899 Broadway, Sonoma

The owners of this commercial site hired Alice to assess the historic character of the structure in anticipation of remodeling it.

In 1961 Leland (“Lee”) Clerici built this filling station on the site of a ca. 1935 service station that may have been Sonoma’s first service station. The 1961 building was a prefabricated unit that was identical to other 1960-1961 Signal service stations around the state. The design elements, colors and materials were standardized to maximize recognition of the “Signal” brand of gasoline. Today, the service station remains virtually untouched from 1961 and stands as an excellent example of the 1960s ‘Signal” stations. Minor modifications made to the building do not reduce the building’s ability to convey its historic mid-century origins.

Alice determined that the building (exclusive of the canopy) retains a high degree of integrity and is significant at the local, regional and state levels as an intact example of a prototypical California 1960s “Signal” service station.