Hayes Mansion, Mediterranean mansion in Edenvale, San Jose, United States.
Hayes Mansion is a 41,000-square-foot Mediterranean villa in the Edenvale neighborhood of San Jose, California, now run as a hotel. Built in the shape of a Maltese Cross, its long center section holds an 18-foot-wide solarium linking the north and south wings, while a loggia joins east and west. Walls are stucco-coated double brick, and the interior features exotic woods, imported marble and ornate stained glass.
Mary Chynoweth, widow of Anson Hayes, commissioned architect George Page in 1903 to replace the family's wooden English Baroque mansion, which had burned down in 1899. The new house was planned as a triple residence for the Chynoweths and the families of her sons Everis A. Hayes and Jay Orly Hayes, and it incorporated the fire-safety features of the day. The family sold the property in the 1950s; the City of San Jose bought it in 1985 and opened it as a meeting venue in 1994.
The mansion carries the Hayes name, but Mary Chynoweth, widow of Anson Hayes, commissioned it in 1903 with her second husband Thomas Chynoweth. Her sons Everis and Jay Hayes ran the San Jose Mercury and helped build the Santa Clara Valley fruit industry; Jay founded the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association, later Sunsweet. Three U.S. presidents visited the estate.
The estate sits in southern San Jose and is easily reachable by car. The interior spaces are now open to hotel guests and event attendees, while the outdoor grounds are part of the hotel property.
The floor plan of the building forms a Maltese Cross shape, with separate wings connected by a covered walkway. A glass-enclosed passage links the main structure to a separate kitchen building, originally passing through a plant conservatory.
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