Waverley Street, 3449 (Palo Alto, California)

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This house has a bit of a history: the original owner lived in it from the time it was built in the 1930's until shortly before his death. In the 1930's, you could see all the way out to the Baylands from here. He became a real estate agent and sold most of the other houses on the block. He added a large addition onto the back. After the children (who were all very well-educated and successful) had grown up and left, it was just he and his wife. In 1999, they had an old space heater on the first floor and it caused a fire which destroyed the back of the house. The fire was quite dramatic as the second floor of the addition was primarily a library. The neighbors were asked to briefly evacuate in case this rare Palo Alto fire spread. It was even in the local newspaper, the Palo Alto Daily, where it was front-page news for that day. The old man soon became ill, was hospitalized and died and the wife moved into a nursing home. The children kept ownership of the house and rebuilt the addition.