170 MAIDEN LANE, 5TH FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94108 TEL 415-362-5154 Imagining change in historic environments through
design, research, and technology
MEMORANDUM
DATE March 14, 2024 PROJECT
NUMBER
21308
TO Eric Anderson, Advance Planning
Manager
PROJECT Mountain View Historic Preservation
Ordinance & Register Update
OF City of Mountain View
500 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
FROM Hannah Simonson, Cultural Resources
Planner
Christina Dikas, Project Manager
CC Elaheh Kerachian, Senior Planner VIA Email
REGARDING Potential Historic Resources in El Camino Real Precise Plan Area At the request of the City of Mountain View, Page & Turnbull has prepared this memorandum to provide a brief summary of potential historic resources in the El Camino Real Precise Plan area to aid in planning for the Housing Element program. As part of Page & Turnbull’s ongoing work with the City on the Mountain View Historic Preservation Ordinance & Register Update project, we conducted a reconnaissance (windshield) survey in spring 2023 of properties in Mountain View that were over 45 years old to determine whether they might be potential historic resources. The results of this survey were transmitted to the City in October, after some initial analysis was conducted on the survey’s notes, photographs and other materials by Page and Turnbull staff. Potential historic resources identified during the reconnaissance survey include properties that, subject to property - specific research and documentation in an intensive survey, may be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register), California Register of Historical Resources (California Register), and/or Mountain View Register of Historic Resources (Mountain View Register). The forthcoming intensive survey fieldwork and evaluations will be based on the historic context and evaluation frameworks in the Mountain View Historic Context Statement, to be completed by Page & Turnbull as part of this project.1
Of the properties identified during the reconnaissance survey, nine properties are located within the El Camino Real Precise Plan area. Of the nine properties, at this point only 749 W. El Camino Real has formally been determined to be an eligible historical resource through a separate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process. The other eight properties require additional research and evaluation; the intensive-level survey and documentation of these properties using California Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) survey forms has not yet been conducted. Tables 1 A public review draft of the Mountain View Historic Context Statement will be circulated in Spring 2024.
Attachment 5
Mountain View Historic Preservation Ordinance & Register Update – El Camino Real Precise Plan Memorandum [21308]
PAGE & TURNBULL 170 MAIDEN LANE, 5TH FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94108 TEL 415-362-5154 1 and 2 below provide brief statements on why each property was identified for further research and analysis as a potential eligible historic resource during the reconnaissance survey .
Table 1 includes sites that do not have approved redevelopment projects; however, an active redevelopment application is under review, including environmental review of the historic resource, at 749 West El Camino Real.
TABLE 1. PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED IN HISTORIC RESOURCE RECON SURVEY Photo Address (APN) Year
Built
Note About Potential
Significance
624 W. El Camino Real
(APN 158-06-006)
1958 Good example of Midcentury
Modern automobile service
building; post-World War II
examples are increasingly rare.
749 W. El Camino Real
(APN 193-02-049)
1977 Already determined individually
eligible for the California
Register and Mountain View
Register through separate CEQA
process related to a
development proposal on the
site.2
1051 W. El Camino Real
(APN 189-01-147)
1955 Property contains two buildings:
small barber shop and a retail
storefront. Barber shop is a rare
extant example of a stand-alone
post-World War II barber shop.
Retail storefront was once “Byte
Shop,” which was a very early
computer store and sold the
first Apple I computers in 1975.
2 Page & Turnbull, “615 & 749 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View, HRER Peer Review Memorandum,” prepared for David J.
Powers & Associates (March 1, 2023) and reviewed by the City of Mountain View.
Mountain View Historic Preservation Ordinance & Register Update – El Camino Real Precise Plan Memorandum [21308]
PAGE & TURNBULL 170 MAIDEN LANE, 5TH FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94108 TEL 415-362-5154 Photo Address (APN) Year
Built
Note About Potential
Significance
1414 W. El Camino Real
(APN 154-31-072)
1953 Post-World War II, Midcentury
Modern roadside restaurant;
increasingly rare property type.
1901 W. El Camino Real
(APN 170-06-006)
1958 Midcentury Modern automobile
service building; post-World War
II examples are increasingly
rare.
2674 W. El Camino Real
(APN 148-16-004)
1948 Quonset huts are a notable mid-
20th century building typology
and method of construction and
were typically sourced from
World War II military surplus.
Once more common, this
property type is rapidly
disappearing.
2690 W. El Camino Real
(APN 148-16-001)
1962 Very unique, rare, and intact
Googie-style carwash.
1905 Latham Street
(APN 154-36-007)
1964 Midcentury Modern commercial
building with unique barrel-
vaulted roof.
Mountain View Historic Preservation Ordinance & Register Update – El Camino Real Precise Plan Memorandum [21308]
PAGE & TURNBULL 170 MAIDEN LANE, 5TH FLOOR SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94108 TEL 415-362-5154 Table 2 includes a property identified in the historic resource reconnaissance survey that has an approved redevelopment project at 96 West El Camino Real. The project received City NOFA funding in February 2023 and was approved for a ministerial by-right redevelopment project per AB 2162 for supportive housing in June 2023, prior to the City’s receipt of this list and knowledge of the potential resource.
TABLE 2. PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED IN HISTORIC RESOURCE RECON SURVEY Photo Address (APN) Year
Built
Note About Potential
Significance
96 W. El Camino Real
(APN 158-06-006)
1960 Colonial Mortuary is a long-
running local mortuary business;
increasingly rare property type.