Historic home destroyed by fire ruled endangered
A two-story Victorian-era home long cited by preservationists as vulnerable to squatters and poor maintenance was destroyed by fire Nov. 29 in West San Jose.
The San Jose Fire Department said in a tweet that it received reports of the fire at 9:15 p.m. The department said in the tweet that the blaze was on Ranchero Way, but the home, known by preservationists as the Graves House, is actually on Mitzi Drive, a short distance away.
Fire officials said there were no reported injuries in the fire at the abandoned house. San Jose Fire officials did not offer a preliminary cause for the fire Nov. 30.
The home was an Italianate farmhouse built in 1868, when the area was covered with prune, apricot and peach orchards, according to the Preservation Action Council of San Jose.
Executive Director Ben Leech said that proposals to build new housing nearby had stalled, prolonging attempts to provide upkeep and maintenance to the house. The maintenance delays led the council to place the Graves House on its “Endangered 8” list, which highlights San Jose's “Most Threatened Architectural and Cultural Landmarks of 2022.”
“We identified (Graves House) as a major preservation priority this year after becoming concerned that a development proposal that was supposed to rehabilitate the house had stalled out,” said Leech, who added that the organization attempted to work with the property owners and city of San Jose on projects to preserve the house. “We were concerned that the site wasn't secured and that there were issues with basic maintenance and then preventing break-ins.”
Because of what Leech described as inaction by multiple parties, the home deteriorated over the course of the past six years, when the last tenant vacated after the building was sold. Since then, the property was overrun by squatters and a general lack of maintenance, Leech said.
The property's value is around $4.5 million, according to estimates listed on Realtor. com and Zillow.com.
After the fire hollowed out the building, an anti-gay slur spray-painted on the side of the house was still visible.
“This was a slow-motion train wreck,” Leech said. “This is exactly what we feared would happen.”