Buildings >100

Buildings In Menlo Park Greater Than 100 Years Old

*Buildings included in the Historic Tour of Menlo Park brochure. (See $tore page for how to obtain a copy of the brochure or print your own copy.)

#Based on information from Spokeo, not verified by MPHA

%Buildings in the unincorporated Menlo Park Sphere of Influence as defined by LAFCO.

Images of some of these buildings are HERE.

If you have relevant information concerning buildings in Menlo Park greater than 100 years old, please contact MPHA (see Home Page for contact information).

1864

*Barron-Latham-Hopkins Gate Lodge, 555 Ravenswood Avenue - see Historic Places page. A gatehouse is the building which stands at the entrance gate to a large estate; in this case a 280-acre estate founded in 1864 by W. E. Barron, which included a 40 room mansion and this large gatehouse.

1867

*Menlo Park Railroad Station, 1120 Merrill Street - see Historic Places and Historical Landmarks pages. Menlo Park is a Caltrain station located in Menlo Park, California. The station was originally built in 1867 by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad. The SF&SJRR was acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868. During the 1890s, Southern Pacific added Victorian ornamentation to the depot to make it appear more attractive to students and visitors to Stanford University. A baggage handling extension was added to the north during the Camp Fremont days (WWI).

1870

*Bright Eagle, 1040 Noel Drive, a 21-room Italianate structure, was originally built as a summer home for T. Lemmon Meyer, a director of the Menlo Park & Santa Cruz Turnpike Road Company. It was renovated by Alexander Gansl in 1875 who then turned it into a high-stakes gambling house. Edgar Mills purchased the property in 1880 and further renovated and enlarged the house while subdividing most of the surrounding property. After Mills' death, the house was owned by Emma Noel, who rented it out as a summer residence. It has since seen many uses including an officers club for Camp Fremont, a military academy and a hotel, a restaurant (The Marie Antoinette Inn), and an antique shop (The Bright Eagle). Today it consists of offices. Refs: (1) Svanevik and Burgett, Menlo Park: Beyond the Gate (2000); (2) S. Loftness, The Bright Eagle--Menlo Park's 2nd oldest structure, InMenlo.com (Jan. 25, 2010).

1872

*Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Ave. - see Historic Places page.

1882

*Coleman Mansion, 920 Peninsula Way. Built by the mother of James Coleman as a wedding gift for her son an his bride, Carmelita. Soon after the wedding, Carmelita was fatally shot accidentally in a San Francisco hotel after which the property was sold. It has been the principal building of the Peninsula School since 1925.

1883

*Edwards Hopkins Estate, 250 Oak Grove Avenue. Vallombrosa (Shady Valley) was built by Edward Hopkins, nephew of Mark Hopkins. Hopkins was in San Francisco in 1880 and bought his Menlo Park land in 1883. The house was remodeled in the 1920s. He was involved in various mining interests, the Union Ice Company and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The 12-acre grounds and additions became a retreat and conference facility of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1947.

1886

*Nativity of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church, 1220 Crane Street. This chapel, made of redwood from plans in Joseph Coleman Hart's Designs for Parish Churches (1857). It originally served as the Holy Trinity (Episcopal) Church, which was first located at 407 Encinal Ave (between Laurel St and Felton Dr)--see Plaque #63--where it became the church of the Leland Stanford family. In 1897 it was moved to 406 Oak Grove Ave (between Alma and Laurel Sts). In 1947 it was relocated to Pine Street near Ravenswood Ave. Finally, in 1957, a new Episcopal Church having been built on Ravenswood Avenue (corner of Laurel), the chapel was gifted to the Orthodox group, who moved it to its present location.

%John Murray house, 2024 Liberty Park Avenue in unincorporated Menlo Park. See The Gate Post XXXVIII.2.

1889

Residence at 114 Santa Margarita Ave, was originally located at corner Middlefield and Willow. It was moved to its present location in 1960, and greatly modified.

1892

*Aaron Gale House, 417 Glenwood Avenue. This Victorian house was built by Aaron Gale, a carpenter on Linden Towers (Flood Estate). Aaron married Jane Brophy, daughter of pioneer settlers of the Searsville area. Their daughter, Susan Gale, resided here for 75 years and was the first historian of Menlo Park.

1895

*Bruce/Frederick House, 424 Oak Grove Avenue. In the 1900 census, James Bruce, b. Scotland, 45, a stone setter, was in Menlo Park with his wife Elizabeth and family, also 1910 on Felton Ave. In the January 1920 census, Elizabeth Bruce, 60, is a widow living on Oak Grove Ave with her daughter Dorothy, 30, and son-in-law Martin I. Frederick, 30, an auto supply salesman, and their month old son, Martin I. Jr. In the 1940 census, Dorothy, 61, is listed as divorced and living with her son, Martin, now 20. Dorothy is listed as a widow (not as “divorced”) living at 424 Oak Grove in a 1937-1961 directories. In the 1920 voter registration, Martin registered as Democrat and Dorothy as a Republican. Martin Irvin Frederick, b. May 13, 1890 in Marmaduke, Arkansas, died in 1975 in Indiana, where his parents were from and where he was living in 1900. In 1942, he registered for the draft living with his wife Sylvia in Vallejo, where he was an asbestos worker in the Navy yard. They th are in he 1948 directory with Sylvia listed as a waitress at Terry’s Waffle Shop. Martin Jr, b. Dec 3, 1919, died June 1985 and is buried at Colma.

1896

*1257 Mills Street, built as a personal residence by "Honest" John McBain.

1898

*Commercial structure at 1166 El Camino Real built by the Weeden Brothers. This was the second location of the nomadic Menlo French Laundry. Today it is occupied by Feldman's Books.

*St. Patrick's Seminary, 320 Middlefield Road. When this red brick complex of French Second Empire styling was built, it was the only institution of its type west of the Rocky Mountains.

*1249 Mills Street, built as a personal residence by "Honest" John McBain.

1899

*John Duff House, 849-851 El Camino Real. This Victorian mansion was the home of the Duff family of Menlo Park's Duff & Doyle mercantile emporium. Originally on the corner of El Camino Real and Roble Avenue, it was saved from the wrecking ball in 1981 by moving it to the back of the Victorian Lane Shopping Center close to Live Oak Avenue.

Bertha Berner House, 2100 Sand Hill Road, constructed in late 1890s. Berner was Jane Stanford's personal secretary and friend. The Stanford's built a house (c. 1900) for her that still stands on the corner of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue. At the time this was the countryside, but now it's within the Menlo Park city limits. The first photo is from 1948. At some point the house was converted to offices. When the intersection was widened in the late 1990s, the house was saved (thanks in part to the actions of the City Government) but moved back and surrounded by new office buildings of a complimentary style. The second photo is recent. Berner wrote a book about Jane, "Incidents in the Life of Mrs. Leland Stanford," published by Stanford University Press in 1934 (and later under the title "Mrs. Leland Stanford: An Intimate Account"). Interestingly, Berner has been a suspect in the 1905 death (possibly poisoned) of Jane Stanford--see for example, "Who Killed Jane Stanford" in the Sep/Oct 2003 issue of Stanford Alumni Magazine at http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=36459 .

1902

*Feely House, 501 Oak Grove Avenue. Built entirely of redwood by J.L. Taylor, the house is known locally as The Jewel of Oak Grove. It was bought by Arthur A. Feely in 1916. Five generations of Feelys have lived there. The house was remodeled in 1989 to meet the family needs. The original roof line and front porch was maintained.

McKendry House, 244 Robin Way. This 1.5 story Dutch Colonial house was built by Archibald McKendry or his descendants. Archibald, a former Union officer who earlier (circa 1868), acquired 190 acres of land in what today is called the Willows area. In 1874 he donated 1/2 acre for the first school in what is today's incorporated Menlo Park: see Creek School on the Schools Page. He passed away in 1885. Mckendry divided his land between his two children, Archibald Lowell "Archie" and Ellen "Nellie." Archibald L., divorced, died in the 1920s and the land was sold to the subdivision of North Palo Alto.

1904

*McLoughlin House, 1320 Mills Street. This simple structure with front gable roof is typical of the style and fashion of early Menlo Park and a nice example of how a historic home can be sensitively remodeled without losing its integrity.

1905

*Doughty House, 1261 Laurel Street, built by the Weeden Brothers in Queen Anne Victorian style. Descendants of the original family still reside there today.

*Marten House, 1257 Laurel Street, built in Queen Anne Victorian style. Named after early residents Ernest and Lulu Marten.

*McEvoy/Sullivan House, 1145 Merrill St. This 2-story building was home to Patrick Henry McEvoy, San Mateo County Supervisor and later to John H. Sullivan, Menlo Park and San Francisco real estate agent. Once used as a mortuary, then Lisa's Tea Room, it is now occupied by a law firm and financial services company.

1907

Maloney house, 1108 Pine Street.

1910

*Commercial structure at 1162 El Camino Real built by Weeden Brothers. It was occupied for many years by Menlo Meat Market (Harry and Marguerite Doughty). It is currently the editorial offices of Gentry Magazine.

Residence at 10 Maywood Lane, a 3-story + basement home built by Andrew Jackson Clunie, a wealthy San Francisco lawyer and onetime California Insurance Commissioner. The original estate covered most of the area between Middle Ave and the San Francisquito Creek and between Arbor Rd and San Mateo Dr. Maywood Lane, a private street, was part of the original driveway. Probably Claire Place was also part of the original driveway. The remaining parcel is a couple acres near the end of Maywood Ln with a narrow strip extending to San Mateo Dr. Ref: Clendenin, Grand Dame of Menlo Park turns 100, InMenlo.com (Mar 25, 2010).

1911

*Arbor House, 1231 Arbor Drive. This 16-room three-story house sitting on 11 acres was first occupied by the Inman family. A two-story carriage house from that same era sits near the main house. In 1923 the estate was bought by Mark McCann, a prominent realtor, who was thought to have given the estate the name Fairwinds. In 1930 the estate was purchased by Felix Signoret McGinnis (1883-1945), a vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad who embellished Fairwinds with a large children's playhouse and a theatre for one of his daughters, both structures still in use. In 1950, after McGinnis died, Fairwinds was purchased by the Archdiocese of San Francisco to create a new parish in Menlo Park. Today Arbor House is the rectory for St. Raymond Catholic Church located on Santa Cruz Avenue. Ref: Clendenin, From Fairwinds to Arbor House: The saga of one of Menlo Park's most historic homes, InMenlo.com (June 29, 2011).

1912

#Residence at 649 Harvard Avenue.

1914

*Montgomery House, 330 Ravenswood Avenue. This building, designed by architectural firm of Bliss & Faville of San Francisco, was named in memory of Reverend Hugh E. Montgomery (pastor 1913-1922). It is presently used as offices for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

#Residence at 727 Harvard Avenue.

1915

%Residence at 3407 Alameda in unincorporated Menlo Park.