What style is my house and why is the style important? The Rev. Francis W. Reid (1863-1949) could tell you; he wrote the answer to that question in the San Jose Mercury in 1892. On January 1, 1892 the paper published a special supplement listing the local businesses. The Francis Reid article is the earliest writing on a new style of building in San Jose, one that considered California weather and available building materials to create a different style of residence.
Francis was born in Canada, but his parents moved to a farm in Saratoga when he was young. He attended college at the University of the Pacific (UoP), then located on The Alameda in San Jose. With a classmate, he opened an architecture practice and proceeded to design buildings in Los Gatos and elsewhere.
Francis had opinions about esthetics and tells us very clearly that California homes are different. He criticizes San Francisco Victorians observing “It is fortunate that in this county, quaintness of effect is seldom desired. The extreme types of Old Colonial, Knickerbocker, Queen Anne and Eastlake have few admirers”. He says that with the substantial increase in local wealth, and “the advancement in plumbing, heating, lighting and other appliances…cottages of today are better equipped that mansions of ten years ago”. Structures that used local materials such as redwood and local stone are preferable. He reminds us that the local climate will dictate our designs. He observes that in San Jose, sunshine can be brought into every room of the house.
Reid’s observations had firmly taken hold when Naglee Park homes were under construction in 1902. By this time the prevailing taste was for “cottages” with details that gave a nod to a new California esthetic. Our Spanish heritage was included with a quatre-foil window or two; our education in the classics recalled by columns on the front porch with decorative caps of Ionic, Doric or Corinthian design. The desire for a home that was truly “Californian” in style quickly included a nod to the Spanish missions with red-tiled roofs and stucco exteriors.
Quatre-foil Windows at 99 S 12th (1902)
Francis was interested in more than architecture. He was a poet and a printer, keeping a printing press in his garage. He wrote for the local newspapers. After a few years later he returned to UoP and acquired a divinity degree, combining his architectural practice and pastoral work. He moved to Oakland but continued to design and build all over California northern California. Not surprisingly, he is credited with many small churches. His designs have been found throughout California from San Luis Obispo to Marin .There seems to be only one Naglee Park house that can be attributed to Rev. Reid. The home at 520 South 14th Street lists F. W. Reid as the designer in 1924, late in his career. No matter, his body of work was substantial and helped create California style-architecture.
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