Estate wants Giannini house demolished

The City Council will be holding an emergency study session Monday to explore its options, Mason said. Mason did not want to disclose specifics until after the meeting.

The city has been battling to save the house since Hoffman died in 1997. In her will, she said she did not believe anyone could do justice to the preservation of A.P. Giannini's memory or his home and said it should be demolished.

However, the history behind the man and his modest two-and-a-half story Tudor revival cottage at 20 El Cerrito Ave. is too much to destroy, said Virginia Hammersmith, Giannini's granddaughter.

"My grandfather not only started Bank of America, but he made banking available for poor people. And no one ever thought about poor people till grandpa came along," Hammersmith said.

Mitch Postel, executive director of the San Mateo County Historical Association agreed and said establishing branch banking was one of Giannini's defining qualities. The home's architecture has historical value, but its relation to the man is also important, Postel said.

"He is one of the top Californians of our history. His home is symbolic of him and I hope it's preserved," Postel said.

Giannini founded the Bank of Italy which later became the Bank of America. When Bank of America bought the Bank of San Mateo, it also bought Seven Oaks and Giannini went to live there in 1905, Postel said.

"It's a very historic place. Its architecture is unchanged since A.P. lived there," Postel said.

Immediately after the 1906 earthquake, Giannini and his other bankers disguised themselves as farmers and took the bank's assets away from San Francisco in farm wagons. The assets were kept inside a fireplace in Seven Oaks. After the fires in San Francisco were extinguished, Giannini brought the assets back up to San Francisco, put a board over two barrels and made the loans that rebuilt San Francisco, Postel said.

Giannini helped Walt Disney make "Snow White" and financed construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, Postel said. He is also one of the most prominent San Mateo residents in history and defined the nature of the city, Postel said.

"He's important to San Mateo because he speaks to the history of the suburban nature of the area when people did their business in the city but lived on the Peninsula," Postel said.

Hammersmith, daughter of Giannini's second child L.M. Giannini, believes the estate should donate the house to the city along with an endowment of $5 million to preserve it. However, if it does end up getting demolished, she said she would like an opportunity to salvage the bricks from the fabled fireplace.

"It has historic importance. When my father was 12, he helped guard the money (after the 1906 earthquake)," she said.

The law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal has represented Hilda Yao, the executor of the estate, for approximately five months, said attorney Ivor Samson.

Samson declined to comment on any aspect of the house or the legal proceedings.

Jon Mays can be reached by e-mail at jon@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 107. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.