For the first time, the Pleasanton Heritage Association has given its Heritage Preservation Award to commercial property, recognizing the Kottinger Barn on Ray Street and a former house at 180 Spring St. that now serves as an office, the Pleasanton Weekly reported Friday.
Two homes round out this year's four honorees: a 1930s Tudor revival at 4239 Pleasanton Ave. and a Spanish revival house at 4467 Second St. Plaques were presented at a ceremony in August.
Brian Bourg, who chairs the association's awards committee, told the Weekly that the committee bent its usual approach to include the two commercial sites. He said the group does not want buyers "to come in with nothing but money" and alter or tear down homes in ways that erase their historic character.
The four properties
The Kottinger Barn, built in 1852, is the city's oldest standing building. Bourg said the association wanted to recognize owner Bruce Torquemada's restoration work, which preserved the barn's original appearance. The association plans a separate ceremony to mount its plaque; a date has not been chosen.
The Spring Street building, at the corner of Railroad Avenue, is not listed by the city as a historic resource. Owners Shawn and Dan Copenhagen use it as an office. Bourg said the previous owner chose to sell it to them rather than to a developer that wanted to put five condominiums on the lot.
The Second Street house dates to 1944, also too late for the city's historic list, but Bourg called it among the finest Spanish revival homes in town. Its owners, Jeff and Kathy Meier, rebuilt after a big tree came down on the house and the neighboring church in a 2023 storm.
