This cool 1975 brochure was sent to Mr. & Mrs. Gardner introducing them, under no obligation, to the services Select Property Realtors could provide for their San Mateo home. My Forgotten Bookmark supplier, Karen, gave this to me, probably not aware of the hours I would spend researching it all. What fun!
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| The house, new c. 1928 |
This stunning Spanish style home, built in 1928, is situated in one of Baywood's highly sought after streets. The name Baywood didn’t come out of nowhere. Nobody held a contest to determine the name for San Mateo’s premier pre-war subdivision. Long before there were streets named after states, Baywood was the name of John Parrott’s 377-acre estate, purchased for $30,000 on February 1, 1860. Parrott named his land after the Bay trees he found on the property. The location, which was at that time the nucleus of the City of San Mateo, being a little settlement of about a dozen houses. In 1927, the estate was purchased with the intent to subdivide. The first 445 lots were offered for sale by D.A. “Doc” Raybould, who would later be instrumental in developing the eastside of San Mateo, ranged in price from $3,150 to $4,250. |
| c. 1975 |
And who was John Parrot? One of the distinguished early citizens of San Mateo, John Parrott arrived in California already rich and successful and parlayed that success even more so with business ventures and real estate. He bought his Baywood Estate as a summer place to get out of San Francisco. There he indulged his fancy for thoroughbred horses, and imported cattle and other animals for his country home. |
| Royal (1890-1942) |
Now a little about the family who was mailed the real estate brochure. The owner in 1975 was Duncan Rawsel Gardner (1923-1990), son of Royal Duncan Gardner. Royal was born in Utah Territory and by the 1940 Federal census the family was living in Sacramento. |
| RJ (1949- 2020) |
So how did this bit of San Mateo history end up in the South Lake Tahoe Library? While researching the Gardner family, I found the recent obituary for Royal "RJ" McMillan Gardner. Royal was born to Marian (McMillan) and Duncan Gardner in Berkeley, CA. He graduated from Aragon High School at the age of 16 and went on to receive a B.S. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, he joined the United States Air Force as an officer and flew in multiple operations, ultimately retiring from the California Air National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel and like so many of us, chose South Lake Tahoe as his home.Someone in RJ's family must have donated this book, with the forgotten bookmark hidden within. |
| The house, c. 2020 |
So what about the house, situated on one of Baywood's most sought after streets? I looked it up and found the current owner, Staci, and sent her the historic brochure. I included my contact information and she wrote me back. With the subject line You Made My Whole YEAR! :)), the email read,
"Dear Denise,
WOW WOW WOW!!! I have received the real estate card of my home found in your local library. I am beyond excited if you couldn’t tell.
I bought the home on 07/08/09 — and had intended to fix it up and sell it within 4 years — well, the rest is history. This old house has something special… And I fell in love.
I just wanted you to know that your note brightened my whole year! xoxo Merci beaucoup!"
So there is the very detailed history of a bookmark, once forgotten but now remembered by many. How very cool indeed.
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1 comments:
Great story! Love that the owner replied with excitement. Fun. You do bring smiles to people near and far!
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