San Mateo's John Parrott family

Macondray called his place Brookside, but Parrott changed it to Bayside. The San Mateo Creek, with numerous Bay trees alongside it, formed the northern boundary of the property. John immediately began remodeling the old Macondray house that was on the property and, by 1868, he had created a Second Empire-style house that he and wife Abby could enjoy in the summer when they ventured down from San Francisco.

John Parrott had been the U.S. Consul at Mazatlan, Mexico at the height of the Mexican American War in the 1840s. In this role, he corresponded with important national leaders such as James Buchanan and Daniel Webster, as well as California leaders such as Thomas Larkin.

These contacts proved valuable later when Parrott moved to San Francisco and started a financial and shipping empire that made him very rich. Commerce and banking became Parrott’s life. He built a legendary "fire proof” business building at Montgomery and California streets out of granite imported from China. In 1853, he married Abby Eastman Maher in Mobile, Ala. and settled at their home on Rincon Hill in San Francisco.

In the summers, the Parrotts attended the Catholic Church in San Mateo. They were very conservative people, not the typical big party givers that one associates with the wealthy people on the Peninsula. When in residence there, Parrott often commuted to and from San Francisco by train. The arrival of the train often became a big event in the lives of the locals who would gather on Main Street to observe the comings and goings of the well-to-do.

Parrott’s family grew to include six daughters and one son. The eldest daughter, Mary Katherine Parrott was married in 1879 to an aristocratic young Frenchman Christian de Guigne. De Guigne was an agent for a French banking firm. After their marriage, they bought the property fronting Third Avenue and El Camino Real that the Husing family had used for their first general store. The Husing store now sat on the corner of B Street and Third Avenue.

The Ben Franklin Hotel was built on this site in 1927. The de Guignes named the property "Minne-haha” after Katherine’s nickname "Minnie.” De Guigne was the co-founder of the Stauffer Chemical Company and served as president. He also was a partner with C. E. Whitney, John Stauffer, and August H. Schilling when the Leslie Salt Company was formed. After the 1906 earthquake damaged their Catholic Church, the members met in the large stable that the de Guignes had on their property.

Daughter Abby Josephine ("Daisy”) married Captain A. H. Payson in 1884. Payson became director of the Spring Valley Water Company (now the San Francisco Water Department) after a distinguished career in the Army.

He had been an Army engineer and taught at West Point for a few years until 1877 when he was transferred to San Francisco. His work included overseeing construction of lighthouses while with the Lighthouse, Rivers and Harbors Department.

He bought the property in San Mateo south of the de Guignes, facing Fifth Avenue and El Camino Real.

Baywood proper became the residence of son John Jr. who married Mary E. Donohoe. Daughter Grace married attorney Robert Young Hayne in 1881.

The Haynes lived on today’s West Fifth Avenue.

John Parrott Sr. died in 1884 at age 74. His wife Abby died in 1917 at age 89. They are buried at St. John’s Cemetery.