Historic Homes

Historic Home Detail | 13

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Address

314 E 11th Street
Upland, CA 91786

Evaluation

Building
4/27/2007

Construction Date

1910

Current Owner

Wendell E. and Francis L. Harmon

Current Owner Address

314 e 11th st
Upland, CA 91786

Description

Occupying the southeast corner of Third Avenue and Eleventh Street, this is a one-and-one-half story Craftsman bungalow. Its side gable roof is oriented with the ridgeline parallel to Eleventh Street, establishing the primary elevation on the north. A large gabled dormer is offset to the west over the facade, its roof overhang supported by three braces. A band of four casement windows fills the dormer. Cobblestone piers and porch walls define the original dimensions of the porch. Recessed across the facade, it has been enclosed on its eastern half. The entry, abutting the enclosure, contains a handsome oak door pierced by channels of beveled glass. Extended lintels with angled ends cap the doorway and window openings. The building, which has been re-sided with asphalt shingled, is in fairly good condition and is surrounded by greenery. Significant for its association with a prominent citizen of Upland, this house may have been built in stages. The assessment record is inconclusive as to its original construction. Originally part of a large section of the east 3 112 or 4 acres of Ontario Colony Lands lot 555, the property passed from the Magnolia Land and Water Company to Jonathan and Louisa Wood in 1905. From 1907 to 1909 it was assessed to Mary C. Springer. Educator Merton e. Hill acquired the property in 1910-11. the 1912 Sanborn illustrates a one-story building with an L-shaped porch at the corner. Addresses attached to the parcel at that time included 792 North Third and 414 East Eleventh. In the 1912-13 directory, Hill, the principal of Chaffey Union High School, was located at 792 Third. A $900 assessment value in 1915 confirms the existence of an improvement. The 1928 Sanborn shows a one-and-one-half story house with a porch across the north elevation, and addresses 798 North Third, and 400,406, and 414 East Eleventh.

Hill was a popular and respected member of the community. He had come to Upland from Garden Grove in 1906 and was named the first principal of the brand new Upland Elementary School in 1908. He became the first principal of Chaffey Union High School in 1911 and remained in that position for 20 years. During his tenure at Chaffey, Hill was instrumental in the establishment of Chaffey Junior College. In 1931, Hill was appointed director of admissions at the University of California at Berkeley. Other posts held by Hill included superintendent of the California Federation of Junior Colleges, professor of education at Berkeley, and interim superintendent of the Beverly Hills High School district. The author of several books and articles in the education field, Hill died in 1970 in Laguna Beach to where he had retired (Sun Telegram, 7/5/64; Daily Report, 3/9/76; Upland Courier, 1/8/70).