Watkins House - Atherton, California
Posted by: 
hotshoe
N 37° 27.210 W 122° 11.820
10S E 571021 N 4145485
Historic home was cut in half to be moved, then was restored
Waymark Code: WM58ER
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/27/2008
Views: 10
NOTE: this relocated home is in private hands and is not open to the public at any time. Parking on the city street in front of the house is restricted to residents and invited guests. There is parking on the next block and it is possible to view the home from the sidewalk.
"Built around 1866 by Commodore James Watkins of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the house is a two-story Gothic Victorian gem. Watkins and his wife, Ellen, were among the first influential San Franciscans to buy land in the Atherton area. They built the house on a 19-acre plot bounded by Maple Avenue, El Camino Real, Fair Oaks Lane and the Southern Pacific right-of-way in Valparaiso Park.".
"The commodore lived in the 38-foot-tall home less than two years before his death aboard a steamship in Nagasaki, Japan. His wife lived in the home until 1890, when she sold it to shipper John J. Moore. Thirteen years later, Moore moved the home about five blocks to Isabella Avenue." ...
[October 20, 1998]
... "Since Sunday, a crew of house movers has worked to get the 3,600-square-foot home from 25 Isabella Avenue to its final destination a half-mile away. Last week, the house was neatly cut in two sections and very gently extracted from its foundation. Each half was then put on long steel beams, which was inserted underneath.
Workers assembled a wooden track to help move the home. Two tow trucks with winches and metal cables pulled and pushed the house inch by inch over a steel plank bridge, onto the atheltic fields at Menlo School and Menlo College, and into an empty lot before it found its way onto Alejandra.
The maneuvering was precise. Power lines had to be moved. Branches from trees--oaks, Monterey pines and redwoods-- were trimmed to make way. When it was over, the life-size dollhouse settled down comfortably in its new lot. It was home at last."
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This home has actually been moved twice, as noted above. Coordinates listed for "original location" are for its second location, the one for which we have a street address.