San Mateo County Tankhouses

The shingles on this tankhouse and its adjoining dwelling were painted white. The house had red trim and a red entrance door. It was built circa 1920-1930 as part of the German Athletic Club and is located on Edgewood Road in Redwood City, California. The tennis courts were behind the tall linked fence on the right. Elizabeth, an artist, lived in the building and gave painting instruction. She was a gray-haired woman with a terrific attitude. She had fled the Hitler regime and was happy in this new country and her modest home. Her house number was painted on an old, oval, wooden art palette that she nailed to the tree in front.

We were a congenial group of a half dozen painters who met there weekly. We brought our lunches and Elizabeth brought out a half-gallon jug of wine at lunch time. We were free to stay all day. Her own easel was placed directly in front of the large window at the end of the building. She was an interesting woman and a fine instructor. It was always a pleasure to go there.

The removal of the storage tank atop the tankhouse became an excuse for major renovations and a structure of equal size was added to the tankhouse. A conventional roof embraced the tankhouse as well as the new building and doubled the available living space in this unique home. It appeared to have full time renters or family living in it when I sketched it in 1977. The deck area was filled with many potted plants, one of them appeared to be of the hemp family. The house was painted a soft yellow and was tucked among the trees in a nice yard. It is located in Woodside, California.

This simple tankhouse in San Mateo County is just used as a guest house by its owners. The tank has been removed leaving a picturesque, covered viewing platform.

This sturdy tankhouse in Portola Valley, California was built on a low, wide-spreading trestle and served an adjoining large Jelich apple orchard The roof and attractive lattice protected the tank from the warm sun . I drew this tankhouse in 1991.

A group of painters went to the Fleischacker estate in Woodside, California to do some painting. I entered through a gate at the back of the property and was immediately facing a tankhouse. Since I am a tankhouse nut, like some people are schoolhouse, barn and depot nuts, I immediately set up my easel and painted and sketched. It appeared the gardener was using the building for various yard care items. A flat of nursery plants were outside the door on a small table where an old heavy black car battery was stored below.

It was easy to see the top of this windmill as it was just a couple dozen yards from the road and almost the same level as the highway overpass in Redwood City, California.

The 3,000-gallon tank at the top had been in use since 1920 and was filled with water at the time of this drawing in 1977. The low structure, hugging the ground to the right of the building, housed an electric pump which took over the function of the old windmill. The old fellow who lived in the main cottage told me of the time the tank was once overfilled and caused the structure to tilt a bit because the ground beneath it was not stable. After that, they were careful to watch the water level in the tank.

He had spent a lifetime in the Merchant Marine, which explained the port and starboard running lights, anchors, chains and helmsman's steering wheel nailed to the tankhouse exterior wall. There was more maritime memorabilia scattered about the yard. Somewhere in his journeys he had collected a hula girl made from two coconut shells. It was tattered and covered with soot and dangled, forlornly frayed, from the clothesline pole.

I made three trips to draw at this location. By then I had learned that he shared the house with an unsmiling man who I believe was his aging brother. Sharing a house didn't mean they had to be on speaking terms. I noticed that one fellow used only the front door and the other man used the back door. I never heard them exchange a word, even if they were out in the small yard at the same time. Perhaps I just happened to be there on days when they were not communicating, or maybe by the time they reached that age they had nothing new to say to each other.

In the early 1990's, the tankhouse was hauled to a piece of land adjoining a grammar school where it was reassembled. In the year 2000-2001 it was hoisted by a 50-foot crane onto a flatbed truck and hauled away in the early morning hours to be restored and have a place of honor in a public park. It is a well-traveled tankhouse.

The water tank was overflowing on the day of this drawing in 1977. The tankhouse is located near the Senior Center in Redwood City, California. The older woman resident, wearing a flowered dress, talked to me as I drew, telling me of the wonderful times she had years ago when her family lived there. Her eyes filled with tears as she relived those memories. A small sleeping room was located at the top of the tankhouse stairway. The building was demolished in 1995. The San Francisco 49ers Pro Football team leased a building and a football field two-hundred yards away from where I sat to sketch and a couple of them stopped by to see what I was drawing.

This well-maintained tankhouse, with rooftop television antenna, was located in the back part of some property in Woodside, California. It was painted a deep redwood color and featured two small pop-out additions. It was used occasionally as a guest house when I sketched it in 1977. The addition on the right was a small kitchenette and the bathroom was in the addition on the left. The owner took me inside to see these cozy quarters. There was a big, round, oak table in the center of the pleasant living room just inside the front door.