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| The so-called parcel of land the Tank House currently sits on is not a separate parcel from the Mansion; it is an integral part of the Mansion property and grounds (many would disagree with this assessment), and also includes the ten of the 13 remaining over-100-year-old orange trees (the trees were part of the gardens, not an agricultural operation; the oldest 25 were probably planted by the Stelling family around 1888.) Water for the trees & gardens were supplied from the Tank House by two hydrants, one on each side of the Mansion. Having the tank mounted on top of the two-story high structure provided enough water pressure for the system to be capable of supplying water to the 2nd floor of the house as well. A 1899 ad for the property described the "water pipes throughout grounds and house" as a prominent feature; it short, a state-of-the-art Victorian era water supply sytem. | The so-called parcel of land the Tank House currently sits on is not a separate parcel from the Mansion; it is an integral part of the Mansion property and grounds, and also includes the ten of the 13 remaining over-100-year-old orange trees (the trees were part of the gardens, not an agricultural operation; the oldest 25 were probably planted by the Stelling family around 1888.) Water for the trees & gardens were supplied from the Tank House by two hydrants, one on each side of the Mansion. Having the tank mounted on top of the two-story high structure provided enough water pressure for the system to be capable of supplying water to the 2nd floor of the house as well. A 1899 ad for the property described the "water pipes throughout grounds and house" as a prominent feature; it short, a state-of-the-art Victorian era water supply sytem. |
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| It is a false distinction to say that the Tank House and orange trees are 'not listed,' as is sometimes recently asserted. (Many would disagree with this statement) The fruit trees, tank house, cistern and gardens were important parts of the significance and setting of the Mansion specifically cited in the documentation (not just a "city report") that was submitted to qualify the entire complex as a whole for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (Buidling #76000540), as well as cited in the City designation as a Landmark Historic Resource. These auxiliary and supporting features are as integral to the Mansion as its architectural style. | It is a false distinction to say that the Tank House and orange trees are 'not listed,' as is sometimes recently asserted. The fruit trees, tank house, cistern and gardens were important parts of the significance and setting of the Mansion specifically cited in the documentation (not just a "city report") that was submitted to qualify the entire complex as a whole for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (Buidling #76000540), as well as cited in the City designation as a Landmark Historic Resource. These auxiliary and supporting features are as integral to the Mansion as its architectural style. |
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| Construction of the building would require removal (or relocation) of the Tank House and orange trees, both (as explained above) contributing features of a Nationally and locally listed Landmark. (Note that under CEQA and city ordinance, moving a historic structure to another location is the equivalent of demolition). (By this logic, though, the Pump House has already been demolished, then, hasn't it?) The Davis Historic Resources Management Commission ruled that the project was likely to cause a significant impact on the Landmark, namely the Mansion, by removing important auxiliary features and eliminating a substantial part of the original "context" (open space, landscaping, siting). This requires that an EIR be prepared. The EIR will also assess possible impact to the Varsity (also a city Landmark, and eligible for national listing) of the proposed 3 story building,which would be as tall as the theatre, historically the tallest structure on the block for over 50 years. | Construction of the building would require removal of the Tank House and orange trees, both (as explained above) contributing features of a Nationally and locally listed Landmark. (Note that under CEQA and city ordinance, moving a historic structure to another location is the equivalent of demolition). The Davis Historic Resources Management Commission ruled that the project was likely to cause a significant impact on the Landmark, namely the Mansion, by removing important auxiliary features and eliminating a substantial part of the original "context" (open space, landscaping, siting). This requires that an EIR be prepared. The EIR will also assess possible impact to the Varsity (also a city Landmark, and eligible for national listing) of the proposed 3 story building,which would be as tall as the theatre, historically the tallest structure on the block for over 50 years. |
The term "Tank House" refers to three different structures in Davis. The first Tank House (in recent years sometimes called "the pump house," a misnomer) refers to the somewhat pyramid-looking building in the little grove of orange trees between the Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer House and the Varsity Theatre downtown. The second is the brown wooden structure by Ricci Farm in South Davis. The third is the Barovetto tank house (209 2nd Street).
Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer-Mansion Tank House
Bottom of the front of the DHB Mansion Tank House. The orange trees surrounding the tank house are over 100 years old.
The Mansion Tank House, also known as the "Downtown Tank House" is located on 2nd Street between the Varsity Theatre and the Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer House. As part of the city-owned Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer Mansion Landmark complex, the Mansion Tank House is over 120 years old. It is part of the original infrastructure of the Mansion property, which included fruit trees (35 orange trees plus other varieties), gardens, a corral and stable for horses, a cistern for soft water (rain water) collection, and the tank house for well water.
The building is sometimes referred to as the "Pump house', but this is a misnomer: the Tank House never housed a pump or a tank inside. It was built as a "tank house," that is, a specialized structure engineered to support a water tank on top, which was removed when Davis built a regular city water system. What now looks like a flat roof is actually a tank deck constructed of heavy timbers (4x12's) designed to support several tons of water in a round redwood tank. The water was pumped to the tank on top by a windmill attached to the side of the structure. (Wind power! The windmill may even have been made locally, as there was a Sinclair Windmill Company located on the east side of the railroad.) The tank may have had a roof over it and something like open latticed walls around it, or it may have been simply enclosed by at most a railing around the edge of the deck, probably the latter. The water pipe from the tank usually ran down inside the tank house, and sometimes a stove was installed inside a tank house to keep the pipes from freezing in winter, although perhaps not necessary in Davis.
The pyramidal shape of the Tank House is part of the structural design that enabled it to support the weight of the water tank and to resist the consequent overturning moment produced by having a high center of gravity because most of the weight was on top when the tank was full. The construction is of the type common to the period known as 'balloon framing', with full height vertical 4x4 studs and 1x10 bevel-channel shiplap siding similar to that used on the Mansion. The board siding is not just to fill in the open sides, it is essential to the strength of the structure, as there is no cross bracing such as is used with an open tower tank support. About 3600 board feet of virgin redwood was used to build the structure, which originally had at most only three openings in the sides: a door, a window and an exit hole for a stovepipe.
Tank House Decorations
Originally located near the corral, some 75 ft south of its present location (it was moved north so the south half of the original Mansion grounds could be developed into the Mansion Square retail building), the Tank House water system served the entire Mansion property as was typical of large urban properties. Unlike utilitarian rural or farm tank houses, it was decorated with Gothic medallions on each of the four sides (one has been destroyed, and a second one damaged by cutting part of it away to put in an air conditioner during the first "adaptive reuse"), and given a fancy cornice to match the Italianate house. Since tank houses were enclosed structures, the lower level especially was convenient for use for storage or sometimes even for basic housing for a servant.
The Mansion Grounds
The so-called parcel of land the Tank House currently sits on is not a separate parcel from the Mansion; it is an integral part of the Mansion property and grounds, and also includes the ten of the 13 remaining over-100-year-old orange trees (the trees were part of the gardens, not an agricultural operation; the oldest 25 were probably planted by the Stelling family around 1888.) Water for the trees & gardens were supplied from the Tank House by two hydrants, one on each side of the Mansion. Having the tank mounted on top of the two-story high structure provided enough water pressure for the system to be capable of supplying water to the 2nd floor of the house as well. A 1899 ad for the property described the "water pipes throughout grounds and house" as a prominent feature; it short, a state-of-the-art Victorian era water supply sytem.
Adaptive Re-Use of a historic structure: How Not to Do It
It is a false distinction to say that the Tank House and orange trees are 'not listed,' as is sometimes recently asserted. The fruit trees, tank house, cistern and gardens were important parts of the significance and setting of the Mansion specifically cited in the documentation (not just a "city report") that was submitted to qualify the entire complex as a whole for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (Buidling #76000540), as well as cited in the City designation as a Landmark Historic Resource. These auxiliary and supporting features are as integral to the Mansion as its architectural style.
Originally the Mansion property occupied four lots of the original Davisville town layout, or nearly a quarter block. The main rooms of the Mansion, including the two front parlors, were oriented toward 2nd Street and eastward toward the orange trees in the form of two bay windows - unusual for even a house of that size- to enjoy the gardens. The house turns its back on E Street; the "back porch" faces that way, where the cistern (the round brick thingy) for storing rain water runoff from the house roof is located (even early Davisville had some environmentally friendly or "sustainable" ways of doing things!). The cistern would have had a large hand pump mounted on top. (Soft rain water was preferred to hard well water for laundering fine linens, washing glassware, etc., the water would have been screened but also usually boiled first, since it came off the roof - think "pigeons".)
Before the city water system was built, the residential areas of old downtown Davis at one time had about a dozen such urban tank houses with windmill pumps. (In 1911 there were 32 elevated tanks, 18 tank houses, 15 of them at residences, the remainder of the tanks on open frame tank stands.) Although all the largest Davis residences had a tank house, only one other besides the Mansion Tank House remains in town proper, the much later (c. 1925) rather plain Barovetto tank house (209 2nd Street), which has been significantly altered and remodeled into a residence (see below).
When moved from its original location in 1978, the Tank House was essentially intact except for some damage of the lower edge due to rot from bad drainage. About 1-1/2 to 2 rows of siding and the bottom of the studs were removed when it was installed on a raised concrete slab at the present site. The current lamentable state of the Mansion Tank House is the result of badly executed 'adaptive reuse' projects that allowed water to seep into the walls, causing rot to the lower parts of the studs and siding, followed by ten years of neglect and lack of maintenance or repair while owned by the City of Davis. The 2000 city condemnation "for occupancy" was based on a structural engineers' report that principally addressed the potential hazard of occupying the second floor (added in 1978, not part of the original structure or use) as an office. Ironically, Davis City Code 40.23.180 requires the owner or person in charge of a designated historical resource to keep it in good repair to prevent deterioration or decay that threatens the structural or historical integrity of the resource.
Construction of the Mansion Square retail building south of the Mansion required clearing over half of the original grounds, including removal of 34 trees (walnut, almond, lime, cherry, orange, fig). A city Landmark Tree, the huge Digger Pine near the Mansion Square entry sign on E Street was saved.
What does the Future hold for the Mansion and its supporting infrastructure?
The City of Davis Request for Proposals for use of the Varsity Theatre included an option to submit a project proposal for the brick patio area occupied by the orange trees and Tank House and/or the Mansion itself. The winning proposal for the Theatre, by Novakovic and Fenske included a proposal by Mishka's Cafe owner Sinisa Novakovic to build a new 3-story building occupying the brick patio where the Tank House is located (essentially the whole area inside the green metal fence, from the west wall of the Varsity to the brick walkway next to the Mansion.) The Mansion itself and the rest of the gardens were not included in the proposal.
The building would house a new Mishka's Cafe on the ground floor and two floors of office space. The City has entered an exclusive negotiating agreement with Novakovic for this project.
Construction of the building would require removal of the Tank House and orange trees, both (as explained above) contributing features of a Nationally and locally listed Landmark. (Note that under CEQA and city ordinance, moving a historic structure to another location is the equivalent of demolition). The Davis Historic Resources Management Commission ruled that the project was likely to cause a significant impact on the Landmark, namely the Mansion, by removing important auxiliary features and eliminating a substantial part of the original "context" (open space, landscaping, siting). This requires that an EIR be prepared. The EIR will also assess possible impact to the Varsity (also a city Landmark, and eligible for national listing) of the proposed 3 story building,which would be as tall as the theatre, historically the tallest structure on the block for over 50 years.
An Initial Study, historic review, and public scoping meeting for the EIR have been completed (comments accepted through July 14, 2006). The next stage will be the Draft EIR, which will include alternative projects in addition to the proposed office building. (Alternatives may include "No Project / do nothing.") Interested parties can contact Ken Hiatt at the City Planning Dept., who is in charge of EIR preparation.
Ricci Tank House
The Tank House
Nearby sign about the Tank House
This tank house once supplied water for the animals and crops of the Ricci Farm in South Davis. It would have drawn water (probably by windmill power) from the adjacent north fork of Putah Creek, which used to be the main flow of the creek until it was diverted in 1948.
Today it stands watch over the Putah Creek Greenbelt.
Barovetto Tank House - 209 2nd Street
This plain tank house has been remodeled into small house. Unlike the Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer tank house, where the tank probably sat on an open deck, the top level where the tank was located in this tank house may have had a roof and been enclosed originally, or or it may have completely enclosed at some later time to make a room. Davis had both styles. The heavy timber 'tank deck' supporting the tank would have been where the profile of the sides goes from sloping to straight up, where the floor of the third story is now. The windmill (the 'pump') could have either been attached to the side of the top story or located on its own open timber tower beside it, with the water line running overhead from the windmill tower to the tank. The Barovetto Tank House is a City of Davis designated Historic Merit Resource Historic Place.
See also
Comments:
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2006-02-12 14:15:07 While I'm not a Davis old-timer, I wonder why they suddenly started calling [the downtown house] the 'Tank House'— everyone at the city (and the Varsity) always seemed to call it the "pump house"— that made sense; it seems to have contained pumps, not tanks (unlike the real tank-house). I'm not going to miss the pump house. Its position looks rather contrived (because it is), and it's obviously falling apart. If it is transformed into a multi-use retail center, this might be good for bringing more business to that strech of 2nd St. However, it looks like the owner of Mishka's is taking a lead in the project. One wonders whether or not this will be Mishka's #2 (that perhaps takes credit cards!?) or perhaps Mishka's just wants to move into a larger space but stay in the same basic location? —JaimeRaba
