Carriage House breaks ground in Redwood City

The most valuable carriage is worth around $200,000. The carriages’ manufacturing years range from 1870 to 1912. They were all used locally. The nine Brewster carriages in the association’s collection were donated by Lurline Roth, a former owner of Filoli, at around the same time she donated Filoli to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975. Another 10 carriages were contributed from the Holbrook-Palmer estate in Atherton, and Joseph Sammut, who founded Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno, also donated vehicles to the collection, among others, Postel added.

The Taube Family Carriage House and Automobile Gallery will construct a 15,000-square-foot, three-story community venue at the back end of the history museum on Marshall Street between Hamilton Street and Middlefield Road in Redwood City. The $13.5 million project, nearly half of it donated by philanthropist Tad Taube, officially broke ground during a ceremony Thursday, Sept. 14, and is expected to be completed in 2025.

The ground floor will feature a rotating gallery displaying collections from community enthusiasts with the second floor showcasing the association’s collection of 10 historic Brewster carriages, one of the top manufacturers of carriages in the mid-19th century, alongside Victorian-era gowns and the museum’s textile collection.

Those vintage vehicles will be featured in the rotating Automobile Gallery. Kaia Eakin, the Historical Association’s development specialist and a member of the Redwood City Council, said the rotating gallery will help the community bridge the gap between the past and present.

“It helps people have a perspective that we are all part of history,” Eakin said.

The second floor showcases the association’s collection of 10 historic Brewster carriages, one of the top manufacturers of carriages in the mid-19th century, alongside Victorian-era gowns and the museum’s textile collection. A conservation corner on the second floor will offer visitors viewing access to the historical association’s automobile restoration efforts, separated by a window. An interactive corner will also allow children to sit in a two-bench buggy providing them the experience of driving a horse-drawn carriage.

The stories of Victorian engineers and mechanical engineers in the gallery aim to inspire the next generation, Eakin said.

The top floor will include a covered rooftop terrace and banquet room, more than doubling the number of events the museum could host annually. With 4,670 square feet of space, events could have up to 200 people.

Barbara Pierce, a member of the Historical Association Board of Directors and a former Redwood City mayor, helped spearhead the idea of adding a third floor. She said the process began around 2016. She is most excited to unveil the carriage collection that has been hidden from the public for years.

“Now we have the opportunity of taking things that have essentially been in storage and bringing them out and really telling a story,” Pierce said. “People now have no vision of what life was like when those carriages were used and the critical part it played in the economy.”