Early Los Altos
By Don McDonald,
 The Marvin family of Los Altos was once the most famous in town. |
When he arrived here in 1925, William Marvin had probably attained the widest international reputation of any Los Altos resident - and did so from modest beginnings.
One of seven children, he was born in Aberdeen, Ohio in 1892. After high school graduation, he took a job as a traveling salesman. His work took him to Berkeley, where he decided to attend its university. He proved to be a brilliant, prize-winning student who was also adept at earning money from outside jobs. William graduated in 1914 and began studies at Hastings, which at that time was Berkeley’s law school in San Francisco.
Although she didn’t meet William there, Charlotte Linden also attended the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she entered Stanford’s medical school, which was then in San Francisco. She received one of the earliest medical degrees Stanford granted to a woman. While in the midst of her residency year, her life took a story-book turn. Charlotte and a girlfriend were watching a Watsonville rodeo when a bull suddenly charged into the stands toward them. William Marvin rushed over to protect the pretty young girls. A romance followed, and William and Charlotte married in 1916.
The young couple’s life in San Francisco began with Charlotte’s busy medical duties and William’s first legal work. When America joined the Great War in 1917, William joined U.S. Army Aviation as a lawyer. Charlotte accompanied him to his first station at Kelley Field, San Antonio. His skill as a speaker was quickly recognized, and Lt. Marvin became a star on aerial barnstorming tours for Liberty Bonds and Red Cross drives.
After the Armistice, William and Charlotte moved to New York City, where he rapidly achieved success in the new field of international law and banking. He soon established his own law firm, which in time had 12 foreign offices. By 1922, he had achieved his goal of becoming a self-made millionaire before his 30th birthday.
In accord with his long-term plan, William retired a few years after making his fortune. He moved his family to Los Altos in 1925, buying on Los Altos Avenue what the Mountain View Register-Leader described as a “palatial residence” on10 acres. The Marvins then spent several years planning, building, and planting, until they had an elaborate country estate they called Casa Reposa. It featured a Spanish hacienda with a grand ballroom-living room, servants’ quarters, a gardener’s house, formal gardens, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
While retired here, William often spoke to various local groups in the Bay Area, usually about foreign affairs. He was very active in Republican political circles. In 1928, he gave some 90 speeches as manager of Herbert Hoover’s presidential campaign in California. Many thought William could some day become governor of California. Unfortunately, that possibility ended in 1932 with his untimely death from cancer at the age of 39. He left his wife Charlotte with four youngsters: Dorothy 14, William Jr., 12, Elizabeth, 7, and Barbara, 3.
Her husband’s death and the effects of the Depression combined to reduce Charlotte’s income considerably. In 1936, she secured a bank loan to subdivide her land between Pine Lane and Portola Avenue, giving it her maiden name as Linden Avenue. She then realized her goal of creating local jobs by having her brother-in-law build homes there. She also remodeled Casa Reposa and added an apartment for her mother. In 1938, the Kimura family moved into the gardener’s cottage and built off the ballroom a Japanese garden which included a koi pond, waterfall, lanterns, and a bamboo forest.
Charlotte became a well-known community volunteer for the Red Cross, library, PTA, and Girl Scouts.
With the shortage of doctors looming after Pearl Harbor at a time when her children were nearing adulthood, Charlotte went into active medical practice. She became a general practitioner in San Jose, and worked there until retiring in 1956. She then moved to Bavaria to live with her daughter Dorothy Marvin Weston. It was there she died in 1970 at age 81.
By the time all the Marvins had moved elsewhere, most of their estate had been sold for subdivision. In 1963, they sold their last parcel - Casa Reposa and its surrounding two acres. To allow further subdivision of the parcel in 1979, the house was moved to face west as 211 Yerba Buena Avenue. It was featured in the 2003 Los Altos Museum’s Spring House & Garden Tour.
McDonald is a member of the Los Altos History Museum Association.
