So fresh and so clean.

Found this sweet little gem while scouring the Sacramento Archives online data base. Shot from the East side of Plaza Cervantes (aka Metro Park) looking towards the future Junior College Soda Fountain, now Espresso Metro.

Across Freeport Boulevard in the distance you can see the large low slung billboard advertising the upcoming Wright and Kimbrough Tract development and the beginnings of the Brockway Court Mansions.

It kills me how small the trees are. I wonder how many are original?

Vintage ad's of Spanish Town.

Long before the rest was here there was the idea of Spanish Town. Note that Freeport Boulevard is still called 21st Street and in parenthesis we have the "Victory Highway". This was established after World War I in memory of those who were lost to The Great War.




















The home on the right is on 11th avenue. Called the "Casita de la Fuenta" or The Little House of the Fountain it's got a fantastic stained glass front window piece, possible the only one in Spanish Town. I am not sure if it is original or not. Note also the wrought iron window coverings.























The top home is again the one on 11th avenue. The lower one is on 9th avenue. Notice the double arched garage doors. Both homes were a part of the larger Better Homes Movement spanning the country in the later 1920's.
























Here is another shot of the lower home on 9th avenue, called the Pasadena. Apparently, a few years back, the current homeowners were digging in their front yard and found the remnants of the vintage fountain's talked about in the advertisement. Total envy!











The current home of Espresso Metro, The Sandwich Spot and SBX Bookstore. A great line drawing of the business. Notice the vintage fixtures mounted on the outside and curtain bars with curtains for the upper balcony windows. I wonder what color they were.





Pictures provided by Ms. Joan via Dan Murphy and Sierra2.org.

I have tile envy.

We're lucky to own a house at all in these tough times, let alone a pretty little Spanish Colonial Casita like ours. However, I will admit that I drool for the Catalina style tile work that is far more common in the fancier Casa Grandes found up the street and in other parts of Sacramento..as our home was not built with much except for what's left in the kitchen and bathroom. Though, I do wonder if our fireplace used to have such tiles as well....



















These pictures are from the front of the Espresso Metro complex on 11th avenue and Freeport and are typical of the California Art Tiles around Sacramento. I particularly love the narrow rectangular bordering tiles on the top and bottom.



















For me it's not just the Moorish style pattern's referenced in the design that I love so much...it's also the often bright and rare color combinations used in the ceramics. The tiles also follow a general geometric theme throughout that reverses in shapes and colors or repeats. The tiles above are the only one's in the Espresso Metro complex that are reproductions. According to Ms. Joan, owner of Metro she hand picked the tile and border pattern by request from the owner. Apparently the previous tiles were damaged beyond repair. Ugh! I wish I had an original picture of these...someone somewhere must!



















I am pretty sure my predilection for tile work likely grew out of my childhood exploration of Sierra 2 (a.k.a running through the halls and torturing Dan the Janitor with the other neighborhood brats) which has one of the most beautiful displays of California Art Tile in Sac.

But even before that was the cool red tile floor in my parents Heilbron Oaks dining room. I used to lay on that floor and color in the heat of the Summer as a child and then as a teenager, chat on the cordless phone late into the Summer night air.


In researching this blog post I came across an awesome chunk of research done by Erik Fay and Dan Murphy on Curtis Park art tiles. Read this brief history and check out the lovely slide show they put together.

One of the million reason's why Spanishtown ROCKS!

Reason # 1....they all want us!



One of the things that makes Spanish Town so cool is that it is tucked in between two beautifully kept historic Sacramento neighborhoods, all the while it is in itself a vintage subdivision. In fact, many homes in Spanish Town were built far earlier than Land Park to the west and Curtis Park to the east.

In all my years growing up in this area*, attending C.K. McClatchy High School (another architectural gem to be shot later) and cutting school regularly to hang out with older guys at the ultimate Spanish Town cafe Espresso Metro (see last post), I never really checked out the neighborhood.

Needless to say when I began researching our house I was pleased to find out that Spanish Town is actually part of both local neighborhood associations! Apparently the College Plaza Tract (including Spanish Town) can be claimed by two community associations, the Sierra Curtis Park Neighborhood Association and the Land Park Community Association and the reason for this likely lies in the history of the land itself.

As researched by Dan Murphy and documented on his Curtis Park History website, the Curtis Land Grant, the land once belonging to William Curtis extended from the eastern edge of Freeport Blvd out to the east past the rail yards into the edge of Oak Park. This Curtis tract was later pieced out, eventually leaving the College Tract and Spanish Town with it, cut away from Curtis Park by the rail yards and closer to Land Park in proximity rather than Curtis Park itself.

Lying in the middle, in limbo we also have our own small neighborhood association, the College Plaza Neighborhood Association which has been influential in traffic and pedestrian safety issues around the college campus and surrounding residential area.

Check out the links and join if your a neighborhood member!

*Oddly enough though .. my history with the Spanish Colonial Revival (SCR) architectural style began early considering the building that houses Espresso Metro actually dates back to a much earlier time in my life...when my parents business actually existed in the front portion of the property where the College Soda Fountain used to be and where the Student Book Exchange is now. Additionally..the first site of their real estate office was in another landmark SCR complex where the Tower Theatre is!

I heart Spanish Town!

My husband and I bought our first home a few summer's back and we are madly in love with not only our house, but also our tiny vintage hidden neighborhood called Spanish Town. I have decided to share my developing love for all things Spanish Revival in my neighborhood and hopefully inspire you to document the history of your community as a way to preserve it's special parts along with building a sense of connection between you and your neighbors. Maybe I am doing this because I am a history nerd or possible because Sacramento real estate runs through my veins, either way it just feels good to share all the little things I find so quaint.

According to Dan Murphy, local Sacramento historical writer and neighborhood activist, a subdivision map for the College Plaza area, sometimes called the College Town Tract, just north of Sacramento Junior College (now Sacramento City College) was filed in 1928. Marketed as 'Spanish Town' , it's where I am blogging about.

In the picture of the subdivision at the top of the page you can see College Plaza in the lower left hand corner, just to the east of Freeport Blvd and just south of College Terrace. Comprised of a shortened 8th avenue and all of 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Avenue's from West to East, College Plaza is also crisscrossed by Freeport Blvd. (21st), 22nd and 23rd streets along with three accessible fire lanes. The distinctive markings of the Water Tower and Hughes Stadium are visible on the map and even further east from that, across the Curtis Park Rail Yards are the neighborhoods surrounding Curtis Park such as Curtis Oaks and Heilbron Oaks.

So hidden and quaint, most people just barely realize Spanish Town is here. Unless of course you did any time at Espresso Metro eating baguettes with chive cream cheese while hanging out in Metro Park a.k.a... Plaza Cervantes Park. But more on that to come later...ciao for now.