DUVENECK, JOSEPHINE WHITNEY — Hidden Villa Tales

Cupertino, CA: California History Center, 1973. 2nd Edition. Stapled wraps. B&W Illustrations; Signed edition. This copy has been signed by the author on the title page. This is a trade sized booklet with illustrated covers and a stapled spine. The booklet is in Very Good condition and was issued without a dust jacket. There is a small spot of ground-in dirt to the bottom edge of the front cover. The text pages are clean and bright. "In 1887, the 600-plus acres of Hidden Villa were purchased by Otto Arnold, a native of Saxony. Mr. Arnold accompanied Governor Milton Latham to America, and became a resident of San Francisco in 1864 where he, along with Latham, was connected with the London and San Francisco Bank Ltd (now MUFG Union Bank). After the death of his widow, Elvira Arnold, in 1904, Hidden Villa was owned by Captain George Ewing, for whom Ewing Hill (the source of the West Branch of Permanente Creek) is named. Frank Boott Duveneck, son of the painters Frank Duveneck and Elizabeth Boott, and his wife Josephine, daughter of Henry Melville Whitney, bought the then 1,400 acres of Hidden Villa in 1923 for "$10 in gold coin and the payment of a $20,000 mortgage". The Duvenecks remodeled the White House at Hidden Villa, which dates from the 1860s, when it was built as a stagecoach stop and inn for a stage running from San Jose to Pescadero. The White House was also known as the Halfway House because it was halfway between the two cities (eight miles from each one). In 1930 the Duvenecks built their permanent home on the knoll." (from Wikipedia); Signed by Author. Very Good .