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<br />DPR 523L (Rev. 1/1995)(Word 9/2013) <br />State of California Natural Resources Agency Primary# <br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # <br /> Trinomial <br />CONTINUATION SHEET <br />Property Name: 493 St. John Street <br />Page 5 of 11 <br />*B6. Construction History, Continued: <br /> <br />In the 1860s, with the impending arrival of the railroad, large property owners in the vicinity of the <br />Pleasanton town began subdividing property into lots and laying out streets. Owned by John Kottinger, <br />the land bounded by Division Street on the south, the Arroyo del Valle on the north, and Main Street on <br />the east was divided into a series of blocks and lots in 1868. This division includes the present-day St. <br />John and St. Mary streets between Main and Division streets.1 <br /> <br />According to the Sanborn maps of the area, the subject block and its surroundings were largely developed <br />by 1888: Main Street had a series of commercial buildings while the side streets were mostly residential. <br />Garatti Winery established a large facility to the northwest of the subject property by 1939 and became <br />one of the largest businesses in Pleasanton in the mid-20th century.2 The winery complex was replaced by <br />housing in the early 1990s.3 <br /> <br />According to the material received from Museum on Main, the house at 493 St. John Street was designed <br />and constructed in 1885 by Mr. Derendinger.”4 A newspaper announcement from 1881 states that Joseph <br />Derendinger’s residence was about to be finished.5 The building first appears on the 1888 Sanborn map, <br />so it was possibly constructed in the early 1880s. <br /> <br />The 1888 Sanborn map illustrates a one-and-a-half story L-shaped dwelling with a full-width front porch <br />and a side porch facing east. Three one-story accessory structures to the north were attached to the main <br />house, the southernmost one was a water mill with a tank on the roof. A one-story shed was at the <br />northern end of the parcel. On the 1893 Sanborn map, the attached accessory structures were noted as a <br />tank house and an outhouse; and the northern shed was replaced with two henhouses. The layout of the <br />parcel and the buildings had not changed in 1903. <br /> <br />By 1929, a one-story dwelling was constructed immediately to the north of the main house: this one-story <br />wood frame building was rectangular in plan and had a partial porch facing east. The outhouse and the <br />water tank were removed from the main house, and the rear porch was expanded to be an L-shaped <br />feature. <br /> <br />By 1943, the layout of the parcel and the main house was modified significantly. The main house <br />received an addition at the northeast corner, so its footprint changed from an L to a rectangle. A bay <br />window was added to the west façade. The full-width front porch remained the same. The rear dwelling <br />was replaced by a larger L-shaped one with a south-facing front porch. A one-story garage (or a carport) <br />and multiple free-standing outbuildings were constructed to the north and northeast of the houses. <br />According to the later Sanborn maps and aerial photographs, the layout of the site remained unchanged <br />until at least 1963. <br /> <br />The main house received multiple additions in the 1990s. The existing deck was expanded in 1995, and a <br />small second-story deck with French doors was added to the front façade.6 The entry was altered, and a <br />new gable roof projection was constructed at the front façade; new deck and railings were added ca. <br />2000.7 The configuration of the west façade was significantly altered, and it appears that the front deck <br />supports were replaced. Dormers were added on the east and west sides of the rear gable. None of the <br />outbuildings are extant today, only the main house and the rear dwelling stands on site. <br />