Immigrant House

Immigrant House. . , This two-room dwelling, today known as the Immigrant House, was originally located at 166 Bryant Street. It was built in the 1880s with redwood from the Santa Cruz Mountains and restored to a modest style of the 1920s, where the front room served as the bedroom, and the back room the kitchen. Typical of its day, the house exterior walls are board and batten construction and inside, wallpaper was placed directly onto these boards. A sample of one of five original layers of wallpaper remains visible through the window. A stove in the front parlor was likely used for cooking and heating until electricity became available after the turn of the century. Saved in 2013 and temporarily stored at the City of Mountain View maintenance yard, the Immigrant House was relocated to this site in 2016 and has been preserved in memory of Mountain View's immigrant and agricultural past. , The Immigrant Story , The community of Mountain View has always been diverse. Starting with the founding of Mountain View, immigrants came from China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and Yugoslavia to "The Valley of Heart's Delight" to work in the orchards, canneries, and farms. , This house provided a low-cost place to live for some of those working immigrants like George Marinovich (Yugoslavia); Joseph Ruano (Spain); Charles Holland; and C. E. Irizarry. In the 1930s and 40s, the cost to rent the Immigrant House was $11 per month ($151 in 2016 dollars). The 1930 U.S. Census reported that nine out of 10 heads of household in the 100 block of Bryant Street were immigrants. , photo captions: , (Above) California Redwood tree. , (Right) House at original location, 166 Bryant Street, circa 1992. , (Below) In this panoramic photo, the Immigrant House is shown at its original location. Despite the apparent density, Mountain View was still quite rural in the 1920s, with stables, hay barns, and water tanks right in downtown. , This is a handwritten note from George Marinovich to his English language teacher when he moved into 166 Bryant Street (1926).