Community Corner
Then and Now: The Roots of 29 Catalpa
Home of pioneering Gardner family, this house has seen a number of updates over the years but retains its deep ties to Mill Valley's history.
The home at 29 Catalpa Ave. may look like just another old house in the Tamalpais Park neighborhood. But its history dates back to 1906, as it was built and first lived in by the premier pioneering family of Mill Valley, the Gardners.
Jacob Gardner's family roots go back to the era when Mill Valley was actually part of the old Throckmorton Ranch. He was a part of Mill Valley long before there was any development downtown. He lived at a home called "The Maples," the subject of a 491 Ethel Avenue.
In 1906, Jacob Gardner and his wife Annie and two of their kids moved across town to 29 Catalpa in the new development of Tamalpais Park. They purchased three lots next to what would later be . There he built a 3,410-square-foot, two-story home. His son-in-law Sam Burt was likely the designer of the house.
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Jacob Gardner passed away in 1921 at the age of 75. Soon after his death, Annie Gardner went to live at 160 Hillside with her son-in-law, John Burt (brother of Sam) and her daughter Cora. While Annie lived with her daughter, the family rented the Catalpa house out to the Sporleder family.
In 1922, the Gardners' daughter Lillian, who was the town’s first librarian in 1910, got married in this Catalpa house to Albert Roseveare. The couple had their first child, Gene, in 1923, but only 18 months after their wedding, Albert died tragically, leaving Lillian a widow with a 1-year-old baby.
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Gene later graduated from Tam High and married Bert Stocking. Gene and Bert Stocking would later purchase on old family house on Hilliside and raise two children who also later went to Tam. Gene would later become the president of the Mill Valley Historical Society.
Not long after Annie Gardner died in 1925, the family sold 29 Catalpa outright to the Sporleder family. Hedwig Sporleder was a teacher at Summit, Tamalpais Park, and Old Mill Schools for 28 years. The property was eventually passed to her daughter, Lotte Sporleder McWaters.
The house at 29 Catalpa has been remodeled and revamped for the 21st Century. But when you step inside, you can still feel the memories and history of one of the most prominent of the pioneering families of Mill Valley.
