{"nrhp_refnum":"92000965","name":"De Sabla, Eugene J., Jr., Teahouse and Tea Garden","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"70 De Sabla Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Mateo","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.565127088000054,"lon":-122.33132619699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Asian"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small district at 70 de Sabla Avenue in San Mateo, California, made up of a Japanese-style teahouse built about 1907-1909 and a one-acre hill-style tea garden laid out about 1906-1907, originally part of the El Cerrito estate of Eugene de Sabla Jr.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an early example of Japanese influence on California design in the early twentieth century. The garden is attributed to Makota Hagiwara, chief gardener of the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, and is described as his only surviving private garden and the only remaining private Japanese tea garden from the San Mateo/Hillsborough estates.","narrative":"On a one-acre lot in San Mateo, a Japanese-style teahouse and tea garden survive from the El Cerrito estate of industrialist Eugene de Sabla Jr., a co-founder of Pacific Gas and Electric. The garden, laid out around 1906-1907, follows a published hill-garden plan and is attributed to Makota Hagiwara, chief gardener of the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. It has waterfalls, stone lanterns, a stone Buddha, a bridge, and a bamboo fence with a roofed gate. The shingle-roofed teahouse, built between 1907 and 1909, has a tokonoma and veranda. Additions in 1947 turned it into a residence while keeping its character. The nomination presents the property as the only surviving private Hagiwara garden and the only private Japanese tea garden left from the many on San Mateo and Hillsborough estates. It also links the property to the early influence of Japanese design on California Arts and Crafts architecture.","period_of_significance":"1907-1909","architect_builder":"Hagiwara, Makota","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals; Other: Japanese","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition overall; the teahouse was altered by sympathetic 1947 additions that made it a residence, and the garden is still cared for and in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.569708-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/92000965.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000965/09a34fcf29-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000965/09a34fcf29-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Eugene Zelenko","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-San_Mateo-Eugene_J._Sabla,_Jr.-Teahouse_and_Tea_Garden-2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eugene Zelenko</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-San_Mateo-Eugene_J._Sabla,_Jr.-Teahouse_and_Tea_Garden-2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861502","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_J._de_Sabla,_Jr.,_Teahouse_and_Tea_Garden","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107176530"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/de-sabla-eugene-j-jr-teahouse-and-tea-garden-92000965/"}