Holbrook-Palmer Estate, also known as Elmwood is a historic estate and public park located at 150 Watkins Avenue in
Atherton,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
(the town was previously named Fair Oaks). The
water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
(c.1883) and the
carriage house
A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.
In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...
(c.1897) were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on September 26, 2016.
History
Charles C. Holbrook (1830–1926) was a successful wholesale hardware and mining supply store owner in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, he created the grand rural estate of Elmwood in the late 19th century.
Beginning in 1883, the Holbrook family would summer in the house together and occasionally visit on the weekends during the slower seasons.
In 1926, Olive Holbrook Palmer (1878–1958) inherited the estate which was then named "Elmwood" which she used as her summer home with her spouse Silas H. Palmer (1874–1963).
Their main house was in San Francisco, the 22-room Holbrook mansion located at the corner of Van Ness Street and Washington Street.
Up until the mid-1950s, the estate was still operating as a farm and did not seem to have any major architectural or landscape changes.
When Olive died in March of 1958, the couple did not have an heirs and she willed the estate to the city of Atherton for recreational purposes.
Architecture
The Elmwood water tower was built in c.1883, designed by San Francisco architect Henry C. Macy in a
Second Empire style
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...
and is a rare example of a nineteenth-century
tank house
Tank Hall, also known as Tank House and Tank Cooperative, is an 1897 Queen Anne living and dining cooperative owned and maintained by Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Originally the Tank Home for Missionary Children, the house ...
that was made in a less utilitarian style (in order to match the main house).
The water tower is three stories tall and is built with lumber, featuring an ornamental balcony and a French
mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
.
The main house was built c.1875 in the same Second Empire style, but was replaced in 1959.
The carriage house (also known as the Gen Merrill Carriage House) was built in c.1897 in a
Colonial Revival style
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
.
The carriage house is two stories tall with the first floor featuring stables, a tack room and carriage storage, and a hay loft and bunkhouse in the second story.
The carriage house features a
hip and gable roof with asphalt shingles and redwood siding.
See also
*
References
{{Reflist
Houses in San Mateo County, California
Second Empire architecture in California
National Register of Historic Places in San Mateo County, California