1916 home in Los Altos proves bright and inviting

By Clyde Noe, Town Crier Staff Writer

Ann and Warren Nelson’s home built in 1916, sits among 180-year-old oaks. Pictured here is the octogonal dining room.

You’ve heard the expression “They don’t build them like they used to.” That applies especially when homes are built with first-cut redwood.

Ann and Warren Nelson live in such a house just a couple of blocks off San Antonio Road. The house was built in 1916 as a summer place in an apricot orchard called Oakhaven Farms. The home sits amid a group of California live oaks that are more than 180 years old.

“The house looked so stately among all those oak trees, and one day we saw an open house sign on the property,” Ann said. “We lived two blocks away and were going to a Los Altos Booster party. I told Warren to stop because I wanted to see what it was like, and I fell in love with it.”

The year was 1975. The Nelsons bought the house because Ann particularly loved the old woodwork and the octagonal dining room.

“I loved the land, with all the big oak trees around the property, and it had so many distinguished qualities,” Warren said. “Inside the house it offers a light and airy feel for an old house, and the whole basement is outfitted with first-cut redwood.”

Old houses need maintenance, and the Nelsons have kept a maintenance schedule with the usual painting and yearly upkeep. Several years ago they updated the kitchen.

“It was a mid-’50s type kitchen that had linoleum for countertops,” Ann said. “We lived with it long enough. I liked the use of wood paneling in the dining room and wanted the same décor in the kitchen.”

Joni Ratts of Ratts Construction, a Los Altos firm, designed the kitchen and the new redwood deck that leads off it. The old kitchen entrance was closed off to make a laundry room. The remodeled kitchen makes judicious use of windows.

“The kitchen is all white, with dark green Dupont Corian counter tops. Corian provides a solid beauty for the surfaces,” Ann said. “The kitchen is very efficient because you only have to take a few steps in either direction to do what you want. It’s also well-lit and airy and an enjoyment to work in.”

The three-bedroom, 2.5-bath home has 3,200 square feet of space. It is a wonderful place for entertaining. Ann and Warren are Stanford University graduates and many a post-game football party has been held in the house.

“The living room is large, with a huge fireplace. After a game we gather here,” Warren said. “There is another fireplace in the dining room, and the parties just move to another part of the house.”

The octagonal dining room has a “Williamsburg blue” décor. The morning sun lights up the room, and by afternoon it is still cheery. In the evening it is well-lit for casual and formal dining.

In addition to being easy to entertain in, the house is great for family living. The Nelsons have a daughter, Karen, who was 3 when they moved into the house. She had several birthday parties there while she went to Egan Intermediate and Los Altos High schools.

“I can remember the Halloween parties Karen had with all her friends,” Ann said. “We used to have chickens in the back yard, and Karen would ride around the neighborhood with a chicken on her bicycle handlebars.”

The Nelsons belong to the home-stay program and have had house guests through the Los Altos Sister Cities program. They have opened their home to guests from Bendigo, Australia, and Syktyvkar, Russia.

“Guests think the house is so elaborate, but then it is different from what they may have in Russia,” Ann said.

Both Ann and Warren are busy retired folks. Ann did volunteer work for PTAs and was on the Sister Cities Board. She still keeps active with the history museum and the Foothills Congregational Church. Warren, a former schoolteacher at Cubberley High School, is active in the community and around the house.

All is not happy with the Nelsons, though. The huge heritage California oak in front of their house, more than 180 years old, is dying. Estimates for cutting down the tree are as high as $10,000. The city has issued a removal permit to bring the tree down Nov. 4.

“We had a ‘farewell tree party’ and invited all our local friends; and 75 women came to say goodbye,” Ann said. “Some of the gifts are still in the limbs.”