After five years of meetings, proposals, compromises, and design revisions, the Town Council has unanimously approved the new Los Gatos Meadows development.
It’ll be situated on an 11 acre property that was the home of one of our earliest and most prominent citizens, John Weldon Lyndon. While many current Los Gatos residents may not recognize the name, J. W. Lyndon was once thought of as the “Father of Los Gatos.”
His three story Victorian home, called Lyndon Heights, was a magnificent estate with a commanding view of the entire town. It had 24 rooms, six fireplaces, and an elevator, and was painted dark red-orange on the bottom and light yellow-green above.
It cost $12,000 to build in 1886 (about $350,000 today).
Lyndon’s life story is a legendary tale of a young man who arrived in California with only 65 cents in his pocket and amassed great wealth through sheer determination and foresight. He was born in Vermont in 1836 in St. Georges de Clarenceville, Quebec, Canada, circa 1836. His parents, who were subsistence farmers, were unable to support all seven of their children so he was forced to fend for himself beginning as early as age nine. Lyndon found employment on a large farm where he worked for room and board. At age 23, like many ambitious young men of the era, he traveled West to seek his fortune.
(Los Gatos Library and Museum History Project)
Lyndon was too late for the Gold Rush so he took whatever odd jobs he could find, mostly in the San Jose area, working as a ranch hand, ox team driver, and grocery store clerk. The enterprising young man eventually started a general store of his own in the little town of Lexington (which now lies at the bottom of the reservoir). After selling his business in 1869, he had saved enough to purchase 100 acres of land which today would encompass most of the downtown Los Gatos business district.
Although he had little formal education, Lyndon was a shrewd and determined businessman who continued to develop and invest wisely in local real estate. Over the years, he also became quite involved with his adopted community. He was a school trustee, major stockholder in the Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company, charter member of the Los Gatos Bank, and founder of the Los Gatos Gas Company. He was one of the first five members of the Board of Trustees (now the Town Council) when Los Gatos was incorporated in 1887, and served as its President (now Mayor) from 1888-1892.
We know very little about Lyndon’s first wife who died at a young age. In 1872 he married Theresa Rector Starr, daughter of W.H. Rector, one of the early settlers of Oregon. Their daughter, Irma, married J.D. Farwell in 1902 and Lyndon Heights remained in their family until shortly after her death in 1964. The current generation of Farwells still owns a great deal of the commercial property in downtown Los Gatos.
J.W. Lyndon died of heart failure at age 75 in 1912, bringing to an end an amazing rags-to-riches life story. Lyndon Heights, which would undoubtedly be a landmark today, was bulldozed in 1969 and replaced by the original Los Gatos Meadows. All that remains of the once grand estate is the carriage house cupola which was restored by the Farwell family and placed atop the bandstand in Oak Meadow Park.
Alan Feinberg is a local historian and founder of the LOST Gatos Project www.lostgatos.com. His mission is to generate enthusiasm among Los Gatos residents for remembering and preserving our town’s unique character and historic treasures before they’re lost forever. For more Los Gatos history, download the free mobile app Discover LOST Gatos and take a self-guided walking tour through our historic downtown.
—Correction: The name Theresa Rector has been updated to read Theresa Rector Starr.
