Pedro de Lemos House, Spanish Colonial Revival residence in Palo Alto, United States
The Pedro de Lemos House is a single-family home in Palo Alto, California, built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with stucco walls, decorative ceramic tiles, and a rectangular courtyard at its center. The courtyard links the living areas around it, creating a floor plan that turns inward rather than outward toward the street.
Construction of the house began in the early 1930s and continued into the following decade. Byzantine Revival pillars rescued from Stanford Chapel after the 1906 earthquake were worked into the design, giving it elements from two very different architectural traditions.
The house takes its name from Pedro de Lemos, who led the Stanford University Museum of Art for several decades and filled its rooms with handmade tiles gathered during family travels. These ceramics give each space a personal character shaped by his taste and his journeys around the world.
The house sits in a residential part of Palo Alto and can be observed from the street, where the exterior details are visible from the sidewalk. Because it is a private home, it is worth checking in advance whether interior access is available before planning a visit.
Some of the carved wood and wrought iron pieces inside the house came from different countries, gathered over years of travel much like the ceramic tiles. These details are spread across corners and surfaces throughout the home, so attentive visitors often spot something new each time they look more carefully.
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