Historic Houses: Heartwarming visits happen

There are a lot of great aspects to owning an historic house--even if Burlingame is notoriously difficult to get the actual designation.  Maybe difficult is too soft a word--how about impossible unless it's the Avenue train station or the Mercy main building.  You do get to feel virtuous that you didn't let some scraper send dozens of tons of wood, shingles, pipe, wire, porcelain, brick and concrete to the dump.  Someone ought to force the tear-it-down-and-build-big YIMBY's to hand carry a few tons of that up to the Skyline landfill.

But faux "climate justice" aside, every once in a while, someone comes knocking on your door with a bit of a sheepish look on their face and says "I hate to bother you but my fill-in-the-ancestor used to live here.  I'm so happy it's still here and that you are home--can I come in?"  Now unless you know who owned your house over the years, this could be disconcerting or worse.  So if you have an old B'game house, get a house history from the Historical Society or go through the old city directories yourself and make a list.

We've done both for our 112 year-old bungalow, so when the doorbell rang this afternoon and the nice, older lady gave her great aunt's name, we knew she was legit.  The great aunt and uncle were the original owners, and we also know that from seeing the last name scrawled on some old wall timbers just as written by some long-forgotten lumber store.  What a treat.  She has some photos that go back to those days and show the house.  I cannot wait to get copies.  I'll update the post when I get them.

P.S. This is not the first time this has happened.  When you have 112 years of history, there are more than a few descendants happy to revisit their youths.

I got this photo of our house circa 1911-12 from the dear lady described above.  This is just a photo snapshot--a better scan will come later.  It's awesome to see how the house has changed so little after all these years.  What has changed is the open space to the left.  That four square bungalow was on El Camino--six or seven lots away-- and was torn down about 22 years ago.  Everybody looks happy to be in Burlingame!

Comments

[Joe]

This is what I'm talking about--"confusion" about historic status, difficulty in getting it at a level that a Planning Commission or City Council will agree with.........

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/historic-buildings-at-issue-in-lot-split-talks-in-san-mateo/article_a5188af8-25b9-11ed-be0d-47b8c63f54d5.html?utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1661608818&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

The (San Mateo) Planning Commission was concerned that eligible historical buildings were included in the ordinance instead of just approved ones, citing potential misappropriation to prevent SB 9 developments. SB 9 does not apply to historic properties and could be used to ensure specific historical neighborhoods remain the same. The ordinance addresses different historic property preservation definitions in the city’s municipal code and the general plan, leading to confusion in past development proposals. Under the ordinance, historic buildings are eligible on the National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historical Resources, the Downtown Historic District contributor buildings, or documented in a historic resources report. The municipal code did not include provisions for buildings identified through a historic resources report. While the city determines eligibility, it is creating guidelines so outside consultants can produce their documents to be peer-reviewed by staff.

Commissioner Seema Patel said it could lead to someone obtaining a historical report from anyone that prevents a property owner from using SB 9.
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Hat-tip to Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to scrape it.”

[Rob]

Great article. Our house was built in 1904, making it a rare pre-quake home and the earliest on our block from the research we have done.On 3 occasions a former resident stopped by to say hello. I was at work all three times, but my wife and daughter gleaned some good information. The most interesting was the former owner and retired Pan Am mechanic who lived here in the mid 1950's to 1970's. He was one of few who lived in this neighborhood when a working person could afford to live here. The window at the top of our garage is from an old DC-3! We have loved this house for 28 years and are proud to be part of its history.