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Front view Nov. 2001.
Side view Nov. 2001
Back view showing Guesthouse Nov. 2001.
Front of house in January 1993 when we purchased it.
After painting in 1994.
The apartment behind the house in 1993.
The apartment in 1994 after painting.
Annetta on the front porch
What Annetta saw.
View from living room to dining room.
Dining room before the window seats.
And after.
Window seat construction.
Low profile with thick cushions.
Dining room.
Living room & entry way.
Living room
An early picture before the front porch was enclosed.
After the porch was enclosed
Gibson Family Gathering Joseph B. and Annie Gibson 2nd & 3rd from Right in Back Row
Joseph B. and Annie Gibson
Picture at side of front porch. Unknown Gibson family members.
Claire Gibson
1936 when purchased by the Tognazzini Family
Ben Tognazzini on left
1956
Lois (Tognazzini) Rose on side of house in the iris garden. Water tank in in the background. Later converted into a guest house.
The original fireplace
Our sons Eric (background) and Nathan dismantling the old fireplace.
Annetta laying the first brick.
Duane (our mason) laying the last brick.
The paint as it was when we bought the house.
The fine art of stripping paint.
Stripping the trim.
After sandblasting the siding.
I hate heights. Seriously, this is nuts.
Annetta loves it up here.
The kitchen 1993.
Kitchen 1993
We raised the top cupboard to make room for Coffee
Coffee Time!
Windows view the backyard.
Forcing bulbs to bloom for Thanksgiving.
The sink came from the Bay area.
The cool cupboard. Screened bottom lets cool air in from under the house, Keeps the wine at just the right temperature.
The Wedgewood.
Laundry room.
Our Bungalow
We used to take long vacations when the kids were young and go on road trips across America. We would go off of the main interstates and find highways that passed through small towns away from the McDonalds and Taco Bells, opting instead for the little diners on the main streets of these towns. Annetta would always point out houses and remark that this is the type of house she would like to live in. We later found out that these were craftsman style houses or bungalows. They have HOME written all over them.
We are Curtis and Annetta Essen. Our home at, 529 Allen St., Arroyo Grande, California, is a craftsman style bungalow and was built during the period of 1919-1920, apparently spanning parts of both of these years. County records show it as being finished in 1920 but some accounts and artifacts point to most construction occurring in 1919.
The
house has about 1770 square feet of living space divided between the
interior of the house with 1570 square feet and the enclosed front
porch with about 200 square feet. This includes a living room,
dining room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms, an entry way and a pantry
area.
Most weekend mornings will find us on the front porch with the morning paper and a cup of coffee. The windowed porch faces southeast and warms as it catches the first rays of the dawn. In the winter the sun sits low in the sky all day keeping the porch warm. It was originally open and was enclosed with windows by the first owner Joseph Gibson, as shown by two pictures provided by his grandson Clair Gibson. The climate on the Central California Coast is mild on the cool side so this works perfectly. A futon on the porch makes it a great place to sleep when warm storms come up the coast from the South.
There
is a chimney running up the middle of the house off of the kitchen, which
was apparently used for a wood cook stove at some time.
The
house originally sat on a parcel of approximately 1 acre and included an
orchard of mixed fruit trees and extensive vegetable gardens.
The neighborhood is known as 'The Village' (of Arroyo Grande). Arroyo Grande is on the California Coast in San Luis Obispo County, about half-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Village was the original town center and is now a mix of old and new houses. The main street of The Village is the downtown area of Arroyo Grande and consists mainly of antique stores, restaurants, and quaint shops. It is the most friendly neighborhood we have ever lived in.
What is a bungalow?
The
term bungalow has a very broad definition in common usage and there are
different styles and sub styles of bungalows.
The dictionary defines a bungalow as “A dwelling of a type first
developed in India, usually one story, with low sweeping lines and a wide
veranda.” Another definition is “A small cottage, usually of one story.”
In American architecture it describes a style of house predominant in
America from the late 19th century until around 1920.
Terms associated with ‘bungalow’ are craftsman style, arts and
crafts style, and mission style.
The architectural philosophy of the bungalow
sprang from the arts and crafts movement, which originally began in
England as a movement away from ornate Victorian art and mass-produced
kitsch to something in between embracing true individual craftsmanship and
a harmony with nature. The idea is that architecture and furnishings
should be well built, functional and pleasing to the eye without being
distracting. The classic American bungalow reflects this philosophy
in its use of natural materials, straight lines, simple design and good
craftsmanship
Typically, the bungalow interior is dominated
by natural wood paneling or wainscoting, built in wooden cabinets,
bookshelves, sideboards, window seats and inglenooks. The exterior
most commonly features a prominent porch often with tapered columns
supporting it, large overhanging eaves with large supporting beams
extending beyond the roof, Variations of this though are common, examples
being mission style, pueblo style, cottage style and others.
Oriental influences are easily seen in many bungalows.
The term California Bungalow came to be used
because this was the predominant architecture at the turn of the last
century when California was rapidly growing and made popular by the
mystique of Hollywood. People in other parts of the country wanted
“to move to Pasadena and buy a bungalow.”
Ironically, bungalows came to be mass produced
and could be bought in kit form through Sears and Roebuck and other
companies. Because of this some people mistakenly think the term
Craftsman Home is
a Sears home.
There is now a new appreciation for this type
of architecture because of its comfortable home atmosphere, and old
neighborhoods of bungalows, which had become ghettos are being
resurrected. If you find yourself a bungalow that has not been
modernized consider yourself lucky.
The Gibson
Family
The
house was built by Joseph B. and Annie (Hamilton) Gibson. Joseph B.
Gibson was the president of the Arroyo Grande Bank from 1921 until
1928. He had worked as a bookkeeper for the bank prior to this
beginning in 1912.
Joseph B. Gibson was born on March 27, 1859 in
Cough County, Tyrone Ireland where he spent his boyhood and early manhood
years. He was in the banking business for 7 years before leaving
Ireland.
He came to America in 1882 taking a position
with the First National bank of Chicago, Illinois. His parents
arrived one year later with his bride-elect, Annie Hamilton. Joseph
and Annie were married on July 10, 1883.
In the early 1890’s the Gibsons left Chicago
for the outdoors of the west on the recommendation of Mr. Gibson’s
doctor. They resided in Hoquian Washington until 1898 when they
moved to San Luis Obispo County living for 3 years on a ranch in Creston
and then several years at the Sperry Seed farm in the upper Arroyo Valley
where Joseph was a bookkeeper. They then moved to a ranch at Berros
which they bought and where they resided until moving to Arroyo Grande in
1912.
In 1919 the Gibsons had this house built and
resided here until 1936 when they built a house on Mason Street and sold
this house to Ben and Fay Tognazzini.
Joseph Gibson was an active member of the
Methodist Church, serving as the superintendent of the Sunday school and a
Bible class teacher as well as an official board member.
According to his grandson, Clair Gibson, he
was a fine craftsman and liked to build and garden. He and Annie had
5 children, Ernest H. Gibson, Kathleen Sampson, Joseph S. Gibson (later
manager of the Bank of America in Arroyo Grande), Elsie N. Gibson and
Donald Gibson.
We had the opportunity to meet with Clair
Gibson, a grandson of Joseph B. Gibson, before he passed away. He
provided us with much of this information as well as some old pictures of
the house. Clair continued his family’s banking tradition.
The Tognazzini
Family
On October 18, 2000 I had the opportunity to
speak with June Horton, one of the daughters of Ben & Fay Tognazzini,
the second owners of our house. On November 25, 2000 I spoke with
Lois Rose the other daughter of Ben & Fay. Both June and Lois
resided in this house during their childhood.
Ben & Fay Tognazzini bought the house in
1936 moving here from Cayucos. Ben had a dairy in Oso Flaco at
the South West foot of the Nipomo Mesa on the West side of HWY 1 as it
dips into the valley north of Guadalupe. The dairy was the Oso Flaco
Dairy. He bottled milk for a period
and his bottle bore a picture of a bear. Hank and Shirley
Macagni who managed the dairy for Ben & Fay as share farmers purchased
much of the dairy property and still reside on the dairy site as of Oct.
2000.
Ben was involved with the Rotarians and the
Masonic Lodge. As a hobby he pursued photography and converted the
washroom (under the kitchen of the apartment) into a dark room.
The father of Ben was Peter Tognazzini from
Cayucos who had dairy land in the Cayucos area. Peter purchased 2
plots of land in the South county which were passed on to or purchased by
Ben and his brother Romeo.
Peter was a county supervisor for many years.
Ben passed away after suffering a stroke on a
plane flight from Florida after visiting his daughter June Horton of
Orlando Florida) in February 1957.
Fay continued to live in the house until the
early 70’s. She then moved to Orlando where her daughter June
resides.. The house was rented out for a short time and sold in
1972. Fay died in 1980.
The guesthouse was built by the Tognazzinis
during the period between 1945 and 1948.
I
spoke with Hank and Shirley Macagni on October 21, 2000 and they related
their memories of the Tognazzinis to me.. Hank was hired by Ben as a
share farmer on his dairy in Guadalupe in 1950 and now owns the property
and resides there. Hank and Shirley lived in the guesthouse for
approximately a month in 1950 while a house on the dairy property was
being constructed. Hank relates that Ben came out to the dairy
several days a week but was not extensively involved in the labor phase of
the dairy but was the owner primarily.
Ben was involved with a photography club and Hank has a picture, which Ben took of him, hanging in his living room. He also enjoyed hunting and Hank and Ben would often go on hunting trips to Colorado.
RENOVATION
The house had been a rental for 21 years when we purchased it in January 1993 and was in need of lots of work. Structurally the only problem was the chimney. It was bowing away from the house in the middle and had to be replaced. The house is framed in redwood and sits on a good concrete foundation. The electrical is old but works fine and does not blow circuit breakers. We hired our own inspectors before purchasing the house and were told that it was very structurally sound.
We began by sanding and refinishing the floors in all but the kitchen and bathrooms. In the dining and living room it looked as if the center of the floors where a rug would go had never been finished and dirt was imbedded deep into the wood requiring many passes with a floor sander to clean up. I sanded and Annetta put down the finish. The floors are fir which is a soft wood and the advice we got was to use a polyurethane finish which we did. It turned out more orange than we wanted (honey colored), but it looks very good and gets many compliments.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now. We have planted 6 so far.
That completed we could move in and began work on the exterior. This was the worst looking house on the block and we were anxious to appease our new neighbors. We shopped around and found a great mason (Duane Hickman) to do the chimney and fire place. He had came in with a good bid, had a good appreciation for old houses and had a good portfolio of work he had done. He set up scaffolding and we took down the chimney brick by brick. Duane told us that it was traditional for a mason to put a penny in a structure showing when it was built and to watch for it when we dismantled the chimney. Yeah right, we thought, we are going to find a penny in this mess. Lo and behold Nathan, our youngest son, removed a brick one day and there was a 1919 penny. The original brick could not be used for the rebuilding so Annetta went to the local brickyard looking for something that would be close to what the original chimney brick was and found a pile of clinker brick in the back of the brickyard that had not been sold for decades. It was beautiful (beauty being in the eye of the beholder) and Duane rebuilt the chimney just as it had been before.
The next thing was the exterior paint. We spent a long long time researching appropriate colors for the type of house. The exterior is 6 different colors from Sherwin Williams. The old paint was in terrible condition as seen in the pictures here. We found someone who was experienced at sandblasting wood siding and had that done. This is an extreme measure but it was in really bad shape. The wood trim (all of the wood trim) we stripped down to the bare wood using a hot plate, a heat gun and scrapers. Duane Hickman, our mason, was very gracious and loaned us scaffolding for the year and a half it took to strip and paint the house and apartment. We removed all of the windows and striped them inside and out and re-glazed the glass. I would prep a side and Annetta would begin painting it while I would prep the next side.
When the painting was completed we began to tackle some other smaller projects. One was a minor bathroom renovation which included adding bead board, re-plastering the walls and installing a vent fan for mildew control. Living in an old house and doing the work yourself is a never ending project and it now goes in spurts for us. We are fortunate that the wood work in the living and dining room had never been painted, but the finish is not great so we are working on that stripping and refinishing a section at a time.
The kitchen renovation finally came around and required a lot of shopping to find the appropriate tile, sink and lighting and also a contractor who had an appreciation for old houses. It is amazing what some people want to do to an old house. Tom Ramonez was our main contractor who gave us good advice and resources. We wanted to preserve the look of the kitchen and keep the cabinets the same. We also wanted a dishwasher so the cabinets on that side of the kitchen and the tile had to be replaced to fit the dishwasher. We went up to the bay area and Annetta found a place that sold old sinks and got just what we were looking for. We sent the old hinges from the cabinets to be electroplated because we could not find anything appropriate for less. We put real linoleum down for the floor and are very happy with it. The counter tile was a bit pricey, but it looks like it is original to the kitchen. Our neighbor Bob Hatley did an excellent job installing the tile. The house came with an old Wedgewood stove which is wonderful. The kitchen will be complete when we get a retro looking refrigerator.
In 2004 we got around to putting window seats in the dining room. The house originally had window seats as evidenced by the outline of where they were on the wainscoting and accounts of several witnesses. Part of procrastination on this project has been coming up with a good design for them. We were not happy with what appeared to be there before and were looking for a wrap around design that would create the feel of an inglenook. Annetta came up with a low profile bench design with very thick cushions and deep seats. The tops open for storing toys for the grandchildren, games etc.
There are other projects but the main ones are completed and we are HOME.
Contact us at: caessen@yahoo.com
Links
Our Town: Arroyo Grande
Local Historical Society: South County Historical Society
American Bungalow magazine dedicated to what else. Lots of links to resources and other bungalows. Also a bulletin board to answer your bungalow questions and a historic registry to register your bungalow. http://www.ambungalow.com/
Pasadena
is the Bungalow Capital: Crown City Hardware is their hardware store. They
offer a huge catalog of quality hardware for your bungalow or other style
of old house. http://www.crowncityhardware.com/
The
most famous Craftsman Style home in America. Maybe a bit large to be
classified as a bungalow, very nice digs. Take a virtual tour. http://www.gamblehouse.org/