Attachment E - Historic Resource Memo — Yountville City Council, June 4, 2024

Memorandum
To: Mr. Terry MacRae
Bon Voyage Management, a Texas LLC
Town of Yountville
2102 Cedar Springs Road
Dallas, TX 75201
Project: 1980 Yountville Crossroads, Yountville CA
Project No.: 201104
Date: March 27, 2023, Revised June 14, 2023; Revised October 13, 2023 Via: Email
From: Naomi Miroglio

1. INTRODUCTION
In November 2022, Architectural Resources Group (ARG) was engaged to provide Historic Preservation consultation for the residential property at 1980 Yountville Cross Road, in Yountville, California which was recorded on DPR form 523A dated September 29, 2022 and updated September 7, 2023. The residence was determined to be a historic resource under the California Register. As a historical resource, the project proposed for 1980 Yountville Cross Road is subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Generally, under CEQA, a project that follows Standards for Rehabilitation (Rehabilitation Standards) contained within The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties is considered to have mitigated impacts to a historical resource to a less-thansignificant level (CEQA Guidelines 15064.5). This Memo addresses the CEQA review requirement, and includes a brief historic background, a description of the current project, and an analysis of the project’s compliance with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation.

2. HISTORIC BACKGROUND
The September 29, 2022 DPR form 523A that was prepared for the subject property by Kara Brunzell provides an historic context, building descriptions and an evaluation of the property for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register). This DPR form was updated September 7, 2 2023, to respond to comments from the Town of Yountville. Refer to the document (attached) for details and photographs. The following are selected excerpts:

Description
The property is located in a rural-residential neighborhood north of Downtown Yountville, near the transition between the town and the vineyards that surround it. The sloping 1.33-acre property at 1980 Yountville Cross Road is characterized by mature trees and expansive lawns with a large open space east of its five buildings which include:

1. the large main residence (c1875, expanded 1928), set back from the road near the western property boundary behind a large lawn and curved driveway,

2. A hipped-roof shed (c1925-1935) directly behind the main house,

3. A large garage (early 1950s) north of the house,

4. A small well house (c1925-1935) southeast of the garage

5. A guest house (c1925-1935) with attached shed across the driveway.

The two-story Vernacular Farmhouse with Craftsman-style elements has an irregular plan. The side gabled roof of the two-story primary volume has clipped gables and returns (a feature seen in nineteenth century Greek Revival architecture as well as vernacular/folk houses utilizing elements of the style). A hipped-roof porch wraps around two sides of the first story. The main (southeast) façade porch is supported by heavy square columns with low-pitched pointed arch openings; columns are continuously clad in wood shingles to grade level with no break at the porch floor. The porch shelters the main entrance, which is centered and fitted with a wood screen door and a fully glazed paneled wood door. It is accessed via a wide set of concrete steps. The house has double-hung six-over-one wood sash windows which have shorter openings on the main façade, second floor. The residence is clad in wood shingle. A corbelled brick chimney projects above the porch on the northeast elevation. This section of the porch is glassed-in with fixed cottage windows and a set of fully glazed French doors right of center, which are accessed via a wide set of concrete steps. The projecting rear wing of the house is single story with smaller windows than the main two-story volume. An entrance right of center on the rear elevation is fitted with a partially glazed wood door and sheltered by a metal awning.

Refer to the DPR form for descriptions of the remaining buildings on the site. 3 Character Defining Features (CDF)
The historic residence includes a 2-story vernacular farmhouse originally constructed circa 1875 that was modified in the 1920s in the Craftsman style. The structure retains the essential form of the vernacular farmhouse including the wood-framed construction, two story rectangular floor plan with gable roof and masonry chimney at the end wall. The structure also retains elements and distinctive detailing of the Craftsman era including the shingle cladding, wrap around porch with pointed arch openings and six-overone wood sash windows.

Character-defining features of the Vernacular Farmhouse includes:
• Two stories in height
• Rectangular floor plan
• Wood-frame construction
• Gable roof with Greek Revival returns
• Corbelled brick chimney
Character-defining features of the Craftsman additions/alterations:
• Rustic shingle cladding
• Fully glazed wood front door
• Expansive, shingled wrap around porch with low-pitch pointed arch openings and heavy square columns
• Six-over-one wood sash windows in single and paired configurations • fixed multi-lite windows on the side elevation sunporch California Register Criterion 3 [Architectural Significance] 1980 Yountville Cross Road appears to be eligible for the California Register under Criterion 3. It is an excellent example of a vernacular farmhouse originally constructed during the late nineteenth century and updated in the 1920s with Craftsman style details. The house exemplifies architectural change over time within the historic period, retaining the essential form and plan of a simple early farmhouse with an overlay of Craftsman features including shingle cladding, fully glazed wood front door, expansive wraparound porch with heavy square columns, pointed-arch openings, six-over-one wood sash windows, and fixed multi-light windows on the side elevation sunporch.

Outbuildings including the shed, garage, well house and guest house are minor buildings and have been heavily altered over the years and do not contribute to the significance of the property.

4 Period of Significance
The period significance for the subject property is ca. 1875-1928, indicating the period when the property is most closely associated with its original design and construction, extending through to the Craftsman era alterations.

3. PROPOSED PROJECT
Proposed Project Description
The proposed project for 1980 Yountville Cross Road is relocation and rehabilitation of the historic residence as a 2-bedroom residence for low-income households. Also included is relocation of the existing guest house for use as a 1-bedroom guest cottage. The proposed project will be part of an infill subdivision development on the remainder of the site that includes construction of eight new singlefamily homes. It should be noted that the number of new residences proposed is the minimum number required for the lot, per California State Legislation.

As part of the project the remaining outbuildings determined to be non-contributing in the September 29, 2023 DPR form will be removed.

The proposed modifications to the historic farmhouse were initially described in the drawings developed by Ivan Lukrich, Architect dated March 15, 2023. The proposed project for Lots 2-8 was initially developed by Kathy Austin, architect dated March 24, 2023. Based on feedback from the Town of Yountville, the proposed design for the historic residence was revised to include a two-bedroom unit, as described in the revised drawings developed by Ivan Lukrich, Architect dated May 5, 2023. The proposed project has been further refined based on the Town of Yountville’s 2nd Incompleteness letter dated August 8, 2023, as described in the revised drawings developed by Ivan Lukrich, Architect, dated October 12, 2023, and Kathy Austin, architect dated October 7, 2023. These revised drawings are the basis for the updates incorporated into this memorandum.

The proposed scope of work for the historic residence included in the October 13, 2023 design is summarized, below:
• The additions at the north side of the building will be removed to the limit of the c1875 farmhouse footprint.
• The wrap around porch will be retained on the south and east elevation. On the east elevation, the porch will be retained to the north face of the c1875 farmhouse footprint. This retains two of the three pointed-arch openings with fixed multi-light windows on the east elevation and 5 reconstructs the arched opening and wide concrete step secondary porch entrance on the north elevation.
• The residence will be moved approximately 60 feet south to front on Yountville Cross Road

3. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR STANDARDS FOR REHABILITATION (SOIS) EVALUATION Project Impacts
As a historical resource, the project is subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Generally, under CEQA, a project that follows Standards for Rehabilitation (Rehabilitation Standards) contained within The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties is considered to have mitigated impacts to a historical resource to a less-than-significant level (CEQA Guidelines 15064.5).

Secretary of the Interior Standards Compliance
The compliance of the proposed project at 1890 Yountville Cross Road is reviewed below with respect to the Rehabilitation Standards. Each of the Standards are listed in italics, with a response outlining the proposed project’s consistency or inconsistency with each standard.

1. A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.

The proposed project is in general conformance with this Standard. The building will retain its original residential use and character defining features will be retained with minimal alterations carried out on the side and rear of the building. Relocation of the structure closer to the street alters its original position on the site, but the orientation of the building and its entrance centered on the primary facade is maintained. The new location also retains visibility of the historic building from the public way. The original driveway entrance is preserved in its existing location. The proposed location of the historic structure has been designed to be consistent with setbacks of similar era residences throughout the surrounding neighborhoods.

Adaptation of the property to include eight new residences does have an impact on the historic site and environment, but the proposed project has been designed to minimize the impact on the historic residence. As described above, by relocating the house towards the street, all of the new residential construction occurs behind and to the east of the historic structure. Adequate distances have been provided between the historic building and the new residences for it to retain the character of a singlefamily residence.

2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided. 6 The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. The character defining features of the c1875 twostory farmhouse structure will be retained and preserved in the proposed project, including the exterior form, gable roof with Greek Revival returns and corbelled brick chimney. The character defining features of the Craftsman era additions have also been retained, including the rustic shingle cladding, wrap around porch with pointed arch openings and six-over-one wood sash windows. Removal has been limited to the rear additions of the building.

The outbuildings that are being removed are non-historic.

3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. No conjectural features or architectural elements that would create a false sense of history are proposed.

4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have achieved historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. The character defining features of the original c1875 vernacular farmhouse, and the 1920s Craftsman era alterations and additions will be retained in the proposed project.

5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a historic property shall be preserved.

6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. Where original character defining features require replacement due to severe deterioration, they will match the existing in design, color, texture and 7 materials. The original features that are not significantly deteriorated will be retained and/or rehabilitated.

No replacement of missing features is proposed on the project.

7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. Surface cleaning of the original wood elements to remain will be carried out using the gentlest means possible in order to prevent damage to the original wood surfaces.

8. Significant archaeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

It is currently unknown if the project will affect archaeological resources, as a professional archaeologist would need to make this determination. If resources are uncovered during the course of construction, an archaeologist will be brought in to provide on-site monitoring.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. Exterior alterations include removal of additions on the rear and side elevations of the building. The length of the wrap around porch on the side (east) elevation will be reduced, but enough of it will remain on this elevation to convey its historic character.

The relocation of the Guest House adjacent to the main residence does not impact the character of the property. Given the scale of the one-story cottage, the main residence maintains its prominence.

Related new construction on the site has been placed behind the original structure, as well as across the entry drive to the east. The scale and location of the new residences has been designed to reduce their impact on the setting and environment of the historic building. The design of the new residences reflects a modern residential ‘farmhouse’ character that is compatible with the historic residence, but of a contemporary character in order to differentiate them from the original structure. The new residences will feature modern materials and construction techniques. They respect the proportions and roof pitches of the traditional homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. 8 10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.

The proposed project is consistent with this Standard. The related construction on the site could be removed in the future and the essential form and integrity of the property could return to its current configuration.

Conclusion
As described above, the proposed project at 1890 Yountville Cross Road, as described in documents prepared by Ivan Lukrich, Architect, dated October 12, 2023, and Kathy Austin, architect dated October 7, 2023, meets the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. As a result of meeting the Standards, the project can be considered as mitigated to a level of less than a significant impact on the historic resource.

The proposed project will relocate and rehabilitate the historic residential structure for continued residential use. Its new placement on the site maintains the orientation and visibility of the residence from the public way. Relocation of the guest house to the west of the main residence is compatible in scale and does not diminish its prominence. The eight new residences have been sensitively sited behind and across from the original driveway, so the historic building continues to communicate its original use as a single-family residence. The new residential structures have been designed to be compatible with the single-family scale of the original residence. They will be differentiated from the historic building through the use of modern materials and construction techniques.

September 7, 2023
John Domingos
Law Offices of John R. Domingos
311 29th Avenue
San Francisco, California 94121
Subject: Historic Resource Evaluation of 1980 Yountville Cross Road, Yountville, Napa County, California.

Dear Mr. Domingos,
This letter and the attached DPR 523 forms comprise the Historic Resource Evaluation of 1980 Yountville Cross Road, Yountville, Napa County, California.

Methodology
Brunzell Historical personnel conducted a site visit on September 29, 2022. The site visit included collecting photographs of all elevations of the houses, outbuildings, parcel, and the neighborhood setting. Staff conducted research through the Napa County Historical Society and interviews with previous owners including review of personal photograph collections. Online research was conducted through ancestry.com and other websites in order to discover relevant historic contexts and land-use history of the property. The property was evaluated according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) criteria for historic eligibility and documented on DPR 523 forms as required by the California Environmental Quality Act as (CEQA). Brunzell Historical received comments from the Town of Yountville in August, 2023. Response to comments including revisions to September 2022 DPR 523 forms were completed September 7, 2023.

Summary of Findings
Because the property is over 50 years old, potential projects trigger a requirement for historical evaluation according to current regulations. Because this work was completed pursuant to CEQA, all resources discovered during the field survey require evaluation for CRHR eligibility. The property was also evaluated for NRHP eligibility.

National Register of Historic Places
In conjunction with the following NRHP criteria, sites must be assessed for integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. A site may be considered eligible to the NRHP if it retains sufficient integrity of the elements listed above and it:

A. is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history;
B. is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; C. embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, represents the work of a master, possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant or distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; D. yields, or may be likely to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the area/region.

California Register of Historical Resources
The CRHR criteria are based on NRHP criteria. For a property to be eligible for inclusion on the CRHR, one or more of the following criteria must be met:

1. It is associated with the events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States;

2. It is associated with the lives of persons important to local, California, or national history;

3. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; and/or

4. It has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the local area, California, or the nation.

In addition to meeting one or more of the above criteria, the CRHR requires that sufficient time has passed since a resource’s period of significance to “obtain a scholarly perspective on the events or individuals associated with the resources.” (CCR 4852 [d][2]). Fifty years is normally considered sufficient time for a potential historical resource, and in order that the evaluation remain valid for a minimum of five years after the date of this report, all resources older than 45 years will be evaluated. The CRHR also requires that a resource possess integrity. This is defined as the ability for the resource to convey its significance through seven aspects: location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

Evaluation
Criterion A/1: 1980 Yountville Cross Road is not associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The property is generally associated with the residential and agricultural development of the Yountville area from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Research has not revealed that the property is significant within that or any other historic context. Therefore, the property is recommended not eligible to the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion A/1.

Criterion B/2: The property is not associated with the life of persons important to our history. The first families who lived on the property were not significant contributors to Yountville’s or Napa Valley’s development, and research has revealed no important professional accomplishments or lasting impact on local history or on agriculture. E. R. Gifford was a prominent local merchant and an important member of the Napa community during his lifetime, but the Gifford family’s City of Napa house is listed on the NRHP and is more significantly associated with him under Criterion B/2. Therefore, the 1980 Yountville Cross Road lacks the strength of association required for eligibility under Criterion B/2. The property is recommended not eligible to the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion B/2.

Criterion C/3: The property is recommended significant under Criterion C/3 as a property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction at the local level. It is an excellent example of a vernacular farmhouse originally constructed during the late nineteenth century and updated in the 1920s with Craftsman-style details. The house exemplifies architectural change over time within the historic period, retaining the essential form and plan of a simple early farmhouse with an overlay of Craftsman features. The side-gabled twostory section of the house, with decorative Greek Revival-style returns on its side-gabled roof and a corbelled chimney inside the east elevation sunporch, is in all likelihood the original farmhouse, and is highly representative of late nineteenth century folk or vernacular architecture. The Craftsman-style elements of the building include rustic shingle cladding, fully glazed wood front door, expansive wraparound porch with low-pitch pointed-arch openings and heavy support columns, six-over-one wood sash windows, and fixed multi-light windows on the side elevation sunporch. These features express the changing styles and materials of vernacular farmhouse architecture roughly 50 years after the building was originally constructed and demonstrates how property owners of the era adapted existing buildings rather than demolishing and rebuilding. Its overall form and design are representative of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century farmhouse architecture in the Yountville Region. Similar Napa County vernacular/folk houses that were altered over time by local farmers (such as the Kreuzer Ranch in the Coombsville area) have been listed on NRHP for their architecture. Other similar properties have been found eligible locally and to the CRHR/NRHP. One such house is 1151 Rutherford Road, which was added to the County inventory in 1978 and found eligible under the CRHR/NRHP criteria when it was fully evaluated under current criteria in 2018.1
An architecturally significant octagonal barn (an extremely rare property type) on the property was demolished in 1981. Outbuildings constructed within the period of significance (guest house, shed, and well house) are minor buildings that lack architectural distinction and do not importantly contribute to the significance of the property. Furthermore, the shed directly behind the main residence and the guesthouse (the more substantial of the outbuildings) have been substantially altered outside the period of significance. The shed has had one door infilled, another replaced, and a shed-roof rear volume removed. The guest house has had an entry porch added to its main façade and some windows replaced; all of these projects were undertaken outside the period of significance The two-car garage near the northern property boundary was constructed outside the period of significance and is a utilitarian building that does not contribute to the architectural distinction of the property. Likewise, the Koi pond is a minor feature that was constructed outside the period of significance.

Some landscape elements, such as mature trees, may date to the early twentieth century. However, since the massive oak tree and pergola in the front yard have been removed and the historic prune 1 10-900, NRHP Nomination of Kreuzer Ranch, Prepared by Judith A. Munns, August 21, 1979; 1151 RUTHERFORD ROAD, HISTORIC RESOURCE ASSESSMENT, Prepared by Page & Turnbull, June 8, 2018. orchard, octagonal horse barn, corrals, vineyard, and other elements of the historic landscape have been replaced by condominiums, the existing landscape does not convey the historic identity of the property as a farmhouse. The house was part of a 37-acre ranch when it was constructed c1875 as well as when it was added to and remodeled in 1928 (its period of significance); the current property is only 1.33 acres and does not reflect its historic identity as a ranch house. For these reasons, the property is recommended eligible to the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion C/3 with the main residence as its only contributing feature.

Criterion D/4: In rare instances, buildings themselves can serve as sources of important information about historic construction materials or technologies and be significant under Criterion D/4. 1980 Yountville Cross Road is an example of a well-understood type of construction and does not appear to be a principal source of important information in this regard.

The property retains sufficient significant physical characteristics from its historic-era construction to convey its historic qualities and therefore retains integrity of feeling. Recent use as a residence allows it to convey integrity of association. Therefore, the main residence retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance despite its compromised integrity of setting. The other buildings on the property, as discussed above, lack significance and/or were constructed outside the period of significance. For these reasons, only the primary residence contributes to the historic character of the property.

The property is recommended eligible for listing on the NRHP and CRHR and qualifies as a historical resource under CEQA.

Evaluator Qualifications
I meet the Secretary of Interior’s Professional Qualifications for both History and Architectural History. I hold a Master’s degree in Public History and have worked in multiple facets of historic preservation and cultural resource evaluation since 2007. My experience includes municipal preservation planning and working as the lead staff member of a non-profit preservation organization. Since 2012, I have worked full-time as a historical consultant, completing dozens of evaluations for CEQA and Section 106 compliance. Additionally, I have completed local and national register nominations, historic context statements, and Historic It American Engineering Record recordation. The North Bay is the center of my practice, but I frequently work in the greater Sacramento area and other parts of the Bay Area, and have also completed projects in Southern California, Nevada, Oregon, New York, and Puerto Rico. In addition to my work with historic-period domestic, agricultural, and commercial properties for private clients, I have prepared reports on post offices, military bases, university campuses, hospitals, church properties, national parks, and a NASA site. I am listed as a Historian and Architectural Historian on the California Office of Historic Preservation’s roster of qualified consultants for every county in California.

Please contact me by phone at 707/290-2918 or e-mail at [email protected] with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Kara Brunzell, M.A.

Brunzell Historical

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DPR 523A (1/95) *Required Information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________ PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial _____________________________________ NRHP Status Code
Other Listings _______________________________________________________________ Review Code __________ Reviewer ____________________________ Date ___________ sP1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location:  Not for Publication  Unrestricted *a. County Napa and (P2b and P2c or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5’ Quad Date T_ _; R _ _; ___ ¼ of Sec ___; _ ___ B.M. c. Address 1980 Yountville Cross Road City Yountville Zip 94599 d. UTM: (give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone ; mE/ mN e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) The property is located in a rural-residential neighborhood north of Downtown Yountville, near the transition between the town and the vineyards that surround it. The sloping 1.33-acre property at 1980 Yountville Cross Road is characterized by mature trees and expansive lawns with a large open space east of its five buildings which include:

1. the large main residence (c1875, expanded 1928), set back from the road near the western property boundary behind a large lawn and curved driveway,

2. a hipped-roof shed (c1925-1935) directly behind the main house,

3. a large garage (early 1950s) about 75 feet north of the house near the northwest parcel boundary,

4. a small well house (c1925-1935) just southeast of the garage, and

5. a guest house (c1925-1935) with attached shed at its rear about 50 feet northeast of the main residence across the driveway.

The asphalt driveway curves in front of the residence and bisects the property on a north-south axis, connecting the house and other buildings. A roughly 12’ x 50’ area in the center of the driveway just east of the house has a landscaped area encircling a koi pond. There are shrubs adjacent to the house as well as the of trees and vegetation around the edges of the property and on its undeveloped eastern half.
*P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP2, single-family property *P4. Resources Present:  Building  Structure  Object  Site  District  Element of District  Other (Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo: (View, date,
accession #) Photograph 1: 1980 Yountville Cross Road,
southeast elevation, camera facing northwest, September 29, 2022.
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources:
 Historic  Prehistoric  Both
c1875/1928, Napa County Assessor/ Napa Register
*P7. Owner and Address:

Bon Voyage Properties
2525 N. Pearl Street Suite #1701
Dallas, TX 75201
*P8. Recorded by: (Name, affiliation, address)
Kara Brunzell
Brunzell Historical
1613 B St
Napa, CA 94559
*P9. Date Recorded: September 29, 2022
*P10. Survey Type: (Describe) Intensive
*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other
sources, or enter “none.”) none
*Attachments: NONE  Location Map  Sketch Map  Continuation Sheet  Building, Structure, and Object Record  Archaeological Record  District Record  Linear Feature Record  Milling Station Record  Rock Art Record  Artifact Record  Photograph Record  Other (list) __________________

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*Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) 1980 Yountville Cross Road DPR 523B (1/95) *Required Information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________

BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
B1. Historic Name: None
B2. Common Name: 1980 Yountville Cross Road
B3. Original Use: residence B4. Present Use: residence
*B5. Architectural Style:
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alteration, and date of alterations) Main residence constructed, c1875 (Napa County Assessor) Main residence remodeled with porch addition, front pergola, shingle cladding, 1928 (Napa Register) Octagonal barn constructed c1935, demolished 1981 (DPR 523 Form, 1978; Napa County Assessor) Guest house, well house, & shed behind residence constructed, c1925-1935 (historic aerial photographs, building style/materials) Guest house entry porch addition, 1955-1965 (owner photo collection) Single car garage behind guest house constructed early 1950s, demolished 1981 (owner photo collection) Two-car garage near northern property boundary, koi pond constructed early 1950s (historic aerial photographs) Pergola removed with front yard oak tree; some guest house windows replaced, 1990s (historic aerial photographs, owner photo collection)
Shed north entrance infilled, south door replaced, rear shed-roof volume demolished; unknown date after 1965 (owner photo collection)
*B7. Moved?  No  Yes  Unknown Date: Original Location:
*B8. Related Features:

B9. Architect: unknown. b. Builder: unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Architecture Area Yountville
Period of Significance 1875 – 1928 Property Type Residence Applicable Criteria C/3 (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) *B12. References:
(See Footnotes)
B13. Remarks:
*B14. Evaluator: Kara Brunzell
*Date of Evaluation: September 29, 2022
(This space reserved for official comments.)
N

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The two-story Vernacular Farmhouse with Craftsman-style elements has an irregular plan (see Photographs 1 – 5). The side-gabled roof of the two-story primary volume has clipped gables and returns (a feature seen in nineteenth century Greek Revival architecture as well as vernacular/folk houses utilizing elements of the style). A hipped-roof porch wraps around two sides of the first story. The main (southeast) facade porch is supported by heavy square columns with low-pitch pointed arch openings; columns are continuously clad in wood shingles to grade level with no break at the porch floor. The porch shelters the main entrance, which is centered and fitted with a wood screen door and a fully-glazed paneled wood door. It is accessed via a wide set of concrete steps. The house has double-hung sixover-one wood sash windows which have shorter openings on the main façade second floor. The residence is clad in wood shingle. A corbelled brick chimney projects above the porch on the northeast elevation. This section of the porch is glassed-in with fixed cottage windows and a set of fully-glazed French doors right of center, which are accessed via a wide set of concrete steps. The projecting rear wing of the house is single-story with smaller windows than the main two-story volume. An entrance right of center on the rear elevation is fitted with a partially-glazed wood door and sheltered by a metal awning. The house is in good condition.

There is a shed adjacent to the main house, a few feet to the northwest (see Photographs 6 and 7). Its original use, which may have been as auxiliary dwelling space or storage, is unknown. It has a rectangular plan, a hipped roof, and wood shingle siding. Fenestration consists of fixed wood sash windows. There is an entrance on the northeast façade with a wood paneled door to the left of center. The building is in good condition.

The single-story guest house is approximately 50 feet east of the main residence (see Photographs 8 – 12); it is the only building on the property located east of the driveway. The main volume of the guest house is rectangular in plan and features a gabled roof with exposed rafter tails at the eaves and louvered vents on the gable ends. It is clad in wood shingle. The projecting entry porch on the main (southeast) façade has a gable roof supported by square wood posts with a simple wood balustrade. It shelters the main entrance, which is fitted with a fully-glazed paneled wood door and accessed by a concrete step. An additional entrance on the southwest elevation is sheltered by a projecting shed roof and fitted with a fully-glazed paneled wood door. Fenestration consists of double-hung wood sash windows and replacement aluminum sliding-sash windows of various sizes and configurations. There is a low-height rectangular-plan addition on the back (northwest) of the guest house that consists of wood boards, unglazed window openings, and a corrugated metal shed roof. The specific age and history of use of this addition is unknown, but it appears to have been intended as a stable for animals and/or storage for agricultural equipment. The main volume of the guest house is in fair to poor condition and the addition is in dilapidated condition. There is a prefabricated metal garden shed, also in poor condition, behind the guest house.

The well house is approximately 50 feet east of the main residence near the garage (see Photographs 13 and 14). It is irregular in plan with a gable-roof rectangular volume at the front and a small shed-roof volume at the rear. It is clad in wood shingles and had a fully-glazed wood paneled door on its southeast elevation. The building is in fair to good condition.

The two-car garage north of the well house near the northern property boundary has a rectangular plan and a shed roof (see Photographs 13 – 15). The garage is clad in horizontal wood siding and features two roll-up metal vehicle doors to the right of the main human-scale entrance. The entrance on the main (southeast) elevation is left of center and fitted with a partially-glazed wood paneled door.

Fenestration consists of fixed wood-sash windows. The building is in fair to good condition.

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Photograph 3: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd main house, northeast elevation, camera facing southwest, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 5: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd main house, southwest elevation, camera facing northeast, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 7: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd shed, northwest elevation, camera facing southeast, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 9: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd guest house, southeast elevation, camera facing northwest, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 11: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd guest house, northeast and northwest elevations, camera facing southwest, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 13: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd well house and garage, southeast elevations, camera facing northwest, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 15: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd garage, northwest and southwest elevations, camera facing east, September 29, 2022.

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Photograph 17: View from 1980 Yountville Cross Rd of neighboring property’s barn, camera facing northeast, September 29, 2022.

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Yountville
Yountville founder George Yount came to California in 1831 and settled in Napa Valley in 1836, when he received the 12,000-acre Rancho Caymus from the Mexican government. A trapper and jack-of-all-trades, Yount constructed the first wooden building in the valley to the north of the town site. He employed the local Indians to farm his expansive ranch and became famous as the first white American to live permanently in Napa Valley. Yount built a flour mill and a sawmill, both of which were essential to the development of the area, about 1853. Like other holders of Mexican land grants, Yount’s title to his rancho was challenged in the 1850s. In 1855, however, Yount obtained clear title to the property and established the community he called Sebastopol. The original town site consisted of a few blocks north of Madison Street, which was on the border between Rancho Caymus and Rancho Napa. The town had a store, blacksmith shop, and hotel by 1856, and settlers soon began building houses south of Madison. Yount died in 1865, and two years later the town residents voted to honor him by replacing the name Sebastopol with Yountville.1 Early settlers ran stock and began experimenting with growing grain and fruit. German born wine merchant Gottlieb Groezinger built a stone winery on Washington Street in 1870, and by 1873 Yountville rivaled St. Helena as a local center of wine production. Groezinger subdivided a portion of his land into twelve blocks of town lots in 1874. Groezinger’s addition was south of Madison Street and bounded on the southwest by the Napa Valley Railroad line. By 1895, maps show Yountville consisting of about 16 blocks between the cemetery and the intersection of the railroad tracks and Yount Street. In 1968, the Groezinger winery was rehabilitated and opened as the Vintage 1870 shopping center.2
In 1884, the first buildings at the Veterans Home were constructed just southwest of Yountville. Forty-four veterans of the Civil and Mexican-American wars moved in the first year. By 1899 the Veterans Home had 55 buildings and was home to over 800 veterans.

Yountville grew in tandem with the Home, with saloons and other veteran-serving businesses proliferating. During the twentieth century the Veterans Home became overcrowded, and the original buildings began showing signs of age. World War I veteran Colonel Nelson M.

Holderman supervised the complete rebuilding of Veteran’s Home and created new many new programs between 1926 and 1953. The population of the home fell during the 1960s and 1970s as new federal social programs reduced the number of needy veterans. In the twenty-first century the Veterans Home continues to house over 1,200 veterans.3 The Yountville Community Hall opened in 1926, and by the 1950s, the population had grown enough for the establishment of sanitation and water districts. While Yountville always remained small, quiet, and rural, a wave of population growth took place in the 1960s as aspiring winemakers and city residents seeking a quieter environment were drawn to the town, and Yountville was incorporated in 1965.

By that time, its population had reached 2,600 (2,000 of whom were Veterans Home residents. In 1994, Thomas Keller purchased the French Laundry restaurant, retaining the old name. Keller transformed the French Laundry into a Michelin-starred dining experience, gaining fame and starting Yountville on its path from agricultural town to culinary mecca. By 2003, the town population was 3,300, over a third of whom lived at the Veterans Home. Today, Yountville remains a small rural community, but has shifted from a focus on agriculture and veterans to become a wine and food tourist destination.4 Vernacular Farmhouse Architecture
Vernacular Farmhouse or National Folk architecture was popular in rural America throughout the nineteenth century and continued to be utilized into the first decades of the twentieth century. Based on traditional folk houses and simplified interpretations of nineteenthcentury architectural styles like Greek Revival, the materials of the vernacular rural house were homogenized during the second half of 1 Tillie Kanaga, History of Napa County (Oakland: Enquirer Print, 1901), 24 - 25; Lyman L. Palmer, History of Napa and Lake Counties, California (San Francisco: Slocum, Bowen, & Co., 1881), 348; E Clampus Vitus, Yountville Plaque, 1981; Palmer, 307; Pat Alexander, Yountville (San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2009), 7.
2 C.A. Menefee, Historical and Descriptive Sketchbook of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino: Comprising Sketches of their Topography, Productions, History, Scenery, and Peculiar Attractions (Napa: Reporter Publishing House, 1873), 26; Paula Amen Judah and Lauren Coodley, Napa Valley Farming (Charleston: Arcadia, 2011), 42; Napa County Recorder, Map to G. Groezinger’s addition to Yountville, Napa, California, 1874. 3 Kanaga, 215; Gladys Hansen, curator, Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco, accessed October 2012, http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/vets.html.
4 Yountville’s History, About Yountville, Napa Valley, 2017, Yountville Chamber of Commerce, accessed 20 August 2018, https://yountville.com/about/; Alexander, 7; Town of Yountville, Yountville General Plan, 2003, 1; The French Laundry, The Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, 2007, accessed October 2012, http://www.frenchlaundry.com/; “French Laundry, Meadowood retain three stars in prestigious Michelin Guide,” Napa Register, 23 October 2012;“Napa Valley’s shifting dining scene,” San Francisco Chronicle, 12 October 2012.

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*Recorded by Kara Brunzell *Date: September 29, 2022  Continuation  Update DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information
State of California – The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________ CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________ the nineteenth century as the railroad allowed shipment of precut lumber. Lightweight balloon frames with wood cladding began to replace log construction, but styles continued to reference older traditions. Incorporation of Greek Revival architecture (which was highly adaptable to non-architect designed buildings since it was based on relatively simple and symmetrical forms), was often reflected in a pedimented gable or gable with decorative returns. Since vernacular rural houses were generally constructed by their owners without the assistance of an architect or professional builder, stylistic details were mixed based on personal preference. The two-story I-house (two rooms wide and one room deep), with its side-gabled rectangular plan main volume that often featured a rear extension, was an interpretation of traditional British folk buildings. During the 1880s, as highly ornamental Victorian-era styles such as Queen Anne became popular for architect-designed houses, decorative features such as scrolled brackets began to be incorporated into folk architecture. Construction of these houses persisted in rural areas until about 1930, even as sophisticated new styles became popular in towns and cities.5
Craftsman Architecture
Craftsman-style houses began appearing in the United States about 1905 to correct what some saw as the decorative excess and pretension of Victorian-era domestic architecture. Exposure to wooden Japanese building techniques and the ideals of the English Arts and Crafts movement inspired American architects to cultivate a rustic simplicity toward the end of the nineteenth century. California architects like Charles Sumner Greene, Henry Mather Greene, and Bernard Maybeck began designing houses that were frequently as large and elaborate as Victorian residences, but nevertheless emphasized rusticity and harmony with the natural environment. They integrated building with site, using lower roof pitches as well as natural materials such as wood shingle and stone. Meanwhile, furniture designer Gustave Stickley’s Craftsman magazine promoted a way of life that blended indoors with outdoors, prized homely comforts over fashionable appointments, and was affordable for the average person. Stickley and other nationally distributed magazines and architectural pattern books popularized the style. Craftsman was the most widely-used style for smaller houses through the mid-1920s before falling from favor in the early 1930s.
6 Character-defining features may include:
• Low- or moderate-pitch roof (usually gabled but may be hipped) • Wide unboxed eaves with exposed rafter tails and decorative knee braces • Partial- or full-width porch
• Heavy square columns (often battered), continuous to ground level without a break at the porch floor • Horizontal massing
• Rustic exterior materials including clapboard, shingle, stone, brick, and stucco • Window groupings or assemblages with multiple-light upper wood sash over single-light lower wood sash • Shed or gabled dormers
1980 Yountville Cross Road
The house at 1980 Yountville Cross Road was built about 1875 according to the Napa County Assessor’s estimate. One of the earliest owners of the property was Frank T. Eisen, a pioneer California winemaker based in Fresno. He may have constructed the original house; he sold the 37-acre ranch to L. H. McGeorge in 1882; a newspaper story reporting the sale specifically mentioned that a house was included with the property. Lucius Henry McGeorge planted eight acres of vineyard shortly after purchasing the property. McGeorge, who had previously resided in St. Helena, was a school trustee and Justice of the Peace in Yountville. W. P. Kelly (1846 – 1924) acquired the ranch in 1890. William Perry Kelly owned the property and farmed the land, growing corn, alfalfa, and nut trees. He was a bachelor and appears to have lived on the property with his sister Mary C. Kelly (1864 – 1938), who was also unmarried. The Kelly family was originally from South Carolina, where their father Mansel Kelly (1827 – 1905) had served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

In 1898, William left for the Klondike gold fields and deeded the property to his sister. Mary Kelly continued to live on the property with her elderly father, who operated the farm. 7
5 Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 2013, 135 – 143. 6 Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 2013, 568-69, 578; Gerald Foster, American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York: 2004, 346-348. 7 St. Helena Star, “Important Sub-division Sale,” Dec. 15, 1882, 1; Napa County Reporter, “St. Helena News,” Jan. 5, 1883, 4; Napa Register, “Personal,” Nov. 7, 1890, 1; Napa Register, “W. P. Kelly,” July 5, 1895, 2.

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Between 1925 and 1935, Edgar Gifford oversaw the construction of the octagonal horse barn on the property (the Napa County Assessor estimated its construction date as 1925, while a 1978 DPR 523 form stated it was constructed about 1935). In 1928, Gifford remodeled the original c1875 ranch residence to its current form. The local newspaper reported on the project, and although its specific details are unknown, the Craftsman-influenced wraparound porch, pergola (subsequently demolished), and shingle cladding are all likely to have been added during this project, since they were popular architectural elements during this period. Furthermore, the chimney on the east elevation of the house is inside the sun porch, indicating that the porch was an addition to the original house. Shingle cladding and features like exposed rafter tails on the shed, well house, and guest house support their probable construction during the late 1920s/early 1930s when such building features were popular and when documentary evidence has shown that construction projects were being undertaken on the property. The guest house would have been used as an ancillary dwelling for farm laborers or a caretaker’s residence.

The shed, which had two doors and at least one window, may have been used as some type of auxiliary dwelling or a summer kitchen, or could have simply been a storage area. The prune orchard on the property, which was still bearing fruit in the 1970s, appears to have been planted during 1920s, since it appears on aerial photographs by 1940. Mary Gifford also planted a large flower garden at the ranch and received awards for her dahlias at the San Francisco Dahlia Society. Mary Gifford died in 1939 and Edgar Gifford died the following year. 9 After Gifford’s death, the estate was transferred to his two daughters, who sold it to Reginald and Roma Melanphy. The Melanphys sold the 37-acre ranch to Andrew L. Pelissa and Veola A. Pelissa in 1945, who resold 4.41 acres of the property including the main residence to Bert (1888-1957) and Sophie M. Banks (1891-1990) that same year. Bert Banks was born in Australia and had operated a San Francisco wrecking company and later owned the Banks Building Supply Company in Napa; the couple moved to the property when he retired in 1945. The extant two-car garage near the northern property line, which lacks the shingle cladding and exposed rafter tails that characterize the outbuildings constructed between 1925 and 1935, was in all likelihood constructed in the early 1950s; it appears on historic aerial photographs by 1958. A single-car garage behind the guest house (which was demolished along with the octagonal barn in 1981) appears to have been constructed around the same time, as was the entry porch on the guest house. Bert Banks died at 1980 Yountville Crossroad in 1957. After the death of her husband, Sophie worked at the St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Yountville. In 1956, the Banks’s deeded the property to their daughter and her husband, Eleanor and Clarence Adams. 10 Clarence and Eleanor Adams sold the property to the Tonascias in 1959. Silvio Tonascia (1900-1978) and Marie Jeanne Tonascia (1906- 1993) lived on the property and operated their family market in Yountville. Silvio Tonascia had started the Tonascia Brothers Market in 1916 and ran the business until his retirement in 1965. Silvio and Marie Tonascia’s son, Richard LeRoy Tonascia (1926 – 2007) and his wife Louise Lorraine Tonascia (1928-2020) also lived on the property, presumably in the guest house, after they got married in 1948. They moved to Napa in the 1950s, where they had their daughter, Karen Jane. In the 1970s, the property on Yountville Cross Road was a prune farm that offered pick-your-own prunes.In 1980, Marie Tonascia sold the back part of the property to be developed for condominiums, 8 Grant Deeds, County Recorder, Napa County, California. 9 DPR 523 form, Octagon Barn, Napa Landmarks, 1978; Napa Journal, “Gifford Ranch Home is Being Improved,” Jul. 13, 1928, 1; Napa Register, “Many Unusual Exhibits in Annual Flower Show,” Sept. 3, 1932, 5. 10 Grant Deeds, County Recorder, Napa County, California; Napa Journal, “$75,000 Estate of E.R. Gifford Left to Daughters,” Jan. 31, 1940, 8; Napa Valley Register, “News of 25 Years Ago,” Dec. 3, 1966, 4; Napa Valley Register, “Bert Banks Dies at Yountville,” May 13, 1957, 7; Napa Valley Register, “Sophie Banks,” Jan. 9, 1990, 8; USDA aerial photograph, 1958.

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After his parents died, Richard Tonascia and Louise Tonascia moved into the main residence. 11 Steven Charles Rosa (b1952) and his wife Phyllis Joyce Rosa (b.1942) lived at the guest house with their daughter, Doreen D. Castles. They were married in 1976 in Nevada. Dennis Michael Hoffman and his brother, John Robert Hoffman, also lived in the property’s guest house.
12 Figure 1: Aerial of 1980 Yountville Cross Rd, 1958.
11 Napa Journal, “Marriage Licenses,” Jan. 30, 1948, 5; Napa Valley Register, “Vital Statistics,” Oct. 29, 1953, 12; Napa Valley Register, “Silvio Tonascia,” Dec. 7, 1978, 14; Napa Valley Register, “Sign,” Nov. 23, 2017, A5; Grant Deed, Sept. 15, 1980, Vol. 1176 Page 87, Official Records of Napa County.
12 “Steven C Rosa,” U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2, Ancestry.com, Accessed Sept. 9, 2022; Napa Valley Register, “Doreen Castles,” May 8. 1990, 23.

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Figure 3: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd main house, 1950s.

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Figure 7: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd main residence, c1965.

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Figure 9: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd, Koi pond, c1969.

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Figure 11: 1980 Yountville Cross Rd shed behind main residence, 1965.

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Evaluation:

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) require that a significance criterion from A-D or 1-4 (respectively) be met for a resource to be eligible.

Criterion A/1: 1980 Yountville Cross Road is not associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. The property is generally associated with the residential and agricultural development of the Yountville area from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Research has not revealed that the property is significant within that or any other historic context. Therefore, the property is recommended not eligible to the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion A/1.

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Some landscape elements, such as mature trees, may date to the early twentieth century. However, since the massive oak tree and pergola in the front yard have been removed and the historic prune orchard, octagonal horse barn, corrals, vineyard, and other elements of the historic landscape have been replaced by condominiums, the existing landscape does not convey the historic identity of the property as a farmhouse. The house was part of a 37-acre ranch when it was constructed c1875 as well as when it was added to and remodeled in 1928 (its period of significance); the current property is only 1.33 acres and does not reflect its historic identity as a ranch house. For these reasons, the property is recommended eligible to the NRHP or CRHR under Criterion C/3 with the main residence as its only contributing feature.

Historic integrity is defined as the authenticity of a property’s historic identity, evidenced by the survival of physical characteristics that existed during its historic period. There are seven aspects of integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Loss of integrity, if sufficiently great, overwhelms significance, rendering a property ineligible for historic listing. The main residence at 1980 Yountville Cross Road has not been moved and therefore retains integrity of location. The historic setting has been altered over time with removal of oak trees, an architecturally significant barn, vineyards, and orchards as well as construction of nearby condominiums and other development. Although the setting remains semi-rural, it has been compromised by development. The composition of elements that constitute the form, plan, space, structure, and style of the main residence (the only contributing building on the property) have not been altered outside the period of significance. The building’s integrity of materials and workmanship is evident in the survival of exterior details that date from the period of significance. The property retains sufficient significant physical characteristics from its historic-era construction to convey its historic qualities and therefore retains integrity of feeling. Recent use as a residence allows it to convey integrity of association. Therefore, the main residence retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance despite its compromised integrity of setting. The other buildings on the property, as discussed above, lack significance and/or were constructed outside the period of significance. For these reasons, only the primary residence contributes to the historic character of the property.

The property is recommended eligible for listing on the NRHP and CRHR with the main residence as its only contributing feature. It qualifies as a historical resource under CEQA.
13 10-900, NRHP Nomination of Kreuzer Ranch, Prepared by Judith A. Munns, August 21, 1979; 1151 RUTHERFORD ROAD, HISTORIC RESOURCE ASSESSMENT, Prepared by Page & Turnbull, June 8, 2018.

Yountville City CouncilJune 4, 2024

Yountville City Council
June 4, 2024