Restoring San Mateo's oldest home

Current owner Frank Jaros, who bought the house back in the 1970's, has been tinkering with it ever since. People simply do not realize, he says, the extensive work and expense it takes to restore a vintage house like this one.

"At one point I took out a loan for $17,000", he said. "And that was just for the earthquake retrofitting. Anything else I've borrowed from relatives, or paid for myself when I could." Jaros says he can't afford to take out any more loans, including any the city might offer. He considered listing the house with the National Historic Registry, which would make it eligible for property tax reductions. But, like Zuffi's and Arrechea's of the neighboring Brown houses, Jaros could not endure the dictatorial and often expensive requirements of the Registry. Instead, year after year, as money and time will allow, he has gradually upgraded the oldest house in San Mateo.

The primary task Jaros has undertaken has been earthquake retrofitting. This is ironic, since the Sands House has managed to survive the 1868, the 1906, and the 1989 earthquakes virtually unscathed. The retrofit required Jaros to make his own structural drawings of the house. He has replaced the foundations for both the original two-story section, and the back one story section, which was added to the house prior to 1881. He has also added insulation and repaired walls. He is applying primer to the siding, but even this process is a gradual one. He has actually incurred some pressure from code enforcement for the outside appearance of the house, which even he will admit is something of a detraction.

Actually, he says, code enforcement has been reasonable, and his neighbors have been understanding.

Even in its current condition, the historical significance of the Sands House must be evident to most casual passing pedestrian. The steeply pitch roof, the four square columns supporting the shed porch roof, and the front, dormer window give the house a vertical emphasis typical of the Gothic Revival genre. The center barge board is still white, lining both the front gable and the roof eaves, carved with a jigsaw into a delicate, decorative combination of quatrefoil and cloverleaf symbols. The house is actually regarded as a "Steamboat" Gothic Revival, as its ornate barge board is reminiscent of the paddle wheel steam boats which sailed the Mississippi River in the 19th century. The original downstairs interior featured a dining room, a living room, a hall, and two adjoining rooms. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a hall. The stairway connecting the two floors is so narrow, says Jaros, it would be illegal to build today. There once stood a chimney connected to the original foundation, but that came down when the foundation was replaced.

This house became one of the first private dwellings built in the infant San Mateo, a very different place than today. Historians place its construction date somewhere between 1863 and 1868, but Jaros can be more exact. While repairing one of the front porch support pillars, he found a "Seated Liberty" fifty cent piece imbedded in the wood, as if someone wanted the actual construction date of the house known. The date on the coin is 1864.

"I still have the fifty cent piece", Jaros said. "Someday I might place it back in the house, for future generations."

In addition to the house itself, Jaros has performed considerable reparations to the surrounding land. The Sands house actually sits on the second of two lots, owned by Jaros, which stretch out from the southern bank of San Mateo Creek. The lot nearest to the creek once had a house on it as well. In tilling the soil for planting, Jaros has found several relics from the 19th century: a hoof trimming knife from Sands' livery business, an old out house from his personal business, and an extensive collection of ceramic beer bottles. The bottles are indicative of a booming 1880's grain trade between California and Great Britain. Perhaps, as well, they attest William Sands' libation of choice.

Born in Ireland in 1830, William Sands came to California in 1857. After living in Santa Barbara, then San Francisco for a while, he finally settled in San Mateo in 1862. Sands reportedly worked as a teamster, when people associated teamsters with horses rather than trucks. He sold and drove horses when carriages and stagecoaches provided the chief mode of transportation. In 1881, he served as an officer of the A.O.U.W., the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He also served several terms as young San Mateo's first constable. William Sands died in 1895.

Sands had purchased the land for his house from Charles B. Polhemus, savvy San Mateo pioneer and railroad entrepreneur. After traveling to South America, Polhemus came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. In the late 1850's, he started buying up land along the anticipated corridor of the newly formed San Francisco-San Jose Railroad. Polhemus served as director of the railroad, which would be completed in 1865. As director, he could stipulate the placement of the railroad track; not surprisingly, the track ended up running directly through the San Mateo land he purchased. The land he owned resided on the south bank of San Mateo Creek, from present day Baldwin Street to Fifth Avenue, and between what is now San Mateo Drive and Delaware Street. In all, he put up 176 lots for sale, forty of which he sold for the creation of downtown area, which would benefit both the new town and the railroad. William Sands bought one of those lots, reportedly for $300 in the mid 1860's.

The history between the current owner and the original owner remains somewhat sketchy. Frank Jaros bought the house from an Everett Ready, thought to be a relative of Sands. Ready, in return, bought it from Aloysius Johnson, the grandson of William Sands. According to a 1964 building survey, Johnson lived in the house prior to 1965. Johnson's mother was born in the house in 1869, to Sarah and William Sands. Little else is known. Jaros someday hopes to sell the house to someone who can appreciate its history, and who perhaps has the resources to quickly bring it to is proper state. Until that time, Jaros will continue to work it the best he can, one day and one dollar at a time.