Tag Archives: winery

Today’s Wehner Mansion

5985327859_3f314741f2_bP1310186 (2)This introduction to the subject matter at hand isn’t purposefully an alliteration.  It just happens to be one anyway.

Heritage Room azules.pdfWonderful William Wenher was renowned for his winning white wines.  William Wehner was a Chicago-based panoramic painter and winemaker, born in Germany.  The Historic Manor was built by famous skyscaper architect, David Burnham, who would design and build only the one home in his career, friend of Wehner’s from Chicago.  His 1884 built Evergreen Estate still stands behind private gates and ropes, but that’s about all the care it’s had in a while.  These photos are courtesy of Colleen Cortese and the EVC Heritage Room.

P1320410lomasazulesUntil recently, I had only seen Colleen’s pictures and sketches of Evergreen’s Queen Anne Victorian.  Wehner, Albert Haentz, Cribaris and Mirassous have all made wine from the winery also on-site, Lomas Azules Winery.  Ebe Frasse, from the Cribari Family, has the fondest memories of growing up in the Blue Mansion.  This perspective had always seemed odd to me until I dropped in on the historic Evergreen jewel.  It is a literal drop into the seat of this Evergreen relic to its arched carriage entrance.

 

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The Wehner Mansion today is boarded up and breaking down.  It clearly hasn’t had a new paint job since the 70’s.  It was deemed unfit for residence in 2014 by City Inspectors.  I like the colors, but an owner should be maintaining this important piece of San Jose History.  It has historic designation.

When I dropped by the property to lay my own eyes on it, I got lost.  Nothing new.  Actually, getting lost has helped me throughout this project.  Upon coming up to a Community stable and garden, the caretakers inquired if I was a real estate agent looking for the Wehner Mansion.  I wish.  But they wished too that something could be done about the beautiful piece of architecture that lay dormant and decaying in their backyard.

IMG_0216I found these windows to be stunning.  The glass remaining is a sight to behold.  If a replacement for this fifth window could be found, it would be incredible from inside.  I’m hoping this is a staircase on the other side.  The rounded feature is generally photographed and admired, but not much is said about its antique glass.  Mrs. Louise Lamantia remembers it well.  In fact, somewhere, some of this glass was donated to a historical society.

IMG_0220This second building here isn’t the attached Winery that’s been so well used by Evergreen vintners.  Wehner’s no dumby.  You’d never invite that nonsense into your backyard nearest your children.  I’d also expect more storage for barrels.

This is a tiny, one room building obscured by trees from Colleen’s sketch and initial sighting of the Wehner Mansion.  This is an old fashion frig or pantry.  This is a kitchen house designed to keep food for as long as it would naturally keep.  This was necessary in the 1800’s.  The Summer ones are built differently than Winter ones. It’s a science of keeping things fresh.  You can see why farming would be big business back then especially.

IMG_0219IMG_0217It is super quiet in these hills and this roped of manor is as well.  Wehner Mansion, also known as the Blue Hill Estate, isn’t without its tenants or residence today, though.  They just aren’t people.  The historic estate hosts a very territorial buck and a family of turkeys.  It’s so silent, you can hear them gobble from all the way over here.  I found that indigenous wildlife and a near by run-off creek trickle through Wehner Mansion while its title is questionable at best.  Its faith rests with the Title.  I’m making inquiries.

IMG_0232If I can fire enough people up and raise some awareness for this San Jose Gem, I’d like to do so and make something happen here.  I see a private venue for weddings or a Community Garden for a non-profit.  I see a Community Center for the Villages or an Evergreen History Museum.  Access is difficult, so the tenant would need to be perfect for the situation.  Let’s start talking about how to fill Wehner Mansion’s halls with laughter again.  It’s a piece of our History still standing.  There’s only a couple left.

 

 

RIP – Louis Pellier

CEM47024782_124197784496When I went down to Oak Hill Cemetery on Fathers’ Day, because people lessen the likelihood of zombie apocalypse.  I was totally interested in anything Evergreen but they were scattered all over the place.  The only way to do this is wander around for a long time or check in the records people.  I’m going to have to dissect things into lawns and comb through records to find everyone.

That having been said, I knew there were some Pelliers buried here.  I forgot who initially was there, knowing it wasn’t the entire family.  In looking into the Pellier family originally, I also heard about this awesome grave discovery.  There was something fishy with the Louis Pellier headstones, but it looks weird to google on your phone and tip toe through a crowded graveyard.  Truth is Louis would and wouldn’t be here at Oak Hill Cemetery.

12314282_198416020500512_5584157587879954674_oSo, let’s start with our three Pellier brothers, the first generation to come to America.  The elder Pelliers were Louis, Pierre and Jean.  Louis A. Pellier was the brother who first came to America during the Gold Rush and first thought to bring the Prune and other fruit varietals to California soil.  His idea contributed to the California Fruit Industry we still enjoy today.  Louis Pellier would die in 1872, age the age of 55.  The eldest Louis Pellier wouldn’t be found at Oak Hill.  For a long while, his remains wouldn’t be found at all.

120013655_138395571327Interior-FirstGeneration-PierrePellierPierre would buy Pellier Ranch in Evergreen from his older brother, Louis, in 1863 after running someone else’s vineyards successfully near Mission San Jose.  Pierre and Henrietta Pellier raised their son and three daughters on their Evergreen ranch,  Although initially buried with his other relatives, Pierre Pellier would be buried at Oak Hill Cemetry.  I found he and his wife, Henrietta!  Wait. That’s a weird thing to get excited about.  I think this monument is stellar, though.  Again, weird thing to get excited about.

9ee89fc729d94679e4a4e7792a02a795Pellier’s son, Louis P. Pellier, would have been the patriarch once Pierre and Jean died.  Louis P. was being groomed to groom the vines and run the lucrative family business.  Louis P. Pellier would died at the age of 15 in 1873.  Passing a year after his uncle, the Pellier family was devastated.  They had no scions in the way of male heirs.  That having been said, his sisters stepped up and carried on the tradition of French Winemaking in the Evergreen hillside that eventually became the Mirassou Wine Dynasty.  The teenage

PelliWait, how did that happen?  They can’t get up and walk away.  Well, these Pelliers were laid to rest at Holy Cross or Kell Cemetery, opposite Communication Hill, on the outskirts of Willow Glen.  Here, for the most part patrons of St. Joseph’s Basilica were buried.  This included many notable Evergreenians.  Holy Cross Cemetery was sanctioned by the Catholic Church and operated from 1871-1890.  It was later replaced by a larger Catholic cemetery in 1882 which was closer to both Catholic churches.  Oak Hill Cemetery, close by, and Santa Clara Mission Cemetery was also available for Catholics.  In fact, many moved their loved ones to these other cemeteries.  The burial ground wasn’t maintained in the meantime and things got ran down.  Kids would play with things.  Earth would move.  Kell Cemetery was forgotten.  Today, it’s a source of Socio-Historic information for Archeologists.

In 1930, the unmoved graves would be bulldozed through and cleared for grazing land.  I spoke to the gentlemen who united the monuments with the remains, Ralph Pearce and Judge Paul Bernal.  For some reason the elder Louis’s headstone would go missing 80 years, rescued by Clyde Arbuckle, San Jose Historian.  Judge Paul Bernal describes its discovery by Clyde.

129607541_1399786781“Around 1941 historian Clyde Arbuckle was at the Holy Cross Cemetery with his two children Jim and Susan.    As Jim and Susan chased a jackrabbit across the once cemetery, Clyde discovered the broken headstone of Louis Pellier lying face-down in the brush.   There are photos of Clyde and Helen Abuckle with the headstone propped back up in the cemetery in 1948/1949.  Between 1948/1949 and 1951, Arbuckle removed the headstone for safekeeping.”

arbuckleClyde Arbuckle would realize the treasure he had found.  The grand headstone was used as a prop for a documentary on Sunsweet Prunes in 1951.  Arbuckle’s collection was just underway.  He would be San Jose’s prevailing historian for many years.  The Prune King’s monument would be a piece of a vast collection which became the awesome organization History San Jose.  I’ve visited these guys.  Wow.  If you’re looking to get your nerd on, you can do it here.  But the collection was so broad, even this large piece was able to be overlooked for some time.  It was kept too safe.

129607434_1399786458Some years later, an orchardist and rancher would happen upon the headstone of Louis P. Pellier.  Farmer Lee Lester bought the property next door to the former cemetery.  Lester knew his prune history and thought he had found the most valuable piece of memorabilia, the Prune King’s headstone.  The monument was a little worse for wear, but it would be preserved as well by another San Jose history buff.  The gravestone would come back to Lester’s Baily Avenue farm for safekeeping and lean up against his barn exposed to the elements.

So, fast forward almost 100 years after its abandonment, Kell Cemetery was in the path of a proposed highway into the heart of Downtown.  That highway was the 87.  In 1984, these remains were moved to nearby Oak Hill with family or to the Catholic Cavalry Cemetery off of Alum Rock, its replacement, in a Pioneer Section.  All the remains moved.  Not all of the gravestones were located.  Many were in disrepair.  Both Louis Pellier’s remains would move to Alum Rock.

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Photo Courtesy of Ralph Pearce

Pioneer of Santa Clara County would often end up at the San Jose Public Library, like I have, in the California Room, in the midst of librarian Ralph Pearce.  In August 2011, Ralph let a member know that he thought he heard someone had a Louis Pellier headstone laying around.  The group having found the younger Louis’s monument in their possession, the search for the Prune King was on.  History San Jose confirmed it in archive databases, but the collection was so massive, it was housed in many multiple warehouses.  They opened their doors to the Pioneers of Santa Clara and Ralph Pearce, together creating the “In Grave Danger Gang”.

The “In Grave Danger Gang” would commemorate the reuniting of the Pellier Monuments on November 2, 2011 with Lester family, Pellier Family and the Pioneer Society members.

IMG_4028 [2794442]So, when I popped up at Oak Hill and asked for Louis Pellier, I wasn’t expecting the helpful lady to call me back with this little curve ball.  A two year old curve ball too young to be either first or second generation Louis.  Who’s this little guy?

Ralph Pearce and the Santa Clara Pioneers Society helped me figure it out!  It was buried deep in census statistics from the 1870’s and figuring out who was in the household who was old enough to father this child.  This little guy Louis belongs to another Louis Pellier, son of Jean Pellier.  This is the fourth generation of Louis Pellier, here who passed as a boy.  Jean’s son Louis A. was born in France in 1852, moved to the States with his family and married Christina Frances Alvarez.  They would have a son and also name him Louis A.  Whoa.  Those family names.  You could certain understand the confusion was all had.  Which brings up a whole new question.  Where’s the other L. A. Pellier located now?

 

Wehner Mansion – a house by many names

Sadly, lomasazulesthere are only a few original structures left from Evergreen’s early days.  There aren’t Victorian homes standing like there are downtown.  The old timers know the old town by the hundreds year old oak trees that marked their old homes.  These relics from the 1800’s are obscured by trees and fences for the most part.  This one is tucked back into the hills of the Villages Retirement Community, empty and unused.  The absence of warmth to this one time brimming mansion is one of the sadder things I witness in Evergreen.  Personally, I would love to it restored in time for my own wedding.  This is the Wehner Mansion, but over time, it’s had many names.

Heritage Room azules.pdfThe initial 718 acre property would be purchased in 1887 for $20,000 from Mr. McCarthy and construction would begin the following year.  Built by German immigrant, William Wehner, it was originally named the Villa Lomas Azules or Blue Hills Estate for its stunning color.  It is only fitting that Wehner’s house be colorful.  William Wehner (1853-1916), after coming to the United States from Hanover, Germany in the 1850’s, would be a famous Chicago painter, painting large scale panoramic paintings commemorating the Civil War.  His Evergreen home would became a winery as Wehner planted 175 acres of vineyards within a couple years.  William Wehner’s White Wines were award winning in 1888 and into the 1890’s.  Wehner would come to own and plant over 3000 acres of vineyards.

5985327859_3f314741f2_bThe Blue Estate or Villa Lomas Azules was a 3-story, Queen Anne style home built into the hillside.  The construction on the mansion was finally complete in 1891.  It was built by famous Chicago skyscraper builders from the firm of Burham and Root, designed by Richard Burham.  It would be the only home the firm ever designed.  The Mansion’s main architectural feature was its archway entrance for carriages along the bottom floor, but I love all the rounded features.  The Mansion also has a full basement, which later became wine storage.  The Blue Estate had an outdoor kitchen and a garden house, as well as a winery added in 1908.

P1310186 (2)In 1915, Wehner would sell the winery and vineyard portion of the estate to Albert Haentze.  The two men had a lot in common.  Haentze (1896-1947) was another German immigrant vintner from Chicago.  His main occupation before coming to California was a mortgage broker.  Haentze came to Evergreen and bought Wehner’s vineyard.  Mr. Albert Haentze would become the leader of the Santa Clara Valley Grape Growers Association until Prohibition.  Haentze renamed the winery Rancho Villa Vista.  William Wehner sold his vineyards in the knick of time.  Prohibition closed down the Evergreen wineries in 1918 and Wehner passed away only a year later.  The Santa Clara Valley Grape Growers would then consider canning grapes and crushing grapes for juices and syrup.

housevin-villagesIn 1933, Italian born, Benjamino Cribari (1859-1942) would purchase the first portion of the Villa Lomas Azules.   With Prohibition having been lifted, the Italian immigrant would raise his vineyards for altar and traditional table wines.  In 1940, the Cribari family would come to own the rest of the property.  It would then be known as the Cribari Mansion.

cribari1Benjamino Cribari, born in the Calabria, Italy, would come to the United States at the age of 29.  With his wife and two small kids in Italy, Benjamino would work on the railroad for a couple years before returning home to his family.  In 1902, the young Cribari family would relocate to Colorado and then California, where they bought 40 acres of land east of Morgan Hill.  At first, Benjamino, a farmer, would only sell wines to his friends and family before he needed to acquire more land to compete with his growing demand for Italian style wines.

The Cribari Wineries would move operations back to Morgan Hill in 1959.  The Blue Estate’s future became unclear.

P1310098In the meantime, the Mirassou Family vintners would come to lease the property.  They would rent the independent winery for winemaking and the full basement for storage.  The oldest winemaking family in America would use the historic facilities until its historic operations also had to relocate in the 1980’s.

P1320410The Evergreen wineries were being pushed out by development and a growing suburb.  Several developers purchased the property before the Villages were finally built around it.  The Historic value of the Victorian mansion is recognized by the condition of the home is quite questionable.  There’s much discussion about preserving the historic home, but the fruits of those discussions are yet to ripen.  It’s a beautiful piece of Evergreen’s history and someday, we’ll see the Blue Estate shine again.

Here’s our artwork which features the Wehner Mansion.

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