State of California The Resources Agency Primary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial NRHP Status Code NA Other Listings Review Code Reviewer Date Page 1 of 27 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) 2740 Ruby Avenue Ave, San Jose P1. Other Identifier: *P2. Location: Not for Publication X Unrestricted *a. County Santa Clara and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5' Quad San Jose East Date 1980 T ; R ; of of Sec ; B.M. c. Address 2740 Ruby Ave City San Jose Zip 95148 d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone mE 10,607857 /4132424.37 mN e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) APN 652‐29‐014 NE Corner of Norwood and Ruby Avenue *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) The site is located on the northeast corner of Norwood Dr. and Ruby Avenue in the Evergreen district of San Jose. The surrounding area is fully developed with single‐family residential. Consisting of approximately 1.91 acres, the land has a slight drop to the west. The buildings are the remnants of a fruit ranch and intergenerational family compound of two houses, garages, barns, and sheds. The houses are c. 1956 and a remodeled ancillary building c. 1919, the barns appears to be c. 1910‐1940. The site has landscaping around the houses but is otherwise tilled soil or weeds. The front of the 1959 house is above Ruby Avenue facing to the street while the secondary one faces into the former work yard. Mature trees are around the houses. 2740 Ruby Main House (A) : The mid‐century ranch style house was constructed in 1959 to replace the original ranch house on the property (c.1920). ( Continued on page 3) *P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP 2 single-family house/HP 3 multi- family HP33 Rural Ranch P4. Resources Present: X Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo: (view, date, accession #) Front Façade 2740 Ruby Ave 9/2015 *P6. Date Constructed/Age and Source: x Historic Prehistoric Both Constructed: 1959 Assessor’s records *P7. Owner and Address: Nels Ahulund, Elizabeth Harrington Trustees 1000 Squirrel Creek Pl. Auburn CA 95602 *P8. Recorded by: (Name, affiliation, and address) Bonnie Bamburg Urban Programmers 10710 Ridgeview Avenue San Jose CA 95127 *P9. Date Recorded:10/31/2015 *P10. Survey Type: (Describe) intensive *P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.") None *Attachments: NONE Location Map X Continuation Sheet X Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record DPR 523A (1/95) *Required information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI# BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD *NRHP Status Code 6Z Page 2 of 27 *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) 2740 Ruby Ave., San Jose B1. Historic Name: B2. Common Name: none B3. Original Use: Rural residential and agricultural compound B4. Present Use: Residential *B5. Architectural Style: Mid‐Century Ranch (1 house), c.1919 Cottage, garage and 3 barns *B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations) 1 house1956, 1 house c.1919 and barn c.1910, 1920,1930‐40 *B7. Moved? X No Yes Unknown Date: Original Location: *B8. Related Features: a compound of former agricultural buildings, none of architectural significance. B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Unknown *B10. Significance: Theme Rural architecture Area San Jose Period of Significance 1919-1970 Property Type House & Barn Applicable Criteria NA (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) The residential and agricultural buildings do not represent significant historical resources in San Jose because the buildings on the property lack significant architectural design, workmanship or materials and are not associated with events or persons significant in local history. The Mid‐century Ranch style house is not a fine examples of the style, nor is the much altered earlier c.1919 shed/house a good representative of a rural fruit ranch house. Other buildings are common construction, in poor condition, and do not represent good quality examples of agricultural buildings. In an urban. Without orchards to provide the physical context, the relationship to the fruit economy is lost. Further, the McClay family, through its generations is typical of many families who were part of creating the fruit industry in Santa Clara Valley, 1870‐1945, but are not individually significant or influential to that era, or to the years that followed. The historical context for evaluating the subject property is primarily the Inter War period 1918‐1945 when the family built the fruit ranch facilities on Ruby Avenue and operated fruit orchards. The McClay family is one of the multi‐generational families that were early American settlers in California who found the land to be fertile and started with grazing cattle and changed to orchards that became the economic industry that lead the Santa Clara Valley until the late 1930s. The McClay generations were involved in social organizations that revolved around agriculture but are not credited with innovation or in significant developments in the history of San Jose. (Context is continued on page 3) B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) (Sketch Map with north arrow required.) *B12. References: City & County public documents, Interviews, continued in Sources Consulted B13. Remarks: *B14. Evaluator: Bonnie Bamburg *Date of Evaluation: 11/9/2015 (This space reserved fo r official comments.) DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information State of California TState of California Thehe Resources Agency Resources Agency PrimaPrimary#ry # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONDEPARTMENT OF PARKS HRI # AND RECREATION HRI # Page of *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) CONTINUATION SHEETCONTINUATION 3 Trinomial SHEET Trinomial *Recorded by: Urban Programmers *Date x Continuation Update Page 3 of 27 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) 2740 Ruby Avenue, San Jose *Recorded by: Urban Programmers *Date 11/9/2015 x Continuation Update P3.Description continued 2740 Ruby Avenue. Continued The house exhibits typical characteristics of the late 1950s California Ranch style designed in a chevron form facing onto Ruby Avenue. A long covered porch angles with the form of the building and is supported by square posts. The entry steps are at the end of the porch. Unusual is a low used brick wall across the front and bushes that raise above the wall, likely to shield the porch and windows from the lights of passing cars. The siding is horizontal board. Fenestration is irregular in wood frames, some decorative glazing but most are clear glass. The roof is shake covered. The rear yard includes a linier covered structure (cabana) with storage and a large patio area. The house is a typical version of the California Ranch style. To the rear of the house are remnant agricultural buildings from the time when the property was part of a large fruit orchard. A small house has been created by adding to and remodeling a former shed. The front exhibits an addition, windows, and door that appear without concern for their eras or style‐ home repair store type. Across a wide gravel driveway are the former agricultural barns/garages and sheds that are vacant or used for storage. The largest of the buildings is an equipment barn (c.1920) constructed of vertical wood boards and batt over a center wood structural frame that creates the taller center section and a loft section on the interior. The front of the barn (facing toward Ruby Avenue) has vehicle doors, (plywood) with spring mechanisms that lift up. The sides of the barn are shed style additions that are attached to the center structure and later ones that tag onto the building. The rear façade is a series of rolling doors that open to equipment bays (garage). The roof is corrugated metal sheets. Metal slider windows have been added to the rear. This appears to have always been primarily an equipment barn (garage). A smaller barn/garage is located behind the larger buildings and appears to be c. 1910. This building has a pitched roof and horizontal board siding that has been repaired many times. Currently the wood is pulling away from the structure. Typical of the era the light‐weight barn does not have a foundation. Corrugated metal sheets covers the roof. The building appears to have originally been a garage. Another shed converted to what appears to have been living space and is now general storage is south of the largest barn, this is a combination of sheds attached together. The low sloping roofs and typical board and batt construction appear to have been originally constructed c.1920s. As with the other buildings these are in very poor condition exhibiting sagging and sections that are pulling away from the frame. Landscaping is almost overgrown around the main house. Beyond that, a few mature trees exhist in the interior of the parcel and along the street frontage. Large pads of concrete were part of the working areas during the time it was part of a large fruit orchard and received the fruit for packing and shipping. There are no fruit trees associated with the property and the majority of the site is packed or tilled earth. The property exhibits remnant buildings and surface paved areas of the past era when these buildings were part of an active fruit ranch. The agricultural buildings are not distinctive and appear in poor condition.