Developer to Transform Historic Mansion into Condos
Ignoring protests from the Preservation Action Council, the Planning Commission, the California State Preservation Group, and the National Historic Association, the city approved the transfer of the historic Winchester Mystery House to KB Homes for a luxury condominium development.
Immediately after the vote on Tuesday, several dozen bobcats mobilized on site and began the demolition of several wings of the sprawling historic mansion in preparation of for its transformation from Victorian-period architecture, to the modern glass and marble structure depicted in its marketing brochures.
“I know there is a lot of anxiety and skepticism about the project throughout the community…we are trying to be extremely sensitive to that,” said KB Chairman and CEO Bruce Karatz from the jobsite over the noise of several structures being felled. (“Shit Jim, not THAT wall!”)
“Absolute rubbish,” said a fuming Alex Marthews of the Preservation Action Council when the decision was made. “Have you seen the model of the finished product? It looks like a Trump building. I’m moving to Philadelphia.”
According to KB-hired consultant, and former Gonzales braintruster Ash
Pirayou, preserving certain parts of the structure was going to be too expensive. “With our research on historic real estate trends, condominium prices in 1982 were quite low. Using those numbers, our pro-formas are totally out of whack and any further expense would be an unfair burden to place upon this multi-billion dollar company,” said Mr. Pirayou.
As part of a compromise, the city has required the developer to pay homage to Sarah Winchester’s legacy by preserving certain details of the home. Saved from the wrecking ball will be the front door hardware and lockset, the water closet in bathroom #13, and the blinds in the master bedroom.
You must continue to fight on: democracy and transparency. Your panel was dissolved because you threatend certain people. Yet, the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the Know Nothings—Gonzales, Chavez, Guardino, Diridion Sr. and the Mercury News—try to rig the process, democracy and transparency (i.e., excluding Perry on the recent BART tax debate). Now you must kill any new BART tax and make public the VTA Grand Jury report. Expose the cover up and connections. Otherwise, you’ll be considered one of them. Open up and the front and lead. Reinforcements forthcoming. The Gonzales political cartel will be dismantled and excised. We are going to take back our city. We the people support this mission.
My stomach is turning at the thought of the city choosing to destroy a historical site. It’s such a shame that greed has destroyed such a beautiful building and history.
John, the sad thing about your post today is that with the current people in charge, this could actually happen.
I’ll have to give you a two thumbs up on this one! My casual drive by the Winchester Mystery House will never feel the same!
…and apparently I’ve fallen for it. But, my reaction is honest. If something like that did happen it would be horrible.
It’s sad that it was easy to believe. (Until trying to find other articles and coming up with nothing to back it up.)
The sad thing is this is happening NOW. The mayor and the majority of this council have no respect for our historic structures. Just look at Tuesday’s vote. No historic building is safe in our city as long as this mayor and most members of this council are in office. Wake up people, it’s almost too late now.
It’s about time they got rid of that monument to guns!
Nice Work John!
Great post! What a shame to think this could actually happen….
John, the is the best posting you have done so far. Your essay was timely and perfect.
Let me address several issues here.
1. As far as the BART matter with Rod and Carl, I have to tell you this. Today, we should really discuss how Carl Guardino has dediced to proclaim himself Emperor of Santa Clara. This guy went after Anna Song on the County School Board, and now this guy Perry on the Mountain City Council for his own reasons. It is because Carl is uncomfortable with democracy. He determines that Anna Song must go, that member of the Mt. View City Council must be silenced. Ten years ago, Trixie Johnson said at a county Democratic Central Committee meeting, “we have determined that Judy Nadler shall be Mayor of Santa Clara” We have determined???
Why have elections, as Mr. Guradino has determined that people are to be blocked from city councils and county school boards.
Does the Silicon Valley Leadership Council even vote on this stuff? No, they need another name change, The Guardino Advisory Group. Carl decides, what is good for all, shall be the way. Some message gets to him, and Mr. Guardino decides through his determination, who shall be selected, who shall be supported, and who shall be allowed to talk.
2. John, you did a splending job writing about Winchester Mystery House. I refer everyone to http://www.kbhomesucks.com
Scheller House was in a similar situation, and John’s amusing essay is farce, but Scheller House was almost demolished by a university, and by individuals, one of whom makes 146K there as a student government executive director, who said, “PAC is spreading rumors about Scheller House”
So all historic preservationists who want to defend PAC, I will give you that guy’s email address, [email protected], and you can demand a clarification of that.
3. I suggest you all check out the website for the American Leadership Forum, the new society for those that want to have a say in this county. The rest of you, you will have to make a pledge to Carl Guardino, before you will be allowed to make any more statements.
Amen Bucky. It’s time to flatten the Mystery House and remove it from the landscape. A second-rate pastiche of something that never was. A garish reminder of a foul and unremarkable city.
John,
These days you don’t even have to try very hard to come up with a good column. The city practically writes one all by itself each week.
Another chunk of historical San Jose is vaporized? No problem-o, I’ll watch the SJ history stuff on dvd.
The real news story here is how the Strip Mall lobby got cut out of the action?
Working under the guise of good he’s another phony. Dumb as a rock. Distorts facts and figures. Lies.
eom..
Let’s see, if your rip out the Winchester House and the Century Theaters there’s about enough room for a baseball stadium…close to shopping! Of course, it’s nowhere near downtown…but that horse left the barn a looonnnggg time ago, even though nobody here wants to admit it.
After checking out the vintage VW’s at the History Park last weekend I also checked out the surroundings. There is no question that without the VW crowd, that place would have been a ghost town. I went into a couple of shops—the candy store and the gift shop, and found 1) a puny and pathetic collection of candy, most of which wasn’t even of the old-timey variety, and 2) a bunch of schlocky stuff in the gift shop that you could buy anywhere. Only a stash of books about local history were interesting, and they were all shoved back into a corner. Most of the individual houses are sitting there without any sort of purpose except for the Pasetta house, which is being used as a gallery for not-so-great art, of which only a portion had local scenes as their subject.
Is this what our so-called leaders want to do with all buildings of historical significance? Take them out of their context and place them in a vacuum in some contrived environment? Or even worse—tear down the original and erect a replica out at the park? Just hokey, hokey, hokey and the real historical buildings that indicate this town actually has a soul are pushed over for more poorly constructed cracker boxes.
I have never been more disgusted with a sitting mayor and council than I am with this sorry batch.
And with all due respect to freedom of speech and all of that, sorry, but we have once again been led off the subject by post #9
Sorry to stray off topic – but…
In today’s merc…
BART debate gets loud
“Because of low ridership projections relative to its large cost, the 16.3-mile extension plan scores among the worst projects in the nation under federal standards for evaluating the cost effectiveness of transit lines.”
In a previous merc
Light rail’s long ride
“Operating at an average speed under 15 miles an hour, Silicon Valley’s light-rail network is the slowest among comparable urban systems in the nation. It is also the most costly to operate per passenger mile. And, it’s one of the most heavily subsidized transit operations in the country. “
Now add in the city hall debacle, the future airport expansion debacle and future baseball SJ debacles, and sprinkle in handfuls of debacle-du-jours… Well, you get the picture – and it’s not a Monet.
To help assuage taxpayer grief, let’s do the lemons to lemonade thing and try christening the new CH rotunda. I’ll go first.
– the “Blundah in the Rotunda”
– the “Quetzie Dome”
– the “Mystery Spot”
– others?
Who cares about the Winchester mystery house? It’s a suburban dump. San Jose needs to focus on downtown because downtown is worse than Watts in southcentral LA. Just go to downtown at night, and you’ll get beaten up. San Jose needs to build a magnificent landmark downtown and make us all proud. Also build it up with maximum density to wow locals and visitors alike. That’s a landmark, not Winchester!
Just overhead a discussion re 3-way talks between KB, the city, and Winchell corp to build a replica of the Winchester Mystery house *and* satisfy the city’s smart growth requirements.
Look for Winchell’s Mystery House of Donuts on San Carlos in the near future.
Hey Strip Malls
Will they have a Starbucks?
Save the Winchester Mystery House! Not for the history or even the tourists, save it for the Redevelopment Agency. Relocate the whole bunch of them there, right across from the latest Downtown Redevelopment kick-in-the-teeth, the upscale and trendy Santana Row (where people go to pretend their not in San Jose).
If there ever was a structure built that captures the creativity and competence of San Jose’s Planning Commission it is that baffling, what-was-she-thinking monstrosity that Sarah Winchester built. Tuck those visionary bureaucrats safely inside Sarah’s labyrinth and they may never find their way out to trouble us again.
Starbucks?
Well they do – but since Winchell’s House of Mystery Donuts is a *replica*, it’s a little different. Let me explain..
When you initially go up to the counter to get your donuts and coffee, the employee kindly directs you to some former employees standing nearby who used to work there and are very knowledgeable about the coffee and donuts ordering system.
For 5 dollars the ex-employee will tell you about the different types of donuts and coffee and provide valuable insights as to which donuts are the freshest.
Once you’ve taken in the advice of the ex-employee you then confidently proceed to place your order with the full blessings of the employee behind the counter.
Will everyone that talks from now on, please coordinate with Mark so we make sure we do the bidding of our version of Carl G.
Hey FinFan,
Glad to see tht Pac Bell restored your internet service..
and its good to hear you’re back wearing men’s clothing again.
Just checking in-any cross burnings planned for the weekend?
And isn’t May “Baby Harp Seal Smashing” month? Better get your mallet ready…
LOL Lupe’
Here’s a great lightrail quote from the merc from a year or so ago:
“As we prepare to develop any future lines, we have to build them to places people want to go, like major shopping centers and the airport,’’ said Pat Dando, a member of the San Jose City Council and the VTA board. “In the past, we’ve felt if we built them, operating and maintenance money would somehow flow. That was foolhardy. It was like immaculate revenue or something.’‘
Imagine that. In the future they will build lightrail lines where people actually want to go!
Anyone know if we can get a prop on the next ballot to disband the city and disburse the money directly to the neighborhoods?
But, but, I even made reference to freedom of speech!
Speaking of which, hey Lupe, are going to rush to the defense of the unjustly oppressed chili finger lady now too?
I’ll vote for a statue of chili finger lady.
Good to hear you’re laughing out loud, Lupe. I was afraid you might be suffering from post-traumatic stress after taking one too many hits during the past week. First, you stumbled into a SanJoseInside exchange you weren’t equipped to handle and got your bigotry exposed. Then you had to hear your own governor suggest what everyone who believes in laws and sovereignty has always known, that the Mexican border needs to be controlled like a border. To a Mexico-Firster like yourself, Arnold’s words must have gone over like a pail of water splashing on the Wicked Witch.
As for your insults, I have to admit that they’re actually not that bad. Clearly you’ve had practice. Can you direct me to some fences and building walls where I can see more of your work?
Who says that the mayor and council have no respect for historical structures? Just last year they completed moving the Montgomery Hotel 100 feet over though they did have to destoy the bottom 2 floors in the process. Oh, by the way, those 2 floors were the only thing deemed historical in that building and the project cost tens of millions of dollars. How is that for irony?
Yes, they did move the Montgomery and praised the PAC for being at the forefront. It is Akphonse De Alba, at San Jose State, who claimed PAC did nothing but spread rumors.
His contact email again is [email protected]
He also refuses to give any credit to PAC for working to preserve Scheller House, among the last two buildings designed by Theodore
Lenzen.
Yep. We supported preserving the hotel in place, and making it part of the Fairmont Annexe. It’s good that the Montgomery Hotel still exists, and more of it was significant than the bottom two floors, but on the whole preservation in place is a lot cheaper than what it cost to move it.
PAC needs to go and find a life
We wasted over 45 million and counting on that moving mess. And there is nothing historicl left! yes theres a nice restaurant and a few rooms; but what a joke.
45 million could do a whole lot more downtown.
RDA or RA money should be spent on projects that return more jobs and maybe even a small amount of style to downtwon.
How many empty storefronts could be filled with 45 Million?
gosh why is every one giving kb homes such a hard time bout this? Its like those silly animal writes antiamerican terrorists who go and protest a good fambly company like Kintucky Frid Chickens.
What is a sheller home and is there any historical significance to sheller homes. Where can I learn more about scheller homes. I own a 1907 scheller home
thanks in advance
Eddie