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Uploaded: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 11:10 AM
Updated: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 3:57 PM
Historic home may be razed for office building
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
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| City Council members put the fate of a historic downtown home into the hands of developer Roger Burnell on Tuesday night, allowing him to demolish it if it can't be moved elsewhere.
The council voted 5-2 to allow Burnell to build a four-story office building on a quarter-acre site at 902 Villa Street, current site of the Pearson House, built in the 1870s and one of the first homes built downtown.
Council members said after several failed attempts to save the house failed, it was time to move on even if it meant demolishing it. Some expressed interest in moving the house onto a nearby downtown parking lot until a new site could be found, or to Shoreline Park where it could be restored near the Rengstorff House. But saving the house was not made a requirement for Burnell, and neither he or the council made any promises Tuesday night.
"Everyone wants to save the house but nobody wants to take it," said council member Laura Macias. "If you want a house, it seems that Roger has a house for you."
The Michelin star-rated gourmet restaurant next door, Chez TJ, switched from opponent to supporter at the meeting, with volunteer gardener Louise Christy saying Burnell had offered to help pay for a garden that could grow despite new shade from the four-story building.
Council member Jac Siegel and Ronit Bryant opposed the project and the demolition of the Pearson House, with Siegel saying it set a bad precedent for bulldozing historic homes in the city. Bryant said the office building would contribute to the "homogenization" of downtown and did not justify demolition of the house. The office building will also be the first to have a parking garage on the first floor, something that neighbors complained about and which Siegel and Bryant said other developers may copy.
Council members recalled that controversy over a proposal for the site years ago spurred the city's historic building ordinance, which inadvertently ended up putting dozens of old Mountain View homes onto a state historic register. The proposed demolition required an environmental impact report, which found the home of early Mountain View businessman Charles Pearson "locally significant and historic" and that demolition would cause a "significant and unavoidable impact."
It turns out the Pearson House isn't the only historic structure on the site. A tiny shack-like house that might be mistaken for a shed is actually the last immigrant farm worker house in Mountain View, according to Los Altos resident Mary Marinovich who said her grandparents lived in it as immigrant workers 100 years ago. At one point, there were many like it in the valley and four others have been restored at San Jose's Kelley Park.
Council members expressed interest in restoring the small house and moving it to Shoreline Park. At the end of the discussion, Mayor Kasperzak said he saw "I think, a higher interest in the immigrant house than the Pearson house" among council members.
"We restored the Rengstorff House, let's also show how the workers lived here," Siegel said. "It wouldn't be a big deal to have it moved out to Shoreline."
Steven Aldrich, CEO of Mountain View's Outright.com, expressed interest in moving into the 21,745 square foot office building as the only available space large enough to allow the company to grow downtown. Burnell recently upped the environmental friendliness of the building to LEED gold standards while a historic display about the Pearson House may be part of a 932-square-foot retail or restaurant space that would share the first floor with the garage.
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Posted by Chick-Fil-Haaay!!!, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 1:11 pm Wait...the city council unanimously...approved the four story office building? Ya don't say.
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Posted by Chick-Fil-Haaay!!!, a resident of the Rex Manor neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 1:17 pm I forgot to add...On TOP of approving the new building. None of them (city council) had the guts to let the public know what they want to do with the hostoric house, so they are going to let the developer (take the bullet/knive/kick in the face, etc) decide. LOL. Classic.
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Posted by J.T. Galle, a resident of another community, on Jul 11, 2012 at 1:41 pm Pardon for the corrections:
1. The house is 124 years old - not 140.
2. Developer did not say he would "pay" - he said: "help and work with."
3. Most of the new garden will be in a new sun-lit area. It will be improved and will function longer - ALL year round.
3. 5-2 is not unanimous.
4. Developer looked for two years, and has a person working diligently nearly full-time just searching for alternate locations, and he committed to do so for another 1/3 year.
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Posted by Garrett, a resident of another community, on Jul 11, 2012 at 2:08 pm This house will be pulled down in the future, it could just could might be used as a training project to teach about green reuse but you would have to find money to move and space. The office building will give as space other then Google, tax money and more businesses Glad to see the builder and Chez TJ worked the garden out.
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Posted by rem, a resident of another community, on Jul 11, 2012 at 2:46 pm
rem is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Lets change the name of Mountain View to BUTCHERVILLE. MV and Palo Alto do not care abound the land just MONEY, MONEY $$$$$$$$$$$
SAVE the darn house.
Folkes - remember it is election time!!!!
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Posted by Steven Nelson, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 2:58 pm Both Siegel and Bryant voted to NOT have developers put housing in Shoreline. They (as usual) cannot be said to just do what developers told them! This is an instance where historic preservation (rather significant) did not sway the balance of the council. IMO the Council always does a well thought out and researched job. I don't always agree - but they represent the various views in this city fairly well! After several years of effort - this unfortunately may make the most economic sense.
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Posted by She-rah, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 3:34 pm I'm very disappointed about the stree-level parking garage. I hope the plan still includes a coffee shop (like Philz!) or some sort of retail space that the public will benefit from. It would be nice to have something a little different than the 100+ restaurants that we already have downtown.
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Posted by jholzmann, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 4:56 pm My mom lived with her family in that immigrant farm house during World War II. And other relatives would stay with them temporarily while they looked for housing in the area. It's hard to imagine seven people living there at once. I think it would be a nice addition to Shoreline. (She could tell some stories if anybody wants to listen.)
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Posted by Kevin, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 4:59 pm I've never seen the street-level parking in any of the renderings for the building. The pictures in the article do not show any -- so where would it be and what would it look like. I support the building and don't think the house has much historic value (I've seen all the history), but don't want an ugly parking garage on the first floor.
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Posted by Seer Clearly, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 8:45 pm Thank the stars that finally someone has seen the light. This old house is nothing more than a rotting eyesore that is a blight on downtown MV. Ultimately - just like with Hangar 1 - if nobody's willing to step up and put their money where their mouth is, the relic should go.
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Posted by Ann, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jul 11, 2012 at 10:04 pm Disappointing. Council show some character and find the space next to Rengstorff House for both the 'shed' and the house. If the city has enough money to plant trees on Castro, then tear them out to put in other trees, then the City can find the money to save part of our collective history. And the city can recoup the restoration costs by renting out the properties as they do with Rengstorff House or the Adobe Bldg.
Remember when we had an original train station. But that council chose to tear it down. Then x years later a different council chose to spend money to build a new train station based on the historic train station design. What a waste when the original could have been restored. Once you city-sanction destruction, you can't bring it back.
Like our joke of a historic tree ordinance, our historic preservation ordinance is a joke if it is continually ignored.
Shame, shame Council.
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Posted by ¿ʎllɐǝɹ uo ǝɯoɔ, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 12, 2012 at 12:12 am Lets give them 6 stories of office building if that is what it takes, but simply say NO to street level parking!
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Posted by Observer, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 12, 2012 at 4:01 pm "Council members said after several failed attempts to save the house failed"
Huh?
Does any one proofread these articles before they go to press?
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Posted by isn't it ironic, don't you think?, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2012 at 5:22 pm Anyone else see how restoring the Rengstorff house and the immigrant house and destroying the house bult by the merchant is similar to what's going on with our society today? The middle class is getting destroyed in favor of the super elite and the working class. Maybe Mountain View should save something from the middle class, not just the upper and worker class.
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Posted by Le Dude, a resident of the Willowgate neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2012 at 5:56 pm Good point. The middle class is always getting screwed.
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Posted by Daniel DeBolt, Mountain View Voice Staff Writer, on Jul 16, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Daniel DeBolt is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online J. Holzmann and any others with historical information about the immigrant house, please get in touch with me at ddebolt@mv-voice.com as soon as you can. Thanks.
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