This is a Campbell tradition that carries no joy. The lights will be out tonight for Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton. RIP to all we have lost in the past week to mass shootings.
Photo courtesy of Susan Blake.
The Historic Preservation Board’s fourth featured Landmark home is the E. R. Kennedy House at 61 Catalpa Lane. This part of Campbell is historically referred to as the Kennedy Tract and later the Four “Cs” Tract that includes Cherry, Catalpa, El Caminito and California Avenues west of Winchester Blvd. At the turn of the century, it was ranch land owned by Erle Russell and Bessie Kennedy.
This outstanding example of Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture was built in 1930, for Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy who fell in love with the style while on a visit to southern California. It features white washed stucco siding with red-tiled hipped roofs, a terra cotta chimney and a flagstone entry. The original home had three bedrooms upstairs and a formal living room, dining room, breakfast nook, kitchen and library downstairs, with one bathroom on each floor. In the 1960’s a family room/apartment was added on north side.
Inside, the doors, door frames, and trim along with wall inset drawers and storage, are all solid mahogany. The main entry features a mahogany parquet floor. Numerous old growth trees can be seen on the property, including a huge Buckeye in the back yard and a grove of five Redwoods in the front yard.
The Kennedys had this house built to replace their old ranch house on Winchester Road after deciding to start subdividing their land. Starting with the development of Cherry Lane, many of the Kennedy Tract homes were built from 1941 through 1949. Prior to development, El Caminto was part of Kennedy Avenue, so named for the family.
Mr. Kennedy was a local farmer and realtor and also president of the Campbell Water Company from 1914 to 1918. In the early days of the company, he was a bill collector who went door to door, carrying a leather pouch with change, to collect water payments from households. In 1908, for private households with five or less family members, the monthly rate was $1. Each additional person cost 15 cents.
Bessie Kennedy was an energetic and determined member of our city’s Country Woman’s Club, starting in 1912. She was a driving force and instrumental in getting the club’s goal of a real library built in our downtown. This historic library building was completed in 1923, and still stands at the southwest corner of First Street and East Campbell Avenue.
The Kennedys later owned and operated the Kennedy Water Company which served customers west of Winchester Boulevard to Hazel Ave. Erle and Bessie owned and operated their water company until 1946, when they sold it to the San Jose Water Company, another family-owned water supplier.
In 1960, the E.R. Kennedy House was purchased by Courtland Watson and Jeanette Gomes Watson. Jeanette Watson became the first female council member and first female mayor (1988) in the City of Campbell. She lived there until 2006.
The current owner purchased the home in 2006, and is raising two...Read More
It's sure getting hot this summer isn't it? If you need to refresh that old summer wardrobe with something fresher, Besties Boutique in Downtown Campbell has a cute look for you that'll make these sweltering summer days a lot more fun.
How cute is customer @apandadaly(IG) wearing our favorite color tencel pants from Backbeatrags? Good news! We just got more golden tencel pants in stock! Why tencel? Tencel is made of sustainably harvested eucalyptus so it’s breathable, lightweight and so soft!
Seven years ago (back when camera phones were...not great), after five years in shared kitchens and at farmers’ markets, we opened the doors to this little place we call home!
Where are our ramen lovers at? ?♀️??♂️
Our Tonkatsu Ramen is made in a creamy pork broth, served with marinated pork belly, soy marinated egg, black chili paste, green onions, bean sprouts, fish cake, chili oil, and garnished with kaiware sprouts and shredded nori.
Now this is how you do Sushi Sunday right. Come down and see us at Sushi Confidential!
This December, the Campbell Toy Program aims to serve over 2500 needy children in the Bay Area with Christmas gifts that they otherwise would not get. We're inviting you to show some Christmas spirit in July and donate to help this cherished program that has been spreading holiday joy since 1984.
Throughout the month of July, businesses in Campbell will be collecting donations for the Campbell Toy Program. Please look for specially gift wrapped Christmas in July donation gift boxes when you're in Downtown Campbell. Donations can be made in cash or by checks made out to the Campbell Chamber Community Foundation. (Non-Profit ID# 46-1353037).
You can also make a donation online through the Campbell Chamber's website.
The Historic Preservation Board’s featured Campbell Landmark home for July 2019 is the Young-Sartorette House at 1888 White Oaks Road.
Like many of our city’s Landmark homes, this house survived because it was moved, rather then being torn down. Designed and built by H. B. Painter in 1928, for Earl and Virginia Young, it was originally located on the west side of Bascom Avenue at the end of Woodard Road on three acres of land. This part of Bascom Avenue was then called San Jose-Los Gatos Road when the area was populated by walnut orchards and chicken ranches. The house sat near the rear of the property with a horseshoe driveway and formal gardens.
The house is a unique example of the English Tudor Revival Style with added French cottage motif. The arched front entry is framed by marble flagstone and features a capped turret. Although mostly hidden now by massive cedar trees, the five steeply pitched, gabled roofs and ornate front window details can be seen from the street. Earl Young was a local farmer and insurance agent and was Vice President of the Prune and Apricot Growers Association. The Youngs lived in the house until 1946, when they sold it to Collette and Charley Sartorette who raised horses on the property. Mr. Sartorette was also a well known local educator and served on the Cambrian School District’s Board of Trustees for many years. A Cambrian Elementary School is named after him. The Sartorette family lived in the house until the 1970’s.
In the late 1970’s, a large portion of Bascom Avenue was being developed for new housing, and the Satorette house was in the way. A significant impediment prevented the house from being torn down: It had been placed on Santa Clara County’s list of historic homes!
A Campbell couple, Rudi and Joanna Herz inquired about buying the house which Joanna “felt sorry for” because it was vacant, neglected, and covered with vines. The developer told them he would give them the house for free if they bought a now vacant lot and moved it to the back of the original property. They agreed, and in 1981 the 2,500 square foot home was cut from the foundation, rotated 180 degrees and slowly moved to its new location on White Oaks Road. After years of careful restoration and historic research, the Herz’s applied to have the house listed as a State of California Landmark which was granted in 2008. In May of 2009, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Besides the Young-Sartorette House, there are only four other buildings in Campbell that are honored in the National Register of Historic Places. They are: the Campbell Union Grammar School, the Campbell Union High School, the J.C. Ainsley Mansion and the Galindo-Leigh House.
Happy 4th of July Friends! For those of you who aren't grillin and chillin or trying to find parking for a fireworks show, you can come hang out in Downtown Campbell! Many of our shops, bars, and eateries will be open for at least part of their normal hours on the 4th.
This is a partial list of just the places that confirmed their holiday hours. If your favorite spot isn't listed, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're closed. You'll need to call them directly to confirm if they're open or not.
23 Skidoo: 11am - 7pm
Blue Line Pizza: 11:30am - 8:00pm
Bombshell Boutique: 10am - 2pm (w/special Red tag sale!)
Campbell Coffeehouse: 7:30am - 4:00pm
Celtic Shoppe: Closing early at 4pm
Flex Fusion Studios: 8:30am - 11am
Flights: 11:30am - 9pm
Khartoum: Open normal hours
LvL Up: 11am - Midnight
Mo's: 11am - 10pm
Opa!: 11am - 10pm
Rocket Fizz: Open normal hours
Snake & Butterfly: Closing early at 5pm
Spread Deli & Bottles: 11am - 5pm
Sushi Confidential: 11:30am - 11:30pm
Therapy: 11am - 6pm
Steepers: Closing early at 4pm
Willard Hicks: 11am - 10pm
New goal in life: have as much fun as this guy is having at last night’s City of Campbell Summer Concert Series with the Joint Chiefs in Downtown Campbell. There’s no music next week for the 4th of July, but the series resumes the following week with the rock cover band, Tinman. See downtowncampbell.com for a full schedule of upcoming shows.
Did you catch our close up on TV? Last Friday, the broadcast team that does KTVU Channel 2's Zip Trips spent the morning in Downtown Campbell to tell the world about what an awesome little secret Campbell is. They setup shop for an hour outside of the Ainsley House and highlighted some great stories and things happening this little feeling (but not actually so little) place.
They were having so much fun, they didn't realize that they had left Sushi Randy of Sushi Confidential Campbell alone with Sal Casteneda and you know what happens when you leave Sushi Randy unsupervised, right? Yup, Sal had to learn how to roll his own.
The Taste of Campbell food and wine tasting event is back for a 3rd year! At last year's event a total of 24 different Campbell restaurants and local area wineries and breweries joined together to offer you bites of signature dishes and an afternoon of wine and beer tasting.
This annual event is held as a fundraiser for Campbell CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Among other things, proceeds from the event go toward purchasing training supplies and funding workshops that Campbell CERT holds to train the community in vital skills for preparing for and handling natural disasters, medical emergencies, and public emergencies.
Tickets for the 2019 Taste of Campbell are on sale now! The event isn't until November 2nd, but if you get your tickets early, there's a steep early bird discount. The normal price for a ticket is $46, but if you get your tickets by June 30th, tickets are only $32 each.
Downtown Campbell's newest restaurant is seeing the love from local media. EatUp Silicon Valley paid a visit to Water Tower Kitchen a couple of weeks ago with one of the founders to give you an up close look at the food and ambience being served up in a fully renovated building that was once a canning warehouse.
Thanks for visiting Downtown Campbell Eat Up!
Continuing with the Historic Preservation Board’s Celebration of featured Campbell Landmark homes is the Littleton-Martin House at 1690 Littleton Place (formerly listed as 1228 Harriet Avenue).
This stunning, two story farmhouse was built around 1905, on a sprawling 26 acre ranch. Mostly hidden from the street now, the house had a foundation of red brick with shiplap exterior siding. The front entry is reminiscent of a fine southern mansion, like something from the movie, “Gone with the Wind”. A large front door is framed by two narrow, divided light windows and a half round window overhead. With a balcony hovering over the open front porch area, the triangular shaped overhang is supported by six grand columns. This part of the home could be called a unique interpretation of Greek Revival Architecture. The Littletons, an English couple, built the house but occupied it for only a few years before returning to England. They left due to their displeasure over the noise from the railroad’s new Vasona Junction that was built in 1907, near Pollard Road and Winchester Blvd. As the crow flies, the junction was about ¾ of a mile from the house. This “wye” saw daily trains from San Jose bound for Palo Alto or Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. At the time, our valley was covered with vast orchards and huge oak trees, and the sounds from the trains could be heard for miles.
Harriet and A.J. Martin purchased the house, where she lived after his death. Harriet Avenue in Campbell is named after her. Mrs. Martin married Arthur Michael Roesch after A.J.’s death, and the house was again sold in 1938 or 1939.
Felix and Mary Bersano purchased it and moved their family from Oakland. The Bersano name may be known to many longtime residents, as Dick, Ed and Don. All are Campbell High School graduates and their children are all graduates of Los Gatos High School. The family also owned and operated the Italian restaurant Villa Felice in Los Gatos for many years.
The Bersanos raised their family and called this ranch ‘home’ until 1953, when they sold it and moved to Los Gatos. Sadly, the next owners were not kind to this historic property and let it deteriorate, before selling it once again.
The house would now have its fifth owners, and fortunately the new owners wanted to give the 100 year old house a restoration overhaul before selling it to its current owner, who has continued with major restoration efforts inside and out. The house survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, the orchards are gone, but a fully restored historic home, a carriage house and two of the giant oak trees still grace the property.
Note: Some information for this story came from Casey Jay | Bay Area News Group, September 26, 2011, entitled: Bersano family visits the restored Campbell farmhouse where they lived in the 1940s.
by Susan Blake Historic Preservation Board
