The History of 169 W. Santa Clara Street

Krause Taylor Associates resides in the historic Lyndon Building. It was built in 1881 by the Lyndon family, early pioneers who were well respected businessmen and politicians in the small vineyard town of San Jose.

Our portion of the building was once the home of the San Jose Mercury News, then known as The San Jose Times. The Times was owned by J.J. Owen, the driving force behind the construction of a 282-foot light tower at the intersection of Santa Clara and Market Streets. The Electric Tower was the first structure of its kind, preceding the Eiffel Tower by many years. However, the Electric Tower was also the center of controversy, as migrating birds crashed into it and surrounding farmers complained that their chickens refused to roost because of the light that beamed from the structure. The Tower eventually fell due to heavy winds in 1915.

From the 1800s well into the middle of the 20th Century, Santa Clara Street was the bustling center of California’s first capital city, serving as the main passageway to the Mission at Santa Clara. For the early Spanish settlers, as well as townspeople, it became a hub. Next to the Lyndon building, in the basement of what is now AP Stump’s Restaurant, were the famous wine cellars of Paul Masson. Masson, who began the world-famous commercial wine business in this valley, held the only liquor license in the United States during Prohibition for what he deemed “medicinal” champagne.

The Lyndon Building sits squarely in the block owned by The Farmers Union Partnership, operated in the 1940s and 1950s by John P. McEnery and philanthropist, Robert F. Benson. It was originally a grower’s cooperative and bank serving the old agrarian valley since 1874. They fought hard to maintain San Pedro Square as a lively area, as the downtown was slowly dying after World War II. The rapid suburbanization of the valley put inexorable pressure on the old commercial and spiritual center of the Santa Clara Valley, the Valley of Heart’s Delight. In the 1970s, the McEnery family began the difficult transition of the area into a San Pedro Square Restaurant Row. Tom McEnery became mayor of the city in the 1980s and his administration led the revitalization of the lively downtown that is evident today.

In mid-1999, Banducci Associates, an imaginative downtown San Jose architectural firm, designed this portion of the Lyndon building for KTA. The firm carefully preserved the historic brick walls and plank floors from the original building, while creating a workspace as contemporary as KTA’s cutting-edge clients. San Jose-based XL Construction was responsible for the buildout, with Hyland and Associates, also of San Jose, creating the workspaces and cabinetry.

Krause Taylor Associates hopes to create a new chapter in San Jose history and continue the rich tradition that lies in this building and on this block well into the next century. Just as the old Farmers Union and the early precursor of the San Jose Mercury served and informed the sun-kissed valley of the 19th and 20th century, so too will KTA provide the services and support for the explosive, new information age of the 21st century.