Effort set to save historic Carolands gatehouse

Once renovated, the structure would be used as a police communications substation
By Aaron Kinney, SAN MATEO COUNTY TIMES STAFF WRITER

HILLSBOROUGH The subdivision of the Carolands Chateau was meant to be swanky, secluded and, above all, exclusive. The sales pamphlet hammered the message home.
"Each year sees seclusion and privacy being increasingly invaded by the growth, which has been the price of California's fame," read Lang Realty Co.'s 1930 promotional brochure.

"The public is forever barred from Carolands," the brochure assured, emphasizing the "regal" nature of Harriet Pullman's former estate. "(O)ne could almost look to see a Louis of France and his retinue mincing their way against the blue of the California sky."

Standing against the hordes of unwashed proletariat who might swarm onto the grounds was the Carolands gatehouse. The edifice would be "the key to the Carolands' exclusive seclusion," according to the brochure.

The 1,000-square-foot, French-style gatehouse still stands today at the corner of Ralston and Eucalyptus avenues, but it has fallen into disrepair. About a year ago, however, a Hillsborough couple established a fundraising drive to restore the building, which the town was thinking about tearing down.

Hillsborough resident Sally Meakin and her husband, Jim, aim to raise $250,000 the cost of knocking the gatehouse down and rebuilding it, while preserving itsslate roof, chimneys and other stylistic elements. Once renovated, the structure would be used as a police communications substation.

Admirers of the gatehouse say it symbolizes an era when the mansions and estates that dominated Burlingame and Hillsborough were split up and sold off, creating the roads and neighborhoods that residents know today. "Culturally, the subdivision of the Carolands estate was a pivotal time, where the grand mansions were going away and a suburb was being formed," said Burlingame City Councilman Russ Cohen, who is also president of the Burlingame Historical Society.

Of all the mansions overlooking Burlingame, Carolands was the biggest and best-known, according to Mitch Postel, president of the San Mateo County History Museum.

– Written by admin