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Tracking down the original owner of the yellow Victorian farmhouse at 382 Granite Creek Road is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

At first, there is little but anecdotes to go on.

Owner Gretchen Sentry said she was told that the original owner of the land was a judge. Next door neighbors Kathy and Ron Brown said that a man named Rice owned the property, and he was one of the county’s early legislators.

Henry Rice was indeed an early Santa Cruz County judge and a state assemblyman, and he did own property in the area. His 300-plus acre holdings stretched between Granite Creek Road and Branciforte Drive, according to an 1880 map of Santa Cruz County supplied by historian Stanley Stevens.

Rice was an important figure in local history. A native of South Carolina, he came to California in 1852, crossing the plains with a team of oxen and settling in Santa Cruz. He was elected the second judge of the county, after Judge William Blackburn, who was appointed. Later, he served in the state Assembly. In 1865, Rice purchased some 300 acres in what was then known as Blackburn Gulch, and he lived there until 1889 when he died at age 79 at his home.

Rice may have owned the land, but there is no evidence that he built the Victorian farmhouse on Granite Creek Road. He had a different home along Branciforte Drive.

"When Rice retired from politics and business, he assumed charge of a fine ranch in Blackburn Gulch (now called Branciforte Drive), where, until his death, he and Mrs. Rice kept a comfortable and hospitable home," according to "History of Santa Cruz County, 1892," supplied by Stevens.

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"It’s a place where wide open sunny meadows and meandering creekside paths engender a sweet sense of calm," said Richard Robinson, of Thunderbird Realty.

Spring surprises
Gretchen Sentry, who bought the house in 1978 with her husband, Frank, recalls the volunteer flower The Fun Spot is a temporary skate park that could be replaced with a permanent, concrete park — though there has been talk of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary opening an interpretive center on the site, possibly in collaboration with the city’s Natural History Museum.

If the interpretive center ends up at the Fun Spot, it’s unlikely the skate park will wind up elsewhere at the park, Kennedy said.

Though there has been talk of potential cutbacks at the natural history museum, museum supporters are moving ahead with fundraising for an expanded museum.

The planned new museum would be about 25,000 square feet, compared to the 5,000-square-foot museum in Seabright.

The museum is planned for the site now occupied by Lighthouse Liquors.

Contact Dan White at dwhite@santa-cruz.com.

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