History San Jose CEO Bill Schroh Jr. wants to save the Sakauye farmhouse, a 1930s home that sits within a North San Jose orchard slated for development. Schroh even has the perfect spot picked out for it at History Park, not far from the Stevens Ranch Fruit Barn amid other historic homes and replica buildings.
What he doesn’t have is the $750,000 needed to make the move a reality — and he needs commitments for that amount by Nov. 15.
So far, History San Jose has pledged $200,000 toward the move, and another $100,000 has been committed by developer Hanover Co. But that still leaves a $450,000 gap to meet the deadline.
“This relocation is not just about preserving a building,” Schroh said. “It’s about honoring a legacy that is central to Santa Clara County’s establishment, U.S. history, and the transformation from the agricultural ‘Valley of Heart’s Delight’ to the Silicon Valley of today.”
Potential donors can contact Schroh at bschroh@historysanjose.org.
The Sakauye family started the orchard around 1900, but Eiichi “Ed” Sakauye and his family were among the many Santa Clara County residents of Japanese descent interned during World War II. Unlike most of them, however, when Sakauye returned from Heart Mountain, Wyo., in 1945, he was able to keep his land and his business thanks to the help of his neighbor, Edward Seely, who took care of the property during the incarceration. The family kept working the land there until Sakauye died in 2005 at age 93.
The city has given the go-ahead for a mixed-used village on the 23-acre plot at Seely Avenue and Montague Expressway which would build 1,472 housing units and nearly 19,000 square-feet of retail space, along with a park. But keeping the farmhouse intact on the property isn’t an option for the developers, which would support the move if the funding is there.
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The farmhouse is on the Preservation Action Council’s “Endangered 8” list this year, and San Jose Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei said in August that the farmstead was an important part of telling the story of Japanese Americans in the Santa Clara Valley. While History Park has buildings celebrating the culture of Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, African American and Vietnamese residents of the valley, there’s no Japanese representation.
Moving the Sakauye house to the park seems like the perfect solution to that omission.
NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS: The 29th annual San Jose Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony Wednesday night at SAP Center was a bit of a flashback for Kerri Walsh Jennings, the volleyball legend who was inducted along with boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Super Bowl champion NFL coach Mike Holmgren and the late developer and philanthropist John Arrillaga.
Walsh Jennings was at the very first induction ceremony back in 1995, too, when she was honored as the girls high school athlete of the year for leading Archbishop Mitty’s volleyball and basketball teams to state titles. Unlike that year, when Walsh Jennings believes she said about seven words in her acceptance speech, the four-time Olympic medal winner had a lot more to say this time. “Nights like tonight are important for those of us who are honored and for future generations,” she said.
The event, which was attended by about 700 people on the floor of the Shark Tank, always draws a good crowd of sports fans and sports stars — including former 49ers Coach Steve Mariucci and former Stanford and NFL quarterback Andrew Luck. But with the induction of Arrillaga — whose generosity to Stanford can’t be understated — there was also a bit of Silicon Valley in the house with Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and her husband, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, in attendance.
“This is the only social event my beloved trophy husband and I will be attending for the next 12 months,” Arrillaga-Andreessen said as she joined her brother, John Arrillaga Jr., to honor her father, who died in 2022.
GET YOUR TIKI ON: Tiki fans should set sail for Dr. Funk Rum House in San Jose’s San Pedro Square, where it’s hosting its first Tiki Bazaar from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
There’ll be about a dozen vendors offering tiki treasures like vintage Hawaiian clothing, artwork, carvings and jewelry. And it’ll mark the debut of the Dr. Funk Tiki Mug, which will be available on a first-come basis. Table reservations on Open Table have been going fast, but you can stop by to check it out at 29 N. San Pedro St.
The first Dr. Funk tiki mug will be available for purchase at the downtown San Jose bar’s Tiki Bazaar on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (Photo courtesy of David Mulvehill)
