In 1979 , the City of Mountain View moved the Rengstorff House from its original location on Stierlin Road to an empty field in what would eventually become Shoreline Park . This 1986 photo shows the house on the move again , this time to its permanent location near the banks of Permanente Creek . ( Photo by Joe Melena , from the Mountain View Public Library Archives )
Perry . As he aged , life as a rancher became more challenging , and in 1959 , he sold the house to Newhall Land Development Company and moved to an apartment on Nob Hill in San Francisco where he died in 1961 . Perry Askam was the last family member to live in the house . Until the mid-1970s , the house was a rental property and then began deteriorating as squatters moved in and out . Had the house become just a rundown relic that should be torn down , or was it a precious reminder of the aesthetic and cultural history of Mountain View that should be saved ?
Saving the House . Many people wanted to save the house to retain this important piece of Mountain View history . Several plans were considered to renovate , rescue , restore , donate , move , and / or tear down the property . In 1972 , the house was designated a Historical Point of Interest , and
A crowd gathers in front of the Rengstorff House at the celebration of its restoration on March 2 , 1991 . ( Photo from the Mountain View Public Library Archives )
in 1978 , it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places , ensuring increased status , momentum , protection , and benefits . However , the location on a flood plain and in a growing industrial area determined that it should be moved . In 1979 , the City of Mountain View purchased the house for $ 1 , and soon the house was moved to a temporary site in the nearby developing regional park , Shoreline at Mountain View . Further proposals — a youth hostel , a conference center , a practice site for the Mountain View Fire Department — were considered . The Friends of “ R ” House , a citizen ’ s support group , was ultimately successful in its advocacy and efforts to save the house to renew its rich architectural features and prepare it for a new purpose !
Restoration and Move . The City approved funding for the restoration ; the house was moved to its present location next to Permanente Creek and restored for a cost of $ 1.2 million ( for a video of the move , see tinyurl . com / 2eje93yw ). The newly incorporated nonprofit Friends of “ R ” House began to return the interior of the house to its original grandeur , working to decorate and furnish it as it might have looked in Henry ’ s time , and continuing to promote awareness of the house , the Rengstorff family , and the history of Mountain View . The doors were opened to the public 30 years ago on March 2 , 1991 . For further information about the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the restoration and our tribute called Thirty Years of Beauty , TRANSFORMED , visit
www . friendsofrhouse . org . We invite you to visit the house , once it has reopened to the public following the pandemic .
⥈ This article was contributed by Martha Wallace , with thanks to Ginny Kaminski , Mary Boudrias , and Kristina Perino . ⥈
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