Community Corner

Grant Road Farm Demolition Underway

SummerHill Homes gets ready to build on what used to be family orchard and pumpkin patch.

More than three years after the Grant Road Farm closed, the last manmade links to the property's agricultural history have come down.

Neighbors stopped in their tracks during their morning walks to watch large trees being uprooted on the 15-acre property on Grant Road and Levin Avenue, where the farm and former orchard, often called "The Pumpkin Patch" had operated for decades.

Pauline King, one of the owners, had gotten short notice that the demolition was going to begin Thursday morning and had rushed to the land where she grew up.

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In the early-morning sunlight, King stood apart, watching the home where she had so many memories of her grandparents. In a matter of hours, heavy demolition equipment would grab and tear at it, leaving a gnarled pile of wood and metal. Her husband and daughter watched, too.

SummerHill Homes is in escrow to purchase the 15 acres and plans to build 53 single-family homes on the site, according to Katia Kamanger, senior vice president of the San Ramon-based SummerHill Homes. There are extensive plans to reuse and recycle much of the construction debris. 

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The man-made history of the farm will soon be a memory, but many of the trees, particularly the oaks, will remain.

Aborists working for SummerHill and the city have separately evaluated which trees could be save and which stood a good chance of being moved and replanted along the subdivision's new configurations, Kamangar said.

Trees were being boxed this week in anticipation of being moved, and neighbors will likely see much activity as debris is removed, downed trees are taken to be mulched or turned into lumber, and live trees are moved around the property. The site will be graded in coming weeks.

"There's more than meets the eye here, that's what's going on," said Bob Weaver, president of the Mountain View Historical Society. Weaver took pictures to document the passage of one era to another. It's not simply a demolition, he said, voicing approval of the extensive reuse and recycling plans. "I think that's very special." 

The future of the property escalated into a heated and often wounding battle in 2007, after the family patriarch, Paul Mardesich, died in 2004 and his daughters made plans to sell the property for development.

The farm had been operated by lessee David Schmitz, who had farmed fresh corn and other produce and ran a popular Halloween pumpkin patch and other seasonal attractions. Those who wanted to see a working farm continue on the property mounted vigorous campaigns to keep 5 acres to operate as an urban farm. Residents voiced concerns for both the passage of Silicon Valley's agricultural past and for the rights of property owners, both senior citizens, to do what they wanted within city planning and zoning regulations.

In 2007, Dave Schmitz, the former lessee of the farm, donated the windmill tower and pump to the Rengstorff House. The windmill, which he had moved to the farm nearly 20 years before, had originally stood near the Rengstorff House on Shoreline Road. Now both are at Shoreline Park.


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