Galindo-Leigh House
Also known as: Leigh House
Why it's listed
This house at 140 South Peter Drive in Campbell, California, grew over nearly 150 years of continuous residential use. Juan Crisostobal Galindo, a Major Domo of Mission Santa Clara, built the first part in the 1830s: a two-room board-and-batten structure with a redwood shingle roof. In the 1840s he added a two-story unit for his eleven children. John D. Gueraz bought the property in 1857 and added white shiplap siding and a porch reflecting his Swiss birth and Louisiana plantation background. The Leigh family, from the Isle of Jersey, raised the house off the ground and made Victorian additions in the 1880s. The roughly one-acre site also holds a restored carriage house with a second-floor dance floor, a primitive hand-hewn outbuilding, a stone-lined well, a windmill and a very large California Laurel tree. The house was listed for illustrating how Mexican, Swiss, French-Louisiana and British influences layered into one California home.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house reflects cultural change in the San Jose area from the Mexican and early statehood periods through the Victorian era. Three families, Galindo, Gueraz and Leigh, each added to it and left Mexican-era, Swiss/Louisiana French and British Victorian influences. It has been in continuous residential use for nearly 150 years.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80000857, listed August 22, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 140 S. Peter Dr., Campbell |
|---|---|
| County | Santa Clara County |
| Listed | August 22, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80000857 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1830s-1971 (1800-1899 checked) |
| Architect / builder | Galindo-Gueraz-Leigh |
| Architectural style | Victorian additions on an early board-and-batten Mexican-period core; Louisiana French plantation-style porch |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied private residence; condition listed as excellent and altered, with the house, carriage house and grounds restored. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 37.28504, -121.92364 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80000857.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q55757594
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.