A Return to the Historic Petree House - This Time for a Tour!

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #64
By Tonya Graham McQuade

On the front porch of the Petree House, located at 102 S. 12th Street in San Jose

Back in September 2024, I wrote about my family connections to the historic Petree House in San Jose’s Naglee Park. That blog post (see THIS LINK) became the basis for the first chapter in my new book, Frank and Nora’s Historic Honeymoon Adventure: A Travelogue through the West with a “Time Travel” Twist, which is now available on Amazon. 

The house holds a special place in my heart because my great grandparents, William Francis "Frank" Traughber and Nora Elma Petree, were married there on August 17, 1905. Located at 102 S. 12th Street, the house belonged to Nora’s brother Louis Edward Petree, who was a San Jose attorney. He had the house built in 1903, right across from his good friend Paul Shoup’s new house, located at 101 S. 12th Street. The two men later helped to found the city of Los Altos.

The house as it looked in August 1905 (the writing is my father’s)

When I learned back sometime around 2006 that the house was still standing, my father and I went to see it during one of his visits. We knocked on the door, and the owners let us take a quick peek inside from the entry way. We showed them some photos we had of the house, as well as the news article that described the wedding, then we took some photos on the front porch before leaving.

I still had a desire, though, to get a more thorough look at the house, and when the new owners (who took possession of the house in 2008) made the offer many years ago to give me a tour, I tucked it away as something I wanted to do when my father was here again for a visit. Somehow the years passed by without me following up, but two weeks ago, we finally got that tour thanks to the house’s owner Seamus Turner.

Seamus and his wife reached out to me back in 2012 to let me know that the previous owners had given them the photos and wedding article I had sent after our previous visit. In his initial letter, Seamus said that he and his wife “especially enjoyed the exterior picture of the house shortly after completion … [since their] goal with this property is to bring it back to its original glory, and having the photo for reference is a great asset.” They also did the required legwork to have the house listed as a San Jose Historic Landmark known as the Petree House on Jan. 1, 2010 (HL09-185). More details about all this are in my earlier blog post.

Seamus standing on the front porch of the house as it looks today

Since my dad joined Mike and me on our recent visit to Southern California, I knew he would be in town, so I reached out to Seamus. He let me know he, too, had retired, and that he and his wife would soon be putting the house on the market. So, I was glad we could squeeze in this tour before their moving day! I can only hope whoever buys the house will appreciate its history and maintain it as well as Seamus and his wife have done.

What follow are many photos I took during our tour. I was especially excited to see the fireplace, which appears in the old photos in Frank and Nora’s scrapbook. It is clear that Seamus and Jennifer put a lot of work into “bringing the house back to its original glory,” which they had earlier specified as their goal, and while some modifications and additions have been made to the house, much of it is original — including much of its beautiful woodwork.

These stairs lead to the second floor from the entryway.

This Front Office looks out on the Shoup House across the street.

The house is very well lit by its many windows. I especially loved the giant bay windows in the Office and the Dining Room. There is also a sun room on the front corner of the house that used to be part of a wrap-around porch.

This Sun Room used to be part of a wrap-around porch.

This is the fireplace that appears in the photos from Frank and Nora’s wedding.

Here you can see the fireplace all decorated for the wedding, as it looked before the bricks were painted; the mantel is the same.

This is the Dining Room - the built-in buffet on the right is original and used to have a “pass through” space from the kitchen

One of the upstairs bedrooms - this one probably served as a nursery since the door on the left opens to the master bedroom.

Looking down on the entryway - don’t you love all the woodwork?

The earlier photo of the Dining Room shows some books on the table. One of those books includes two pages about the Petree House, which describe the house’s architects, original owners, and many of the 2,400 sq. ft. house’s original features, including “plaster walls, coved ceilings, ceiling medallions, baseboards, picture moldings, pocket doors, a built-in dining room buffet, softwood flooring and wide wood trim on doors and windows,” as well as “the original fireplace … with mirror inset.”

The Petree House is described as “one of the more distinctive Wolfe & McKenzie designs within greater San Jose.”

There are four bedrooms and two full baths in the Petree House.

The kitchen has been remodeled and expanded and includes vintage-style cabinets and hardware and a refurbished Wedgewood stove.

We also got a look at the backyard, where a three-car garage has been added. Below is a view of one of the side yards, with a view of the house from the back. On the other side can be found a set of stairs that lead to a large, reinforced, almost full basement below the house, which adds a huge amount of storage space. I think more houses need basements like that!

I love the color scheme and all the succulents around the house.

The view of the house as we headed back to our car

I have to say, I’m glad I finally got a close look at 102 S. 12th Street in San Jose. Thanks, Seamus!