EDITORIAL: Preservation, Atherton style EDITORIAL: Preservation, Atherton style (July 13, 2005)

Historic preservation took a new turn in Atherton last week when longtime Lindenwood residents Marion and Bob Oster closed a deal to purchase a neighboring property on Flood Circle that included an enormous Victorian fountain that once graced the estate of "Silver King" James C. Flood.

The story of the three-tier fountain and Ms. Oster's persistent attempts to save it is bound to become one of the more interesting chapters of the Lindenwood story, which began when Mr. Flood's Linden Towers was dismantled in 1935 and each parcel in the original Flood Circle subdivision was given at least one artifact.

Ever since, most homeowners have cherished their piece of history. But when Virginia Chapman, owner of 42 Flood Circle, died recently, her heirs listed the property and had a sale pending to a family that planned to demolish the house and move the fountain.

Ms. Oster, who lives next door and is the chair of the Atherton Heritage Association and a member of the Lindenwood Homeowners Association, expressed publicly her concern about the fate of the fountain. The City Council passed an emergency ordinance requiring that a conditional use permit be obtained before any historic objects are moved, altered or destroyed.

And although the heirs of Ms. Chapman offered the city $100,000 toward moving and restoring the fountain, the sale fell through, causing critics to point the finger at Ms. Oster for disrupting the deal.

A few weeks later Chapman family members, who had been upset about the city's new ordinance, approached the Osters again, and soon after accepted an offer for $3.4 million for the property.

It is a deal that means the land and the fountain will be cleaned up and restored, and the Osters will have custody of one of the largest and most significant artifacts from the Flood collection.

Was anyone harmed in this transaction? We don't think so. The family that wanted to buy the house and move the fountain found another property nearby. The heirs will divide a $3.4 million windfall for a property whose main structure will be demolished to make way for an addition to the Osters' garden. The price is $100,000 less than the original $3.5 million asking price, before restrictions on the fountain were put in place, but since the heirs were willing to give $100,000 toward its removal, they come out even.

And the Flood fountain: It will be restored and preserved for all to see, after Ms. Oster clears the thick brush from the property and establishes new sight lines into the yard.

The fountain brouhaha comes just as Atherton begins to assess its historic assets as a prelude to deciding how to protect them. We can't say the Osters' $3.4 million solution is the best way to preserve all the town's historic assets. But it sure is a classy way to start.

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