST Preservation Award in 2019.
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| Welcoming fireplace | Location map |
This house was built in 1902 and is a Category 2 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The builder was Gustav Laumeister. The property measures 155 feet along Kingsley Avenue and 200 feet along Ramona Street.
Sources: Palo Alto City Directories; Palo Alto Times 1/2/03, 1/31/31, 11/7/45, 8/3/71, 7/9-10/75; Palo Alto AAUW, ... Gone Tomorrow?, p. 50.
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