Historic Homes

Early-Day Houses Spark Interest - By Derryl Dumermuth

Early-Day Houses Spark Interest

By Derryl Dumermuth

Tulare Historical Museum

  In today's Tulare some of the most prestigious homes are to be found in the Del Lago Tract or in the neighborhood of Chevy Chase Drive. But in the early days, following the founding of our town in 1872, the most opulent houses, the homes of Tulare's leading business and professional men, were located west of the SP tracks. The early churches (Congregational, Methodist, Christian, Episcopal and Catholic) were built in those neighborhoods within easy walking distance from most of their parishioners.

    There are probably still in existence at least100 houses built in the nineteenth century - a few still in excellent condition, while others are in various stages of deterioration. Although all of them are of some interest, I will today sketch the history of three that I have found most interesting. 

    1) Andrew Neff was the engineer of the first train into newly founded Tulare on July 25, 1872. On New Year's Eve 1876 he married Victoria, daughter of Isaac and Charlotte Wright, and thus became part of Tulare's first family. The Wrights had arrived in this area two years before the railroad. In 1888, for a reported $5,000, Neff built a two-story house for his family at 457 South H Street. One hundred years later, as the city was celebrating a century of incorporation, the house was unofficially named the "Centennial Gem".

    Just inside the front door, a beautiful mahogany staircase leads from the hall to the second floor. The parlor features a white marble fireplace. The last time I visited the house the large kitchen contained an antique cast-iron wood-burning cook-stove that had been cleverly converted to gas. Two original buildings survive in the back yard - a handsome carriage house and a utilitarian outhouse.

    In 1893 Neff moved his wife and two children to Oakland when Southern Pacific transferred him to that city. For many years the house belonged to businessman Turner Nelson and his family. Son Joe grew up there; daughters Ada and Ivy, who never married, lived out their lives in that house. Ada died in 1964 at age 83, Ivy in 1968 at 89.

    George and Lois Story bought the house from Warden and Normand Nelson (grandsons of Turner, sons of Joe) in 1969. "Wim" and Elizabeth Meyer acquired the property in 1988, and lovingly restored the house to its 19th century splendor. The eight-foot ceilings were returned to their original ten feet. According to City Hall records the current owners are Amador and Maria Perez.

      2) Banker John Albert Goble, one of early Tulare's most influential men, built an elegant home at 225 South G Street in 1890. His son, mortician Frank Goble, and eventually grandson Jack Goble, also an undertaker, resided there until 1988. Nothing but redwood was used in its construction and the bricks used in the foundation were made in Tulare.

    The family often moved to the three rooms in the basement during the summer - always a few degrees cooler in those days before the advent of refrigeration. The basement was equipped with a well, hardwood floors and a dumbwaiter. Ailing neighbors were often invited to share the coolness on scorching summer days.

    After the house was abandoned, vandals took over. The beautiful spiral staircase banister was stolen along with anything else that could be removed - even the front door was taken. Both interior and exterior walls were covered with graffiti, all the windows were broken and then boarded up, and fires set several times.

    Sadly, the house no longer exists, a casualty of neglect and the final result of a losing battle waged between the city and the owner, Joanna Goble Myers, the Hawaii-based great-granddaughter of John Albert. The historic house was razed in 1996.

   3) The white house, trimmed in blue, at 304 West Tulare Avenue is generally considered the oldest in Tulare. It was built in 1873 or 1874 as the town house for the Cartmill family. William Cartmill had brought his family to a ranch five miles northwest of the future site of Tulare in 1861, eleven years before the birth of the city.

    The south-facing front door opens into a wide hall with doors leading to the parlor, bedrooms, dining room and kitchen. The hall and parlor still have the original ten-foot ceilings. Bricks salvaged from the original foundation provide the steps to the front door.

    Mary Cartmill (granddaughter of William, daughter of Wooster) was born in 1884 and lived in the house most of her long life. She taught school for a few years before starting a 44-year career with Security National Bank. She moved to Rossmore Village, a retirement home in Walnut Creek, in 1992. She died there in 1995, just two months shy of her 101st birthday. Glen and Nancy Rose are the present owners of this historic house.

    Derryl Dumermuth is a TUHS retired mathematics teacher, author of "A Town Called Tulare" and co-author with his wife, Wanda, of "Tulare Legends and Trivia from A to Z". Both books were written as fund raisers for the Tulare Historical Museum and can be purchased at the museum's gift shop.


1.       1.       457 South H Street

2.       2.       225 South G Street

3.       3.       304 West Tulare Avenue