We just received our Christmas 2009 Pottery Barn catalog. My daughter saw all the pretty Christmas photos and thought it would make great material for a collage. One of the many pictures she cut out was of a very nicely holiday decorated home that my daughter was convinced was located in our neighborhood. The house is actually featured on the Pottery Barn front cover. I looked closely at the picture of the house and saw that above the front door was a placard that read “Captain Andrew Sampson House 1850″. Ok, so who was Captain Andrew Sampson and where is this house located?
Like any good detective, my first step was Google and from there I learned that yes the house was built in 1850 and it is located at 1157 Division St, Napa, California. Google maps also lists a business at that address, a company called “Benefits Plus”. In fact, Google Maps street view has a great shot of the home:
Ok, so now that I know where the house was located, I needed to find out just who was Captain Andrew Sampson?
I emailed the Napa Public Works Department and they were nice enough to send me the “Historic Resources Inventory” which notes among other things, the description and significance of this particular property:
The Andrew Sampson House is an excellent example of the 19th century practice in Napa of creating a two story house by raising the original one story cottage and building a new first floor. The original cottage, now the second floor, is believed to have been built in 1850, soon after Stephen Broadhurst bought the land near the Napa River from Joseph P. Thompson, one of Napa’s first settlers. Andrew Sampson, originally from Sweden, purchased the property in 1871. He had an active role in the Napa River trade as he ran a tow boat line, operated a schooner between Napa and San Francisco and had a drayage business in Napa Valley. The house raising took place c.1900. The house stands on a fieldstone foundation and is frame with shiplap siding. Note the variation in window moldings on the first and second floors. More recent additions are a wing to the rear and extension in the gable end and. the front porch and steps. The house remained in the family until 1974. Two Sequoias in the front yard were planted by Andrew Sampson’s wife, Olinda, in the 1870s.
Wow. Cool. So the first story was actually an addition to the house. That’s a pretty neat fact.
The fact sheet that they sent also included an old photo taken of the house. It’s pretty grainy, but you can tell even from this photo that a lot of work has been done to the house:
So anyhow that’s all I’ve been able to find out about the Captain Andrew Sampson House 1850. If you have any more information, be sure to share it.
Thanks for sharing this! I fell in love with that particular shade of red on the door so I too Googled the Captain Andrew Sampson house (and images). I noticed, however, that the pic on the catalog cover showed the upstairs window centered on the peak of the covered porch. In the Google map image, it looks like its way off center. Must have just been a different angle.
Hi Lisa,
Yeah, I think the angles are different. The catalog cover I think was taken at an angle and further west.
Glad that you enjoyed the post.
Paul
Thank you for this post – I clipped the photo of this house out of the Pottery Barn catalog recently! I was inspired by the front portico – I have wanted something like this added to my own house. I was curious if it wrapped around the entire front of the house. Your google map photo answered that question for me. Thank you! Now if I could just get the inside of my house to look like the Pottery Barn catalog!
Happy holidays ~ Jennie
Cool. Glad you enjoyed the photo. I like being a detective! It’s amazing what you can find on the net (and a couple of emails)
what first drew me to the Andrew Sampson house is how beautifully it was decorated.
Then, I noticed the placard with the name and decided to do some research and came upon this site. Thanks for the interesting information.
Capt. Andrew Sampson was my grandfather. He had two daughters, Bernice Lillian and Gladys Pauline Sampson I have always been told that my grandmother died when Gladys was ll and my mother Bernice was about 18. I have pictures of my grandfather and my mother and Gladys I would love to share.
I believe I am the only living relative alive so who are the ones that lived in the home in 1974.
I live in Dixon, Ca You may call me most anytime.
Bus & Home 707-678-6390
Cell: 707-689-4337
Fax: 707-678-6852
I also loved the photo and noticed the name … so of course I googled it…then found this…
Love the shot… it does look like something I would see around my area of New England…
I was surprised to see it is actually in a warm climate…
On March 13, 2010 a tree in my front yard snapped and fell on top of my house and and destroyed it. When meeting with the architect, I handed him a picture of the Andrew Sampson House that I found inside one of the Pottery Barn catalogs. He designed my house to look like the picture…except he designed it according to the close-up that was pictured on the cover. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to google the house. Very interesting to see that I’m not the only person who was captured by this beautiful home! Now if I could only get a look at the inside!!!!!
I looked up the name of the house because my fiance’s name is Andrew Sampson Martin. I always loved his name and was amazed to see it in this magazine.
Thanks for the info. House looks like it would be a big house in the PB catalog. Another example of pictures in catalogs being deceiving…
Thanks
With the snow we’ve been having this winter on Long Island it’s been a perfect time to go enjoy my PB magazines and I also became curious of the location of the house. I’m not alone when I say this house looks so inviting.
I hope to visit Napa one day and explore the vineyards on the other side of our beautiful country. The east end of Long Island lights their vines for the holidays. Peace to all.
Thank you for confirming my suspicion that this is the house we walked past all the time in Napa before we recently moved back East. It’s across the street from the library. The snow (or fake snow, I guess) completely threw me off for a moment!
Hey, this house is also featured in the 2011/2012 Pottery Barn Catolougue…I wonder if the business that currently uses it has something to do w/PB?
Thank you so much for posting this information about the house. I love this house. It reminds me of the house we use to live in back in upstate New York. It’s lovely and so inviting. I now live in California and will have to plan a trip to Napa to see it in person!