The Griffin House at Foothill College
and its associated Carriage House
Some images showing the early Griffin Homestead - which became a large Orchard Estate and eventualy the Campus of Foothill College
On the campus of Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, there are two historic structures that date back to the original "estate" located on this property many years before it became a college campus.
The primary building of these two is "The Griffin House", and associated with this Estate Mansion is its associated "Carriage House" - sort of what today we might call a garage for the estate vehicles - except these structures were built long before modern vehicles existed in the form we know then today.
Thus the "Carriage House" more closely resembles a very large barn, capable of housing a number of farm animals in addition to horse-drawn carriages and farming implements, together with accommodation for associated support equipment, personnel.and the horses as well as a few cows.
According to the records of the National Registry of Historic Places, "...The carriage house, in its early days, housed six work horses, stalls for two cows and the carriage, as well as workshop and upper loft...".
The Carriage House is located on the left side of the main "Campus Loop" soon after you pass the fountain on entering the Campus. (The Griffin House is just beyond that on the other side of the road.)
The earliest pictures we have of the Griffin House shows it in splendid isolation amongst the backdrop of the coastal hills
A closer view of the main Griffin House
The Griffin House and Carriage House still stand today (and are recorded in The National Register of Histric Places ). Associated with them in that era was a formal Japanese Tea Garden and bridge
Unfortunately the Tea Garden with its associated pond and bridge no longer exist, but the Carriage Hpuse is still there, although having undergone some architectural changes during its lifespan. Following is a picture dated 1959, soon after the campus opened and construction of buildings, roads and other infrastructure was still underway.
Here is a closer view of the Carriage House at that time, but boarded up pending a decision on its eventual use.
One necessary piece of infrastructure that was triggered by the establishment of Foothill College was the need for Fire Protection and a place that could fill the role of Fite Station to house the necessary apparatus and personnel.The Carriage House was adapted to this purpose as can be seen in the following picture taken in 1970
Note in the following picture that the"Barn Doors" in the Gable Roof over the large Front Door have become windows - no longer used for loading hay into the attic storage space. Also the single large Barn Door in the center, that was the main entrance into the Barn for carriages and horses, has now become two large doors to the right of the building to allow for entry and rapid egress of Fire Equipment.
Following sre some excerpts from the Nationsl Register of Historic Places
