1545 Madrona Avenue, St. Helena

The owners of this house hired Alice to assess the historic character of the property in anticipation of remodeling it.

This  modest cottage was one of three cottages built on speculation by Luigi Mattiuzzi, an Italian cement contractor/plasterer, between 1926-1931. Mattiuzzi lived in the neighboring  house at 1553 Madrona Avenue, and sold the other two houses (including this one) as an investment. Few changes have been made to the property in the ensuing century, and the house conveys its origins as a vernacular California bungalow. The house was included in St. Helena’s 1978 survey of historic resources, but not the 2006 survey update.

Alice determined that the house is historically significant at the local level as an  intact example of a vernacular California bungalow.