La Voz

Issue date: 6/4/07 Section: College Life

Media Credit: Jan McDaniel Then

Media Credit: Jan McDaniel And Now

Nestled among the contemporary structures on campus is the California History Center, also known as Le Petit Trianon. This century-old gem is adjacent to the Sunken Garden; it's graceful white columns and stately French doors facing the gardens are reminiscent of the structures in France for which they were modeled, and a testament to the valley's historic past, when the name De Anza represented an explorer, not a college.

Before the California history center was a historic landmark, it housed numerous people and parties.

The creators of the house were Charles A. Baldwin and his wife, Ella Hobart Baldwin, who purchased 137 acres of land in 1892, back when Cupertino consisted of farmer-owned cropland. The Baldwins transformed the plot into an elegant estate and acclaimed winery, called "Beaulieu." Baldwin engaged prominent architect Willis Polk to design their mansion: Le Petit Trianon. Baldwin was known as a Francophile, and the building was inspired by 17th-century structures at Versailles in France, Le Grand Trianon and Le Petit Trianon.

The Trianon, considered small by mansion standards, is quite elegant, with a pristine white exterior, eight-foot French doors and a grand colonnaded porch. Inside, a huge dining room and an equally large living room, as well as a single bedroom, a solarium, a library, and a bathroom furnish the living space. The library is stunning, with an oval skylight and floor-to-ceiling curved bookshelves. The interior doors throughout the house match the exterior arched French doors. Parquet hardwood floors and crown moulding provide additional handsome detailing. The grounds at the time included a pool, stables, a winery, gardens and an extensive vineyard.

The Baldwins owned the estate for 17 years. However, when a destructive insect, phylloxera, killed their grapevines like it did to many at the time, they sold the property in 1909 to socialites Francis and Harriet Pullman Carolan, the daughter of George Pullman of Pullman railway car fame. The Carolans owned the property for almost the next thirty years, entertaining lavishly and hosting international dignitaries. In 1940 the property was sold to E. F. Euphrat, a wealthy philanthropist. Euphrat sold the property to the Foothill Community College District in 1967, stipulating Le Petit Trianon and Beaulieu be preserved.

When the district bought the property, the Le Petit Trianon was in a derelict state, and despite opposition by many district personnel, a local historian, Louis Stocklmeir, spearheaded a movement to preserve and restore the mansion. This conflict resulted in the creation of the California History Center and Foundation, for funding the restoration of the Le Petit Trianon, and in 1972 the mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The restoration of the mansion was completed in 1982, and was moved from its original site where the Flint Center now stands to its current spot.

To this day, the California History Center still has its original parquet floors and a gorgeous crystal chandelier. Also original is the stone balustrade the garden and giant stone urn on a corner of the balustrade. A pool is still in the garden, but photos reveal it is not the original pool, and the bedroom now serves as a large foyer for the California History Center and Foundation.

This current organization works in collaboration with De Anza College to provide innovative instruction on California history. The center also houses the Louis Stocklmeir Library, which contains many rare materials related to local history, including taped oral histories and student research projects. Its archivist, Lisa Christiansen, has worked at the Center since 1987 and knows an abundance of information about the mansion and surrounding area. Through her work and that of the Center, local history can be preserved.

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