Gallery of Buildings
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Danforth House 1895
Joseph & Emily Danforth Residence
485 East Reed Street
San Jose
Frank Wolfe’s Swiss-German ancestors are credited with introducing the Swiss bank type of barn construction into the Midwest. Here Wolfe is exploiting the use of one of the bank barn’s distinguishing characteristics, the cantilever, with each layer of the house projecting out beyond the layer below. It is a good example of Wolfe’s approach to Queen Anne design during the 1890s. Colonel Danforth died shortly after this house was built at 355 East Reed Street. In 1948 it was moved to its current location.
Sweigert House 1899
J. Sweigert Residence
2401 Broadway
San Francisco
The first building to be credited to the new “Wolfe & McKenzie” partnership, it is also their only known design in San Francisco. With its stucco finish, curved rafter tales and central dormer, this design shows early hints of what would become their personal style. Later additions expanded the house considerably.
Sanford House 1899
Frederick & Nellie Residence
45 East Julian Street
San Jose
The twin tower composition of the Sanford house was suggested in the Sweigert house, but here is more fully developed. That and the first known appearance of the cantilevered corner window box with tightly spaced brackets below make this the first building to fully express the emerging Wolfe & McKenzie style.
Delta Gamma Sorority 1900
8 Lasuen Street
Stanford
This building shows a remarkable degree of simplification of form combined with an abstract quality in the cubic nature of its elements. Perhaps Wolfe and McKenzie were aware of the emerging trend in the Midwest of “pure” or “abstract” design that was being articulated by Emil Lorch. It is an early example of Wolfe’s predisposition to the forms that were ultimately adopted by the members of the Prairie School. Unfortunately, it has been destroyed.
Griffin House 1901
Willard & Lucretia Griffin
12345 South El Monte Road
Los Altos Hills
An early example of the steep-pitched Colonial Revival house designs that were popular in the Bay Area at the turn-of-the-century. Griffin was the president of Griffin & Skelley, a fruit packing company with plants throughout California, the largest being in San Jose. The Foothill Community College was built around the Griffin house in the early 1960s. The steep-pitched shingled roofs of the award-winning school design was inspired by the Griffin house . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, but is currently under threat of demolition.
Bercovich House 1902
Harry & Birdie Bercovich
98 South 11th Street
San Jose
The Bercovich house was one of the first built in Naglee Park. Wolfe & McKenzie wanted to do something new that would attract the public’s attention, not only to themselves but to Naglee Park as a state-of-the-art subdivision. This corner design is remarkably modern for its time and it set the tone for the early years of Naglee Park and Wolfe & McKenzie.
Sperry Flour Co. Building 1903
Sperry Flour Company Building
22 North 3rd Street
San Jose
This City of San Jose Landmark is perhaps the finest example of the Mission Revival to have survived in the city. What was first commissioned as the office and distribution center for the Sperry Flour Company later became an auto repair shop and an art gallery. The owners are currently looking for a new tenant.
Wolfe House 1904
Frank & Nellie Wolfe
43 South 14th Street
San Jose
The only house in Naglee Park that Frank Wolfe built for his own family. They lived here for three years until moving to Willow Glen in 1907. It was next occupied by Lewis Hanchett during the years he was attempting to get his Hanchett Park development off the ground. The design includes many features of the then emerging Arts & Crafts movement, but executed within Wolfe’s own personal style.
Wenger, Knapp & Clark Building 1904
48-50-56 South 2nd Street
San Jose
This early mixed-use project had 26 apartments on the upper two floors over 3 store units on the ground level. The elevation drawing published in the newspaper as construction began, shows little resemblance to the sleek, modern appearance of the building as it was built. The upper walls of the structure were finished with beautiful white glazed bricks. The ground floor is currently home to a grocery store and the apartments were rehabilitated into condominium units.
Santa Clara County Hall of Justice 1905
76 West St. James Street
San Jose
The largest commission of Wolfe’s career, the Hall of Justice was nearing completion when the 1906 earthquake caused extensive damage to the upper floors. It was decided to demolish the building down to the top of the basement walls and rebuild the upper portion as a simpler, flat-roofed design. Veteran San Jose architects George Page and William Binder were brought in to assist Wolfe & McKenzie and the rebuilt structure was occupied in 1910. That building was demolished in the summer of 1962.
Gilroy City Hall 1905
7410 Monterey Street
Gilroy
The Gilroy City Hall is the only civic design of Wolfe’s career that is still standing. Although originally considered a Mission Revival design, the locals refer to it affectionately as “Flemish Baroque.” The city hall is often credited to Samuel Newsom, but after reviewing all City Council records and local newspapers of the time, local historians concluded that this building was the work of Wolfe & McKenzie alone. After being listed on the National Register in 1975, the building sustained damage in the 1989 earthquake. A thorough restructuring and restoration has helped to insure that the Gilroy City Hall will be around for many more generations to come.
Farmers’ & Merchants’ State Bank 1905
201 Castro
Street
Mountain View
This, the first of several banks designed by Frank Wolfe and Charles McKenzie, is their project that most strongly expresses the spirit of H. H. Richardson’s Romanesque style. The building was solid enough to resist a bombing attempt in the 1940s. It is now the location of a coffee roasting business. The second level, along with a new third level, is used for offices.
Herbert House 1905
George & Lucy Herbert Residence
96 South 14th Street
San Jose
The Herbert house occupies the largest parcel in Naglee Park, just under a half acre. It is perhaps the ultimate Wolfe & McKenzie house, due not only to its size but also the way it so completely expresses their personal style. It is no surprise that the architects selected it to grace the cover of their Book of Designs. The house was built for fruit packer George Herbert, his wife Lucy, their two children and Lucy’s sister, Dr. Caroline Avery.
Market Street Fire House 1906
San Jose Fire House
29-35 North Market Street
San Jose
This firehouse served the San Jose citizenry for many years at its prominent downtown location. One of Wolfe & McKenzie’s finest Mission Revival designs, it was torn down in 1951.
Grant Grammar School 1907
East Empire Street
San Jose
One of several commissions that came to Wolfe & McKenzie as a result of the earthquake. The city assigned each of four new grammar schools to four different architects. All four of the schools shared similar floor plans with the exteriors developed as variations on the Mission Revival. This school building was demolished in 1968.
Wolfe House 1907
Frank & Nellie Wolfe Residence
599 Coe Avenue
San Jose
This design shows that by 1907 Wolfe was either aware of the progressive designs that were being built in and around Chicago or he was developing an architectural expression of his own that shared many elements with his Midwestern contemporaries. It is a harbinger of things to come as Wolfe would later became an unabashed member of the Prairie School. This important design was torn down in 1972 as part of a project that widened a portion of Bird Avenue. Fortunately, a copy was built in Naglee Park at 105 South 14th Street.
Martin Avenue Bungalows 1909-1911
San Jose
Although these bungalows have been described as “as fine a collection as you will find in Northern California”, the architects of these houses have remained unidentified until now. The first of the houses to be built (1257) was designed by Wolfe & McKenzie. Charles McKenzie designed 1249 in 1911 for William Gavin. That same year, 1233 and 1225 were designed by Frank Wolfe and built by his brother E. L. Wolfe. The architect of 1241 is still unidentified, but it appears to be the work of Frank Wolfe (c.1911). The Hanchett Residence Park was recorded by a HABS team in 1979. These five bungalows were singled out as being “particularly distinctive because they exhibit an overall continuity in design and detail.”
Shoup House 1910
Paul Shoup Residence
500 University Avenue
Los Altos
Although this design came out of the Wolfe & McKenzie office it appears to be primarily the work of Charles McKenzie. Paul Shoup was an executive with the Southern Pacific Railroad and was instrumental in the founding of Sunset Magazine, which was developed as a promotional tool for the railroad company. Prior to moving into this home Shoup lived in Naglee Park. Shoup and several of his Naglee Park neighbors founded the town of Los Altos.
Cordes House 1912
Paul Cordes Residence
10550 Watsonville Road
Gilroy
Frank Wolfe’s “ultimate bungalow”, the Cordes house is the largest and most impressive example of his Craftsman style designs. Smaller versions of the Cordes house were built in downtown Gilroy and San Jose. The home has been very well preserved
Alum Rock Café & Pavilion 1912
Café & Music Pavilion
Alum Rock Park
San Jose
Built in the oldest municipal park in California, this building served the community for over 60 years until it was torn down in the 1970s. It is an unusual expression of Wolfe’s Prairie School work from this period. It features oversized structural columns and an arced parapet wall and was built at the same time as William Binder’s natatorium. A log cabin built in Alum Rock Park in 1916 by the Vendome Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West as a tribute to our pioneer ancestors, was designed “pro bono” by Frank Wolfe and Louis Lenzen and is now a City of San Jose Landmark.
Col House 1912
Peter & Blanche Col Residence
1163 Martin Avenue
San Jose
Featured prominently in The Architect and Engineer and The Western Architect and recorded by a HABS team in 1980, the Col house is the most well-known design of Wolfe’s career. He knew it was special and immediately placed a photo of it at the top of his office letterhead. This house served as a prototype for many similar houses that were built throughout San Jose. The relationship between the Col house and the C. J. Boise house (1912) in Berkeley, a similar design by John Hudson Thomas, has not been determined. Peter Col was a partner in the Walsh-Col Company, which operated a grocery store in downtown San Jose that was designed in 1907 by Wolfe & McKenzie.
Woodhills 1913
22800 Prospect Road
Cupertino
Fremont and Cora Older were Wolfe’s most famous clients. The San Francisco newspaper editor and his playwright wife wished to establish a cooperative community of intellectuals in the Santa Clara Valley. Although they were unsuccessful in recruiting their friends James Phelan, Clarence Darrow and Lincoln Steffens, they moved forward with construction of their own residence in 1913. Built by Wolfe’s brother Lin, the Older house most likely started out looking very much like the Col house. But Cora had her own strong opinions as to how she wanted to live in her house. She camped out on the jobsite and made changes to the structure as the building was being framed. The result of this collaboration between client, architect and builder is an astonishingly modern design that rivals anything of the time by Adolf Loos in Vienna or Irving Gill in San Diego for its stark simplicity. Woodhills was listed on the National Register in 1977 and recorded by a HABS team in 1980.
Crider House 1914
Lydia Crider Residence
25 Hernandez Avenue
Los Gatos
Most of Frank Wolfe’s Prairie style designs use either his own 1912 house or the Col house as prototypes. The Crider house is an exception. It is based on Henry Trost’s Donau house (1908) in El Paso. Photographs and a floor plan of the Donau house were published in The Western Architect in February 1914.
Sherward Apartments 1915
79 West Devine Street
San Jose
The finest example of Wolfe’s many Prairie style apartment buildings. It was designed for William and Mary Ward who operated the funeral parlor next door. Both buildings are listed on the National Register, a Historic District consisting of two buildings.
Milpitas Grammar School 1916
160 North Main Street
Milpitas
The Milpitas Grammar School was similar to the courtyard schools Wolfe designed at the same time for Sunnyvale and Campbell and was built directly across the street from a prairie style home he designed one year prior. Of the many schools Wolfe designed this is one of the few to have survived and was listed on the National Register in 1993. The building stopped being used as a school in 1956. Since that time it has served the citizens of Milpitas as a city hall, library, chamber of commerce, police department and recreation department. It served for many years as a Senior Center before mold was discovered in 2002 and the building was evacuated. It is currently being adapted into a branch library.