Snuggled Under a Camphor Tree

Snuggled beneath the canopy of a magnificent camphor tree sits a trim one-and-a-half story home that belies its age. The home was built in 1905 at the beginning of the Craftsman era, and one suspects that the tree was planted at the same time. Craftsman homes are characterized by a low-pitched gable roof with wide eaves and decorative braces beneath. These homes were the most popular style here in the decades before the 1925 earthquake. After the quake, Spanish Colonial Revival became the dominant style. Surprisingly, this home retains its original natural-color redwood exterior. Redwood was used inside the home as well. An informal boulder-lined path winding through the front yard adds to the charm.

Camphor trees were recommended by the famous botanist Dr. Francesco Franceschi in a 1902 article in the Santa Barbara Morning Press. Perhaps the first homeowner took his advice. Dr. Franceschi sold the trees in his nursery, and wrote, “Cinnamomum Camphora, the well-known ‘camphor tree,’ combines together so many good points that I do not know if it can be excelled as a street tree.” Camphor trees are the designated street trees on several blocks in our city.

The home was built in 1905 for $2,000 by Katharine H. Powell, the widow of a distinguished cavalry officer. Captain Philip P. Powell was from West Virginia and had served in the Confederate Army before the Civil War. When the war broke out, he joined the United States Army and later served in the cavalry in Arizona. His obituary noted that “he served with distinction in the Cuban campaign” during the Spanish-American War of 1898. He died a few months before the home was built.