Supervisors to consider fate to Redman-Hirahara House in August

Few would question the assertion that the 128-year-old Redman-Hirahara House is showing its age.

Languishing in a parcel on the outskirts of Watsonville and visible from Highway 1, it has withstood wet winters, driving rain, scorching summers and, no doubt, inhabitation by multiple species of animals.

And the house—built by famed architect William Weeks—has gone without maintenance and repair, despite the efforts of a local group to restore it and use it as a welcome center.

Now, the end of the house’s story could be coming.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5 will consider de-listing it from the National Register of Historic Places, which would clear the way for its demolition.

The county’s Historic Resources Commission made the recommendation to the supervisors in April, after a report showed the house is so decrepit that it is beyond saving. 

Many community members oppose the house’s demolition, citing the significant historical importance it holds for the county.

The Redman family lived in the house for 30 years, growing sugar beets.The house was later sold to the Hirahara family, who farmed on the land until they were forced into a Japanese internment camp during WWII.

Attorney John McCarthy helped assure the property stayed with the Hirahara family, who returned after the war and went back to farming, and housing displaced Japanese families in a separate building on their property.

They lived there until the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.

The property on which the house sits is owned by the Tut family, which owns Elite Development Inc., a company that has built several hotels in Watsonville, including the Hampton Inn & Suites, on Lee Road. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

If the supervisors approve the recommendation to de-list the house, it would then go to the National Register of Historic Places, which is run by the National Park Service, for final consideration.