City property will provide a home for Neutra cottage

By Lauren McSherry, Town Crier Staff Writer

Joe Hu/Town Crier Lumber and other construction materials sit in front of the small cottage designed by Richard Neutra on Marvin Avenue. The cottage will be relocated to city-owned property on Sunday.

After years of deliberation and planning, the small cottage designed by acclaimed modern architect Richard Neutra will have a new home.

The historic 1939 building will be cut in half on Sunday and moved down the street to city-owned land between Hillview Community Center and the Community House, where it will be reassembled and restored.

For decades the cottage, the smallest building Neutra is known to have designed, sat forgotten on a heavily wooded property on Marvin Avenue. It was originally one of three studio-size houses built on the site as an experiment in semi-communal, affordable housing. More than a year ago, the property’s owner, John Gusto, after learning of the cottage’s unusual past, offered to donate it to the city on the condition that the city pay to relocate it.

Enter members of the Los Altos Community Foundation who thus far have raised nearly $200,000, about two-thirds of their $329,000 fund-raising goal for the move and restoration. Foundation volunteers have also worked on logistics and preparations for the relocation of the cottage, which will be converted into an architectural museum.

The 980-square-foot building could prove challenging to restore. Much of its interior was remodeled, so original cabinetry, fixtures and other key design elements have been lost and will need to be reconstructed. Restoration plans include recreating the orchard and patio setting that surrounded the cottage, rebuilding its carport and reviving its deep brown redwood exterior.

Volunteer Dave Knudson, who serves as project leader for the relocation, said preparing the house for the move has already been a challenge. Its “floating” floor, a floor not connected to the cottage’s walls, meant additional steps were needed to ensure the house wouldn’t collapse during the move. It has taken about two weeks to dig out the foundation, brace the walls, insert steel support beams underneath and construct cribbing inside the cottage.

“It’s more complicated to pick up,” Knudson said, “but easier to move. It’s a nice clean shot straight down the street.”

Despite the initial extra effort involved in moving the small structure, it’s an easier task than that required for the Community House’s relocation and restoration.

That house was damaged during the move because it was too wide for the street and tree branches poked holes in its roof, Knudson said. The six weeks of rain that followed, combined with a leaky roof, meant the house’s interior had to be completely gutted and revamped.

The Neutra cottage is listed on the city’s Historical Resource Inventory and is eligible for landmark status.