Rehabilitation of the iconic garage and surroundings underway
In the late 1970s, while on an HP site tour, Bill Hewlett discovered an old HP disk drive chassis still intact but marred by rusting screws. When he expressed chagrin at the obvious flaw, someone tried to excuse the low quality by saying HP didn’t make the faulty part.
“Maybe not,” Bill offered, “but it has my
name on it!”
By any other name
The principle embodied in this particular story — while both charming and endearing — is also revealing. It sheds light on an aspiration as old as the company itself; if the HP name goes on, the quality must go in.
In that spirit, work has now begun on the preservation of the humble HP garage and the rehabilitation of the location where Dave and Bill brought their dreams of a business to life. The construction fence went up on the 367 Addison Avenue site the week of January 25th, and work crews have their marching orders.
Precisely because the project bears the company name, every facet of the work to be done is designed to contribute to the authentic preservation of this precious piece of the company’s past and symbol of its inventive future.
State landmark
Historical find – The basement at 367
Addison yielded important finds such as these original doors, stacked
on the ground and fortuitously left behind. Finds like this and the original
dormer, left in the attic, assist in returning the house to a more original
look.
The garage is generally regarded by historians, engineers and others — in and out of the high-tech industry — to be one of the most significant artifacts of the early days of the electronics industry remaining in Silicon Valley today. The garage stands to serve as a real, physical touch point with the roots of Silicon Valley.
An interesting wrinkle in the designation of the HP garage as California Registered Landmark #976 is that the designation applies exclusively to the garage and does not extend to the house or rear shed Bill used as a bunkhouse.
Furthermore, what most people don’t know is that this status — sweet though it sounds — comes
with little or no protection. There are no state-mandated standards in place to
shelter the garage from the ravages of the years.
City historic property
Because the City of Palo Alto considers all buildings on the 367 Addison Avenue site to be part of the Qualified Historic Property, the house, the shed and the garage are all eligible for consideration under the State Historic Building Codes — codes that allow more flexibility in dealing with the unique construction problems inherent in historic buildings.
But even status as a Palo Alto City Historic Property only affords the meager protection of requiring that 60-days notice be given before tearing it down. This vulnerability, in large measure, is a prime motivator behind the restorative efforts HP is now shepherding.
With care and respect
Long before being named a landmark, the Addison Avenue property assumed a place of honor on the “star map” of Silicon Valley. Without many clues, visiting engineers, dignitaries, techies and others managed to find their way to the site where the HP epic began. The idea of starting a global corporation, on the scale of HP, in a backyard garage is integral to the entrepreneurial dream, and people are naturally drawn to it. Its condition presents the face of the company; past, present and future to the world.
Starting with the garage
Most of the preservation efforts will concentrate — and rightfully so — on the garage.
The garage structure will be left “as-is” as much as possible. Because of the historic significance of both the exterior and interior of the building, all upgrades are being designed to be unobtrusive.
Safety highlights include:
Installation of stabilizing 4-inch square steel tube columns with spread
footing foundations at each interior corner of the garage;
Repair of wood damage and building of an elevated sill that will minimize
future water invasion and termite infestation;
Where damage to existing wood is too heavy for repair, salvaged wood of the
same age will be carefully integrated into the building; and
Exposed knob-and-tube wiring — a key-defining feature of the garage and crucial to historical accuracy —will
be preserved.
The house
Vital Statistics for 367 Addison Avenue
House built:
1905
Occupied by:
Dr. John C. Spencer and his wife,
Ione, from 1905-1937. Following the doctor’s death
in 1937, Mrs. Spencer continued as the resident landlady.
She rented the flat, shed and garage to Bill and Dave
Garage used by:
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard 1938-1939
(Dave and Lucile lived in the downstairs flat and Bill bunked in the
shed until he and Flora married in 1939.)
Post Bill and Dave:
The house, shed and garage used as rental property by various
owners 1944-2000
Purchased by HP:
2000
Rehabilitation is the primary thrust of all work on the house. Wherever possible, remaining materials will be repaired and re-used. Salvageable materials, including latter-day appliances, bricks, wood and interior fixtures that do not play a significant role in the rehabilitation are being recycled, donated and reused so that impact on landfill and the environment are minimized.
Exteriors
The unsightly front and back porch enclosures, back stairway and second story
landing (added much later) are being removed.
Remaining historic features are being repaired when possible. Where replacement
rather than repair is required, the new feature will match the old in design,
color, texture and materials;
The original dormer on the front of the house will be recreated;
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are being updated to apply with
or exceed required codes;
The house will receive a new roof, gutters, downspouts, flashing and shingles;
The clinker-brick chimney will be taken down, catalogued brick by brick and
meticulously reconstructed according to current codes; and
Worker safety as well as air and soil quality standards with respect to lead
abatement are being diligently pursued.
Interiors
Plans for the recreated interiors reflect the simple grace of the house as it would have looked in 1938-1939. It was never a grand house but rather, a modest home both in design and appearance. Plans include:
Reopening the enclosed front porch and recreating the original shingled guardrail;
Replacing aluminum windows with double-hung wood windows with the divided-light
over plain-glass pattern. Original windows on site will be reused if possible,
as will several original doors; and
Repairing and refinishing original wood floors.
The shed (Bill’s bachelor bunkhouse)
The structure will be stabilized;
The roof and shingles will be repaired;
By lifting and resetting it on a new sill, future water damage and termite
re-infestation will be slowed.
Repair of the frame and installation of bead board walls will evoke the rustic
flavor of the shed Bill Hewlett recalled in an oral history of the property.
Above and beyond
Because the HP name is on this signature project, there are many features that go above and beyond what is required by standard city, county and state codes. They are being included not because they are required, but because HP believes they are the right things to do.
Highlights of “above and beyond” measures HP has voluntarily included:
Installation of a permeable concrete driveway; reuse of lumber, timber and interior finish materials; water-saving irrigation; hot water energy saver and kitchen appliances; as well as the reclamation and reuse of existing salvaged woodwork — all done with respect to the historic fabric of the site and consistent with HP’s
commitment to environmental stewardship;
All rehabilitation work will be carried out according to the United States Secretary of the Interior’s “Standards
for the Treatment of Historic Properties.”
These standards call for the restoration of the property to the time periods
when the site is associated with Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard and the contribution
that the garage start-up made to the broad patterns of American history;
Structures will include voluntary fire sprinkler, monitored alarm systems and seismic structure upgrades in order to meet Hewlett-Packard’s
own site safety standards; and
Voluntary accessibility upgrades to the site and structures will meet HP’s
diversity goals. Included in the plans are a wheelchair lift and an accessible
path of travel through every space on the ground floor.
Landscaping
A simple planting design, gleaned from garden magazines of the time period,
will reflect a historically consistent palette including foundation planting
and lawn with select flowering trees;
An accessible path of travel will be provided from the street to the rear
entrance; and
The height of the gate will be reduced to allow a sightline to the garage
from the front yard.
Pulling it all together
The mere mention of the HP garage conjures the values and spirit of a revolution led by two earnest young men with a dream and the drive to make it real.
HP embraces the opportunity to preserve the Addison Avenue site as a touchstone from which people everywhere can gather inspiration for years to come.
A rose by any other name
Preserve. Rehabilitate. Remodel. Renovate. Restore. They’re words
that are often on the lips of those attempting to describe what it is that’s
happening at 367 Addison Avenue. It’s what you do to old houses,
right? But what are the actual differences between these terms? What does
each entail? And how do they apply to this project?
The following is a brief glossary of the terms that
may be useful in talking about the efforts surrounding
the HP garage.
Preservation – The ultimate goal
of preservation of old buildings is to keep them safe
and intact for future generations. The garage, being
the building of ultimate significance on the Addison
Avenue property will be the object of the most intense
preservation efforts. Following strict preservation
guidelines, there is much to do to ensure that the
building remains strong and safe for the next 100 years.
Rehabilitate – This is the
key word for reviving the house and the shed. Following
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for
the Treatment of Historic Properties, the project endeavors
to return and rehabilitate the house to a state much
as it would have been during the span of time “during
which significant events and activities occurred.” In
this case, the period of significance is 1938-1939,
the time during which the site is associated with Bill
Hewlett and Dave Packard.
The rehabilitation plans are to bring the house, shed
and garage back to a state of health. The structures
will be repaired and recreated as they would have looked
when Bill and Dave were spending inventive evenings
in the garage.
Remodel – Strictly speaking,
remodel just means to alter a structure from the original.
Good or bad, the house at Addison Avenue has endured
any number of remodels in its 100-year history. Remodels
have included changes to the exteriors of the building
such as adding stairways, enclosing front and back
porches, simplifying the roofline and replacing original
windows. There was also extensive interior remodeling
that altered interior walls, fixtures and room uses.
The ongoing remodeling was so extensive that to the
untrained eye, it became nearly impossible to discern
the original floor plan.
Remodeling is not a goal of the current project.
Renovate – means to restore
to a former, better state and to once again make it
as it was when it new – in this case, 1905. Because
of the extensive remodeling, removal and destruction
of both exteriors and interiors of the house by previous
owners, a full renovation is not practical. Also, since
the goal is to return the house, shed and garage to
their condition in the 1938-39 timeframe, a true renovation
is not the desired goal.
Restore – means simply to bring
something back to some former condition. Restoration
assumes original materials remain and that they are
in adequate condition to allow restoration. Because
of the age and long term neglect of the house, the
garage and the shed, there are limited but important
opportunities for restoration work.
