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Woodhills is less than 10 minutes from the heart of modern-day Cupertino, but a drive there takes visitors back 84 years--and into the lives of an enterprising San Francisco newspaper editor and his young writer wife.

During their day, Fremont Older and Cora Baggerly Older opened their home to some of the most well-known writers, politicians, lawyers and artists of the time. They also extended invitations to those lesser known, including ex-convicts that Fremont Older, a believer in prison reform, had worked to release. No matter who they were, they all signed a guest book, which to this day is still kept in the living room.

The Olders' home plays host to the community at large when the Open Space District offers one of the four free tours it gives of the home each year.

Despite the home's background and historical significance to the area, 23 years ago it had a date with destruction. Call it coincidence, or maybe fate, but it took an enterprising newspaper publishing couple to save the Olders' beloved home from the bulldozer.

The house at the end of Prospect Road had fallen into disrepair after Cora Older died in the 1960s at age 92. The more than 200 acres of land around the home became part of the Midpeninsula Open Space District, and was named Fremont Older Open Space.

But in 1977 the district's board was not in the home renovation business; their only interest was in the land. After attempts by local historic preservation groups failed to convince the board to save Woodhills, there was a last-ditch effort by Mort Levine, who at the time owned the Cupertino Courier and a string of other local papers with his wife Elaine. Mort, who had worked diligently as part of the El Camino Trust for Historic Preservation to save the home, offered to renovate and maintain Woodhills at no cost or liability to the district in return for a 25-year, $1-per-year lease. The vote was 4-3 in favor of the unique agreement.

During their day, Fremont Older and Cora Baggerly Older opened their home to some of the most well-known writers, politicians, lawyers and artists of the time. They also extended invitations to those lesser known, including ex-convicts that Fremont Older, a believer in prison reform, had worked to release. No matter who they were, they all signed a guest book, which to this day is still kept in the living room.

During their day, Fremont Older and Cora Baggerly Older opened their home to some of the most well-known writers, politicians, lawyers and artists of the time. They also extended invitations to those lesser known, including ex-convicts that Fremont Older, a believer in prison reform, had worked to release. No matter who they were, they all signed a guest book, which to this day is still kept in the living room.

During their day, Fremont Older and Cora Baggerly Older opened their home to some of the most well-known writers, politicians, lawyers and artists of the time. They also extended invitations to those lesser known, including ex-convicts that Fremont Older, a believer in prison reform, had worked to release. No matter who they were, they all signed a guest book, which to this day is still kept in the living room.

"So it was a hairbreadth escape from the bulldozers," Mort Levine said.

The couple poured $350,000 into restoring the home over a two-year period. "You might say it was like advanced rent," Mort Levine said. It took another year to restore the surrounding gardens.

During their day, Fremont Older and Cora Baggerly Older opened their home to some of the most well-known writers, politicians, lawyers and artists of the time. They also extended invitations to those lesser known, including ex-convicts that Fremont Older, a believer in prison reform, had worked to release. No matter who they were, they all signed a guest book, which to this day is still kept in the living room.

Part of the lease agreement was that the Levine's would open the home to the public up to four times each year.

"We always realized from the beginning that this house belonged to the open space district and the public," Elaine said. "We feel very privileged to live up here and take care of the house and gardens."

The tour is a chance to catch a glimpse into life in the early part of the century, when Fremont Older went down the hill to the railroad tracks, where Prospect and Stelling roads meet, to flag down the train and ride up to The City to work at his newspaper, the San Francisco Bulletin. Older fought graft and corruption in government through the paper, even getting kidnapped once by those who wanted him silent.

Cora Older was a prolific author who wrote several novels and non-fiction books, including important works about San Francisco and the California missions, along with dozens of articles. When not researching or writing, she tended hundreds of pink rose bushes on the Woodhills property, a hobby that earned her the nickname "The Pink Lady."

It was Cora who oversaw the building of Woodhills and the design of the surrounding gardens. Architects can only guess just who designed the home. Elaine Levine said they suspect that Cora may have made numerous changes as the builders proceeded. One of Cora's diary entries states that the workmen were getting ready to "pitch" her, because of her frequent requests.

The result is some idiosyncrasies in the home, like the tall, narrow, glass-paned door from the sun room to the front porch--it's only about 2 feet wide.

That made for some expensive repair work for the Levines since nothing was standard in the home, and everything had to be custom-built.

It was a big job, but the Levines had help. The Historic American Building Survey from the United States Department of the Interior had earlier documented the house when it was in danger of being torn down. The photographs and drawings from that survey helped the Levines restore the outer part of the home to its original condition, a requirement for being on the National Register of Historic Places, which it now is.

Many local people pitched in to help once they heard the home was to be refurbished, like neighbors and area residents who knew Cora and had been to the house in its earlier years. They shared information and photos with the Levines. Some neighbors had actual pieces from the home, like the fireplace mantel, or a valance panel from the dining room. The mantel was returned to its former spot. The valance piece and photos were used by the Saratoga Stitchery Guild to re-create the original hand-embroidered valances.

The living room of the home is lined with bookcases, with many of the volumes returned by people who had books from the Olders' original collection. To complete the look of the living room, the Levines purchased French-style antique furniture, such as the Olders had used to furnish Woodhills.

A den is now a sort of mini-museum, with a wall of old pictures of the Older couple and their home. History books, Cora's books and biographies about Fremont Older fill part of the bookshelves.

There are three bedrooms, Elaine Levine said, with other smaller rooms in a private part of the house.

The surrounding garden has stone steps and walls built by Italian stonemasons. The Quintero family, which still has descendants living in Cupertino today, worked to build the steps and walls; Federico Quintero painted a fresco of St. Francis of Assisi on one garden wall. The Quinteros were often invited to Woodhills for holidays and celebrations over the years.

There are a number of concrete benches throughout the garden, including 14 in a row on one part of the hillside. The benches and some of the garden paths are decorated with colorful pieces of broken tiles and plates. Cora Older used to visit a San Jose tile factory to pick up broken pieces to incorporate into the garden.

Down the hill from the house is a spot where 13 dogs are buried, complete with tombstones; monuments to the Olders' cherished pets. Cora was a bit of a "dog nut," Elaine Levine said. The Olders had no children of their own, although Fremont Older had children by his first wife.

Elaine Levine is now the one who tends to the gardens, trying to recreate on a smaller scale what Cora Older originally designed.

The Levines even recreated for a time one of the most cherished traditions of Woodhills, the Sunday luncheons. The Olders had luncheons every Sunday, when people like writer Carl Sandburg, Clarence Darrow or William Randolph Hearst came to visit. Mort Levine said he and Elaine at one time brought together neighbors, descendants and others who knew the Olders, along with those who helped restore the home, for Sunday lunches.

Elaine Levine retired from the newspaper business eight years ago. Mort Levine continues to work after 50 years in journalism as the publisher of the Milpitas Post, the first newspaper the couple founded after moving to California from Wisconsin.

--Pam Marino, Cupertino Courier, April 14, 1999

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