The Rengstorff House was one of the first houses to be built in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

. It was built c. 1867 by Henry Rengstorff, a prominent local businessman who operated a ferry between

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 ...

and Mountain View. It is built in the Italianate

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

style. The house's three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

front facade features an entrance pavilion topped by a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

and a pediment on the middle bay.

History

Henry Rengstorff built the house near Rengstorff Landing, an important grain shipping point. The house was built to demonstrate his prosperity, and to raise his six children in comfort, including a room built solely for his four girls, to accommodate their regular appointment with a dressmaker to try on the latest fashions. When Rengstorff died in 1906, his daughter Elise Haag and grandson

Perry Askam Perry Askam (1898–1961) was a 20th-century American actor and baritone singer, most active in musical theatre and opera around the San Francisco area. Askam was born in 1898 to Oiver and Helena Askam. Helena was the daughter of ferryman and ...

moved into the house. Descendants of Rengstorff would live in the house until 1959. The ranch on which the house was located was purchased by the Newhall Development Company, which had no use for the house; a 1972 plan to move it was aborted. After the house was placed 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 ...

in 1978, Mountain View mayor Richard Wilmuth wanted to restore it in place. Construction encroached and in January 1979 a company planning to construct an industrial park on the house's land suggested it be moved north to Shoreline Park. The land was purchased by the city in 1979 and the house was moved onto Shoreline Park land in January 1980. To make way for the

Marine World/Africa USA Marine World/Africa USA was an animal theme park located in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened in 1968 before merging with the failing land-animal park called Africa USA in 1 ...

theme park the house was moved again in 1986, further into Shoreline Park, to its current location. After a major renovation costing about $1 million, funded by the city, the house was opened to the public in April 1991. It has since been used as a museum and to host weddings and miscellaneous events; it is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays or Online 24/7 via 3D tour .

References

External links

Official Website

A trip to the Haunted Mansion

Docent-Led Tours

3D tour
Houses in Santa Clara County, California Buildings and structures in Mountain View, California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Museums in Santa Clara County, California Historic house museums in California Italianate architecture in California Victorian architecture in California {{SantaClaraCountyCA-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References

External links