A Craftsman Home Amid the Stone Pines

The 400 East block of Anapamu Street is one of several blocks on this street that are lined with iconic Italian stone pines. According to an article in this paper by historian Michael Redmon, the pines on this block were planted in 1929. These trees are sometimes called Doremus stone pines because Dr. Augustus Boyd Doremus of the city’s Parks Commission promoted the planting of these trees.

A Home with a Graceful Design

The home at 420 East Anapamu was built about 1924 by Augustus R. Drexel. He owned a lime and cement company, so it’s not surprising that the home is accented with a graceful swoop of a concrete porch railing. The Historic Structures/Sites Report for the home was written by Fermina B. Murray, who noted, “The graceful design of the porch railing topped with overhang cap and the way it curves up to meet the columns also brings to mind elements of the Japanese architecture that the renowned Greene brothers and Bernard Maybeck adapted into their Craftsman designs.”

And Then Came the Quake

Drexel and his wife, Minnie, moved to Santa Barbara in 1919 — a time when the post–World War I building boom was in full swing. He, apparently, felt that no quantity was too large or small for orders of lime or cement — his ad read, “One sack or a train load.” And Drexel was in the right place at the right time to help rebuild Santa Barbara after the 1925 earthquake.