In 1904, Dr. Renselaer Smith moved to Milpitas from Redlands, having bought the practice from Dr. William L. Wilson, who had hung out his shingle as the first doctor to practice in Milpitas in 1894. The house was built in 1915 by Dr. Smith, Milpitas' second doctor, to serve as his office and home. It is in the prairie style design first made popular by Frank Lloyd Wright in the early twentieth century. For many years the lot to the south of the main house was the location of a fresh produce stand operated by Dr. Smith's son, Renselaer Smith, Jr.
In 1947, the DeVries family bought this elegant six bedroom house at
the north end of Main Street. Dr. Smith's family moved to
southern California. The City of Milpitas acquired the property
in 1995 from the de Vries
family. The
process for listing of the mansion on the National Register of Historic
Places was begun but never completed. It is the sole
prairie style house from the pre-World War I era remaining in Santa
Clara County.
In January, 2007, the house was stripped of its stucco skin and was
covered in plastic sheets awaiting relocation on the site. Its
fate is to be an office and center for the residents of the neighboring
high rise senior housing apartment buildings. Bought by $2.5 millions
of Milpitans tax dollars from the De Vries family, it was given away to
the
company that will build and operate these apartments. The citizens of
Milpitas are generally not permitted to use or visit the Smith/deVries
house although limited use may be negotiated.
All photos shown on this page are historical since the original
appearance of the mansion, the trees, and the grounds have been
destroyed.
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