The architecture and history of Los Gatos, California is colorfully presented using almost 500 photographs, neighborhood maps, and descriptions of over 150 Victorian, Craftsman, Mediterranean and Contemporary homes, commercial and civic buildings. The fascinating and prototypical history of the town, from the California Gold Rush to the devastating 1989 earthquake-and the town's remarkable recovery-is also covered in detail, with historical maps and a graphic timeline.
From the Author
Los Gatos is unique, but it has much in common with small towns everywhere. In appreciating its preserved and restored buildings, it helps to know something about the flesh and blood people that created the town and its landmarks.
If I had been born and raised here, as so many current residents were, perhaps I wouldn't be as curious about the stories, but I became fascinated to learn that, for example, the restaurant in the grand mansion downtown was a funeral parlor for most of the twentieth century. At Walt Disney Imagineering, we would often invent fictional histories for new old buildings. Here in Los Gatos, I found authentic buildings shaped by interesting personalities, such as the French Chateau on Broadway, built by a local merchant who was enthralled by France during World War I. When a home features a rusting neon sign on the front lawn saying "Florentine Village," you just have to wonder. I wrote Los Gatos Observed to share what I found out.
Like many towns, Los Gatos is struggling to define its own future and limit mindless growth. There is one 40-acre walnut orchard remaining in an area that was almost entirely "planted to fruit" at the last turn of the century. I believe that intelligent planning must begin with an understanding of the past. "Ignorance killed the cat, sir. Curiosity was framed..."
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