Hayes Mansion Papers, 1979-1981

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Summary

Title:
Hayes Mansion Papers
Dates:
1979-1981
Abstract:
Papers document efforts circa 1979-1981 to preserve the Hayes Mansion in San Jose, California. Includes grant proposals and related documents, background on the mansion and Mary Hayes Chynoweth, City Council minutes and City Ordinances, records of the Association to Save Hayes Mansion, and many photographs of the exterior and interior of the mansion.
Extent:
1.0 Linear feet
Language:
and The materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

Hayes Mansion Papers 1993-122, History San Jose Research Library, San Jose, California 95112-2599.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers document efforts circa 1979-1981 to preserve the Hayes Mansion in San Jose, California. Includes grant proposals and related documents, background on the mansion and Mary Hayes Chynoweth, City Council minutes and City Ordinances, records of the Association to Save Hayes Mansion, and many photographs of the exterior and interior of the mansion.

Arranged in four series, the first series of background papers covers proposals for Monterey Park, creation of Eden Vale Historic District Committee and related City Council minutes. The second series of supplementary information and materials for the proposal to save the mansion includes a biography of Mary Hayes Chynoweth by Jane Bullis, a pictorial essay of the mansion, black and white and color photographs, grants-in-aid procedural guidelines, notes and expense reports. The third series contains a copy of the Historic Grants-in-Aid Proposal dated June, 1979. The last series contains the records of the Association to Save Hayes Mansion: correspondence, minutes and by-laws, notes, clippings and petitions.

Biographical / historical:

According to The Gem of Edenvale, by Nancy L. Newlin, the Hayes mansion was originally build in 1905 to replace a Queen Anne Victorian on the same site in the Edenvale neighborhood of San Jose, California. It served as a the residence for the Hayes family, whose matriarch, Mary Hayes Chynoweth, was a community healer and spiritual guide. Both the original Victorian home, built in 1891, and the later Meditteranean-inspired mansion, completed in 1905, were designed by architect George Page.

In 1953 the Hayes family decided to sell the mansion. Forty acres of the estate were eventually turned into the amusement park, Frontier Village, which opened in 1961 and closed in 1980.

in 1975 the mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1979 Bren Corporation purchased forty-three acres on the west side of the mansion for real estate development. Velma Lisher, who had been a caretaker resident of the mansion and had spent considerable personal effort to prevent deterioration, prepared a Historic Preservation Grant-in-Aid proposal. Her intention was to rehabilitate the mansion for senior citizen housing. The San Jose City Council, in 1979, voted to allow condominium development on the Frontier Village property as long as the mansion was rehabilitated and preserved as an Historic resource.

In 1980 Frontier Village closed, and in 1980 the Eden Vale Historic District Committee was founded to persuade the city to form a historic district to offer further protection for the mansion, an action that failed. Through the efforts of the San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission, the mansion was declared a city landmark in 1981. Eventually, in 1991 the mansion was proposed for development as a premier meeting center and restaurant and in 2004 it operated as the Dolce Hayes Mansion under Dolce International.

Acquisition information:
The papers were donated to History San Jose by Judy Stabile, who served on the San Jose Historic Landmarks Committee in the early 1980s and was later a San Jose City Council Member.
Processing information:

The papers were processed in 2007 by History San Jose staff.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:
Newlin, N. L. (2005). The gem of edenvale: the historic hayes mansion of san jose, california. (Second ed.). San Jose: Renasci Publications.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by History San Jose
Date Prepared:
09/22/2011
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-09-24T09:11-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

Materials are open to the public for research by appointment.

Terms of access:

Property rights reside with History San Jose. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact History San Jose Research Library.

Preferred citation:

Hayes Mansion Papers 1993-122, History San Jose Research Library, San Jose, California 95112-2599.

Location of this collection:
1661 Senter Road
San Jose, CA 95112, US
Contact:
(408) 287-2290
research@historysanjose.org
Website