2016 HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENT
The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc.
Heritage Award 2016
Vinton L. Gregory Home
720 South Buena Vista Street
1925
Vinton L. Gregory and his wife, Edythe, chose the firm of William E. Farnsworth and William T. Grant to build their $6,500 home on South Buena Vista Street in 1925. Farnsworth chose to use salvage lumber from the old 1892 Mentone Hotel that was torn down in 1920 for the construction framing. Wood from the hotel also built 703 Buena Vista Street and square nails are abundant.
Farnsworth and Grant built a Period Revival home characterized with Tudor “Doll House” features. Returning soldiers from World War I popularized this style with architecture they observed in England and France. The one and a half story home has a gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles. The exterior roof line gable extends into a sweeping bell cast eave. The stucco exterior is broken with half timbers inset in both gables. The larger gable has a window with garden planter below the sill. A large elliptical window faces the front yard.
The first story is graced with an arched brick entry that extends to the foundation and front planter. The front door follows the same arched theme for the quaint cottage feeling. The front porch has a canvas green awning that with the red bricks, white stucco and light green half-timbers displays contracting colors. The south-side gable is matched with a second story window, half-timbering, red-brick fire place and elliptical window matching the street view. The north side of the home has an entry and one bay window. The back side of the home has the benefit of a deck and stairway to the finished attic. The half story attic has a room and bath addition. The swimming pool was completed in 1964 by Mrs. Virginia K. Hoode. The plain detached garage fits the 1925 mold of keeping autos away from the home.
Vinton Gregory was the secretary-manager of Redlands Orangedale Groves Packing House on Nevada Street. Arthur Gregory was the president of Orangedale and the founder of Mutual Orange Distributors in Redlands. He owned Marigold farms with 3,500 cattle, 1,500 acres in the San Bernardino Mountains that encompassed Lake Gregory and built the fifty-room La Posada Hotel in 1930. Vinton Gregory became the manager of the Marigold Dairy in 1916 and manager of the Crafton-Mentone Heights Orange Association in Crafton. Gregory sold the home in 1927 and moved to 216 Grand View Drive.
Harmon and Louella Weaver owned the home to 1939. Edward E. Dow was a Kansas cattleman until arriving in Redlands. He became a funeral director of the Dow Memorial Chapel on Cajon Street and lived here until 1945. From 1945-1951 Gordon and Estelle Donald bought the home. Donald was the third in the Donald family of contractors that built homes in Redlands since 1888. Donald sold to Frederick B. and Betty Garnsey in 1951. Garnsey owned the Rainbow Angling Club fish hatchery that was commenced by his father, Leigh Garnsey, as the Pine Springs Fish Hatchery in 1919.
City building permits list Bert Anderson improving the heating system in 1982 and electrical in 1987. When Terry and Kathleen Clem bought the home in 2008 they shared the classic residence with rats and a leaky roof. This energetic duo revamped the backyard, built a stairway, deck and improved the interior of the home. The 48th Annual YMCA Home Tour featured the home in December 2015 and 1500 visitors toured the residence.
The Redlands Area Historical Society is proud to present this 2016 Heritage Award to the Clem’s for their continued preservation of this unique home.
Researcher: Tom Atchley
Presented 20 June 2016
