Santa Clara County Tankhouses
De Anza Tankhouse
A few top-heavy sunflowers, some old farm equipment, a pile of rocks and a massive caterpillar tractor certainly set this tankhouse apart from the others. A long shelf lined with pigeon nesting boxes was placed under the eaves of the little shed in back. The interesting tilted window and the electrical service lines led me to believe the structure was used as a part time dwelling or office. It was located near a major thoroughfare in Santa Clara County in California.
Palo Alto Tankhouse
This charming red tankhouse with white trim had a small pop-out stained glass window in the front. It was located within a couple blocks of the Stanford University Campus in Palo Alto, California and was very probably used as a rental unit for students. Someone had enclosed the sloping roof of the lean-to addition with a shingled half-wall. The bamboo blinds stretched on that overhead lattice converted that sloping roof into an area for studying and sunbathing. The building has been removed or demolished since this drawing was made in 1986.
Milpitas Tankhouse
The red paint was peeling from this huge wooden tank in Milpitas, California when I made this drawing in 1980. The unpainted redwood buildings had aged to a silver gray. The spreading legs of the huge trestle allowed room to garage a small car.
Cranberry Manor Tankhouse
This tankhouse was beautifully maintained and painted a sparkling white. It nestled in a well-manicured garden in Sunnyvale, California. The curtains made it appear to be used occasionally as an office, studio or guest house.
Cranston Tankhouse
This very tall structure, built in 1917, oversees the remnants of a small orchard in the hills above Los Altos, California. It is one of the few that I have seen with a stucco masonry exterior finish. It was unpainted and looked like gray cement.
Watsonville Tankhouse
This unusual tankhouse was visible from the main highway near Watsonville, California when I drew it in 1980. The roof supports of the main house coordinate with those of the tankhouse. I had never before seen this shape of roof on a tankhouse. They made an attractive pair.
Cupertino Tankhouse
This carefully tended red and white tankhouse once provided water storage for a ranch but it is now part of a park in Cupertino, California. The children's bike racks are in place outside the adjacent Youth Activities Building.
Palo Alto Tankhouse II
The front view of the now-demolished Palo Alto tankhouse.
The Convent Tankhouse
The apricot orchard provides a peaceful setting for this tankhouse in Los Altos Hills, California. It sits amidst the orchard on property used by a Convent whose members take vows of silence. I noticed stretched canvasses leaning against the wall in the latticed upper level tank area and concluded there was an artist nun in the group at the time I did this drawing in 1980.
Martha K. Lynn Tankhouse
I could see this tall red tankhouse from the freeway as I drove through the Los Altos Hills area in California and located it after a scouting trip through winding roads. The little hill provided an ideal setting for such a nicely designed building and the height must have rewarded the owners with fine water pressure. It is situated near the stables and tennis courts of a Country Club. It was built in 1906 and is known as the Martha K. Lynn Tankhouse.