The Burlingame Voice

Rare Historic Success in Bgame

Saving historic buildings in Burlingame is a tough row to hoe.  We have lost so many and saved so few that when one is saved we should rejoice.  And so we shall regarding the Murphy house.  The Daily Journal did a piece on the house a week ago, but I wanted to wait for photos of the actual move until posting about it.

One of Burlingame’s oldest houses is about to get a new home — again.  The Murphy House at 1128 Douglas Ave. is slated next week to be moved about a half a mile away to a location on Oak Grove Avenue as part of a team effort to preserve a piece of the city’s history.

The house is slated to begin being moved Thursday, Sept. 17, to make way for the construction of a five-story apartment complex, which officials approved in 2017. But noting the historic relevance of the site’s current structure, the development team agreed to relocate and preserve it elsewhere....it will mark the second time that the house has been moved. It was first relocated in 1914 from its original location on Burlingame Avenue, when it was displaced to make space for the downtown business district to bloom.

Note the DJ article has the address off by one--it's really across the street at 524 Oak Grove which was an empty lot.  We'll all enjoy seeing the house put back together as it was cut in half for the move.  Here are a couple pics of it crossing the Caltrain tracks last night around 10 pm.  It was a tight fit getting under the tree branch too.  Nice work all around!

Ampex at 60 Years Old

The history of Silicon Valley is short relatively speaking, but for those of us who have participated in it, it is fascinating.  I was at the Stanford Med center in Redwood City last Friday for the first time and enjoyed a close view of the Ampex sign from the passenger drop-off.  I have viewed it from 101 for 30 years, but this was my first time standing on the other side.  I gave a close friend who is in her 20's a brief history of why Ampex is at the very heart of Silicon Valley history.  Then, out of the blue, today's Daily Post ran a front page article about Ampex turning 60 this year.  As the Post notes "Videotape revolution began here":

Though mostly obsolete, the videotape machine turns 60 this year and a relic of the industry can be seen along Highway 101 in Redwood City.  The Ampex sign at 500 Broadway marked where the first videotape recorder was manufactured in 1956.  Starting on Nov. 30, 1956, CBS began using it for the West Coast playback of the network's  evening news three hours after airing live to East Coast viewers.  By fall 1957, Ampex was swamped with a backlog of 100 orders for its red-hot VR-100.

The company was started in San Carlos by Alexander M. Poniatoff (AMPEXcellence).  It was one of many San Carlos tech firms in the real heart of Silicon Valley when orchards were the predominant thing in Santa Clara County.  Companies like Varian, Dalmo-Victor, Farinon and the one that brought me to the Bay Area, Lenkurt, were part of the analog genesis of the Valley.

Here is the best part of the article:  "As part of a clause of the sale agreement (to Stanford), the sign must be preserved for 75 years."  Heck, in 2087 it may be the only thing left that reminds one of the roots of the Valley.  I wish the Post would put bylines on these articles so we can give credit where credit is due.  Here is my photo of the sign from the Stanford parking lot on Friday.

New Mills Canyon

There has been some good upgrades and maintenance recently in Mills Canyon.  The DJ is reporting the story here and notes

Weeks of work refining the secluded and narrow trail culminated Tuesday, April 19, as workers with the California Conservation Corps cleared brush from the path which spans a little over a mile in the Burlingame hills east of Skyline Boulevard, near Arguello Drive.

The final day of trimming put a finishing touch on the work which began last month that included building new stairs, regrading the trail for storm drainage, adding more steps, reducing erosion threats, widening the trail, implementing new retaining walls and more.

This part was interesting to me also since kids are sometimes in there at night partying

The dirt trail is open daily for free to members of the public to enjoy, along with their leashed dogs. No camping is allowed on the property, which closes at nightfall.

Outside of the recent beautification efforts, Holtz said volunteers are often responsible for clearing non-native species which may grow along the trail, as well as cleaning out the rare occurrence of litter being left behind.

I thought I would take a look at the Crime Map (that you can find here) for the last two weeks and see how it's been going.  It's been quiet in the canyon so we will see how it goes as the school year comes to an end.

 

 

Library Renewal

The Daily Journal is updating us on the library update project which will renew one of our restoration jewels in town

Construction is slated to begin Aug. 11 to upgrade Burlingame’s main Primrose Road library with the city hiring a construction firm to carry out the work.

The $3.5 million project will modify the downtown branch’s interior to meet the needs of modern patrons by providing flexible space for collaboration, creativity and exploration. The City Council awarded a $1.74 million construction contract to Zolman Construction and Development to create the new tech and media lab with updated computers and LCD screens, video conferencing capabilities, four group study rooms, new conference room that fits 20 people, expanded teen area, a Burlingame Library Foundation bookstore and café, along with new carpeting. Officials are excited for the changes, which are targeted to be completed in April 2015.

Here is the teen area set for expansion.  It's usually quite busy when I go by there.

Sensible Preservation

The Daily Journal ran this piece back on June 5th, but I know the public has a short attention span so I have waited until today to post this notice of the City Council meeting item for this coming Monday.  This has been in the works for a while and one can only hope it sails through on Monday.  As we noted here, it's a win-win.

Plans to bring a historic resource program to Burlingame are being set into motion and will be up for a vote by the City Council June 16.

The council introduced the ordinance, which is modeled after the California city of Dana Point, on Monday. Burlingame officials have been working on the potential ordinance for a program that lets people apply to signify a historic building within its downtown specific plan. For now, the city is looking to start a program downtown which could then be expanded elsewhere. There are currently 23 potentially historic properties in the city’s downtown inventory that was established in 2008 and includes the Burlingame train station, the G.W. Gates House, Bank of Burlingame and Farrell residence on Chapin Avenue.

Now, the city has drafted a historic resource preservation ordinance, which would add Title 21 to the Burlingame municipal code. The main incentive of the program is that, under the Mills Act Historical Property Contract Program, homeowners get a substantial discount on property tax if they put together a plan for maintaining and restoring their historical property.

Tune in Monday night to see if we catch up to the 20th century here in B'game!  Maybe losing the Sherman (see next post) will be the catalyst for saving some local treasures.

 

Bogus B'game Reality

I'm a little behind on my reading and viewing, but I do enjoy a few of the "reality TV" shows and record them for later viewing.  Back on April 22nd, the "Flip It to Win It" show on HGTV caught the eye of my eagle-eyed wife and me when a house came up for foreclosure auction in Sunnyvale.  On the show, the bidders go by and visit, but are really buying blind since they cannot go into the houses they are bidding on at the courthouse steps.  So this "Sunnyvale" house on Montana Way caught our attention because it was right on the Caltrain right of way and the video showed eucalyptus trees and oleander bushes as the train went by.  Don't get me wrong: Sunnyvale is a lovely town, but not as lovely as this clip showed.  Here is the house in Sunnyvale and the TV bidders.

The house supposedly sells on the courthouse steps for $810K.  I repeat, Sunnyvale is a nice town, but....   By now the B'game antenna are up.  Sure enough this lovely TV couple are shown walking into the house they won and we see a Michael Brownrigg for Council  sign on the lawn behind them!  Too funny.  This little charmer is at 1038 Montana Morrell Ave. in Sunnyvale B'game!

But wait, the story gets better.  The TV bidders say they budgeted $100K and 33 days to renovate this house and flip it.  I nearly spit out my pinot noir at their cluelessness.  Sure enough as the show progresses, they get caught for numerous lack-of-permit violations and the house gets tied up past the filming for the show so they cannot tout their profits and "lose" to another TV contestant.  Here is the house at the end of the show

Our TV wizards are discussing how to cut their losses at the end of the show and are considering selling it without a kitchen as a second-round spec house.  Well, that didn't happen since the listing is still active seven months later here, but the finished kitchen looks lovely!  Seeing ain't believing these days.

If anyone goes by the open house this weekend, let us know what you think.

Slow Speed Rail - 150th Birthday

The SM Mercury News ran a couple of photos of the 150 anniversary celebration of commuter rail service on the peninsula line that the print edition claims are here, but I can't find them there so I have one of our own instead.  The special train stopped in B'game long enough for the Native Sons of the Golden West to present a historic plaque to members of the B'game Historical Society.  The plaque will be mounted on our historic train station.  It's a little small in the photo but it reads in part

Burlingame Depot, Opened 1894

This Building Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978

In addition to the Wikipedia link above you can read about the Native Sons here.  We thank them for the plaque and the recognition of our depot as a key development in our little burg.  It's too bad our B'way station can't get some recognition as well--or at least more frequent service especially since ridership is way up.

 

Mills Act: Good for homeowners, Good for the community

The Daily Journal cemented its position as the predominant local paper today by highlighting a great city successs story here.  Unfortunately the city in question was San Mateo not B'game.  I've culled a couple of quotes from the excellent article and you should read the whole thing.

On Monday, the San Mateo City Council approved Skinner’s and McDaniel’s application to have their North Claremont Street home designated as historical under the Mills Act.

This state law allows the city to provide tax relief to owners of historically significant properties who actively restore and maintain their property.  The Vollers house is the third property in the city that has been deemed historic since the city adopted the resolution in 1993.

“San Mateo has a number of wonderful older structures that are certainly an asset and that the community can be proud of,” Art Henriques, senior contract planner for the city’s Community Development Department, said. “Both the property owners and community at large benefit in fixing up and maintaining these older homes because they add value to the neighborhood and community.”

We had two city council members in the last few years who were in favor of allowing B'game homeowners to do the same thing, but it takes three to tango on the B'game City Council and we never had a third member with the foresight to say "yes".  Isn't it about time??  If you click through you will see the tax hit to the city would be minimal and the benefit to the community would be substantial.  These sorts of lovingly cared-for houses raise the value of the whole neighborhood.  This is a no-brainer.  Michael, Ann, Terry, Jerry, Ricardo?  Why not just do it?

Deconstruction Idea

I never know where I will find interesting tidbits for the Voice.  I was flying home from the East Coast last night on American Airlines and found a tidbit in the airline magazine!  In an article titled "The Deconstruction Deduction" author Ken Wysocky writes

So, you're thinking about a home teardown to make way for larger, more modern digs?  Fair enough, but before you hire a guy with a dump truck, here's a tax tip that may seem as improbable as a benevolent IRS man:  It just might be more lucrative to have your abode painstakingly dismantled--stud by stud, floorboard by floorboard, brick by brick--than to flatten it with a bulldozer.  And you will do the environment a huge favor in the process.

The piece goes on to list some real-life numbers about "donating salvageable materials (such as highly prized old-growth lumber or vintage oak floorboards)".  There are lots of classic B'game bungalows that have lots of that stuff along with classic windows, doors, and fireplace mantles that bring big bucks at places like Omega Salvage, Urban Ore and Wholesale Building Supply in San Mateo.  The piece goes on to note a case study from Palo Alto where

Demolishing the home would cost $10,000.  Hiring a deconstruction contactor--in this case, Palo Alto-based Rebuild Green--would cost $21,000.  A certified appraisal of the salvageable items (required for tax filings for deductions larger than $5,000) cost another $1,500. ... When the final figure (value) came in at $117,000--the resulting tax deduction more than covered the initial outlay.

Great stuff from an unexpected source.  I've been talking to a lot of B'gamers lately while walking neighborhoods and it's amazing how often people want to talk about salvage out of the blue!

Local featured on CBS Sunday morning

If you are an early riser on Sunday mornings, you might turn on the telly for a peaceful view of the world through the stories on CBS Sunday Morning. Today, while watching I heard a recognizeable name. The story was about the shared economy and the opening of the story featured Burlingame's own Doug Studebaker talking about his treehouse B & B.

Here are two links. One to the story and one to his rental listing.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57575953/welcome-to-the-new-economy-built-on-sharing/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57575953/welcome-to-the-new-economy-built-on-sharing/ 

This video features Linda Studebaker as well.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/86456