Dr. Renselaer Smith Home


In 1947, the DeVries family bought this elegant house that is opposite the Milpitas Public Library on Main Street. It is in the prairie style design first made popular by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was built in 1915 by Milpitas' second doctor, Dr. Renselaer J. Smith, to serve as his office and home. For many years the lot to the south of the main house was the location of a fresh produce stand operated by Dr. Smith's son (today the Valley Medical Clinic is located there). The Smith family sold the mansion and property to the de Vries family in the late 1940s. The city acquired the property in 1995 from the de Vries family for $2.5 million. The process for listing of the mansion on the National Register of Historic Places was begun but never completed.  Since the house was moved off of its foundation, it is no longer eligible for listing.

Today, the mansion sits near Main Street and is the administration offices of the Senior housing development located at the site.  There are three or four apartments upstairs were the family bedrooms used to be.




Above is a view of the backyard with its many fruit trees. At right is the entrance used by patients when Dr. Smith had his practice in the north side of the ground floor. The entrance is located on the north side of the home and can be seen near the right side of the photo at the top of the page.

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