The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

A changing city: The last remnants of the old city

A+changing+city%3A+The+last+remnants+of+the+old+city

Co-authored by Akshara Majjiga

Sixty years ago, the town we now call Cupertino had been a drastically different place. Splatters of urbanization stood out among the abundance of vineyards and orchards. Now, the tech boom has changed the way people look at Cupertino. A few businesses, however, have managed to stay and even thrive in the changing city.

Picchetti Winery

Home to vintage wines and strutting peacocks, the Picchetti Winery is tucked in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The winery is over a hundred years old; today, it’s a living museum of the past. People who work there, like the sommelier Smiler Pantling — more commonly known as a wine steward — work to preserve the place as it was. One particularly noteworthy artifact is an impressive wine barrel imported from Germany.

“This barrel is from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the World’s Fair in San Francisco,” Pantling said. “The barrel itself is clearly German, from Bavaria. [Around this time] Europe was in the middle of the Great War. The United States wasn’t in the war yet, but Germany certainly was. [Meanwhile,] the Panama Canal had just opened. This [wine barrel] came on a ship from Germany. It was either one of the first things that came through the Panama Canal, or more likely one of the last things to go around [Cape] Horn.”

That faithfully preserved wine barrel is now celebrating its centennial.

Picchetti Winery
Photos by Ada Chen

McClellan Ranch Park

Over a century ago, De Anza Boulevard and Stevens Creek — referred to as the Crossroads — once drew the boundaries for the West Side, named for its location on the west side of Silicon Valley. Today, this West Side is called Cupertino.

Barbara Banfield is a naturalist who has worked at the McClellan ranch for nearly 30 years. Now, the blacksmith’s shop is situated on the ranch.

“The blacksmith’s shop wasn’t here [originally],” Banfield said. “It was once at the Crossroads near De Anza, and the original blacksmith’s shop was started probably around the early 1900s. It was three to four times as big as [the blacksmith’s shop at McClellan Ranch], built by a man from Pennsylvania called William Baer. A lot of repairs were done there, and it gradually became a garage and repair shop.”

In those days, when vehicles such as wagons and Model T’s broke down, it was inconvenient for people to order parts; they relied on blacksmiths to fix them by welding pieces of metal back together. In the early town of Monta Vista, people went to Baer and his son Charlie for assistance.

After William’s death, Charlie built a replica shop in his backyard. And it is that replica shop that is in McClellan Ranch park as one of the last remnants of the old Monta Vista town.

McClellan Ranch Park

Cupertino Bike Shop

Since its opening, the Cupertino Bike Shop has moved to a variety of different locations, from a small garage on the corner of Steven’s Creek and Randy Lane to a large store in Monterey, with many different owners before finally finding its place in Cupertino over twenty years ago. Though it has recently moved, its popularity among customers has not died down. Owners believe the shop’s popularity comes from its ability to stay on top of modern bike trends. Originally opened in 1953 in the garage of Spence Wolf, the iconic shop now rests on South Foothill Boulevard. Signs of the old store are still apparent throughout the shop.

“When you walk in the front door, immediately to your right, there’s an old wooden glass cabinet,” said Greg Davis, longtime distributor for Cupertino Bike Shop who now runs their Ebay store. “That cabinet was actually in Spence Wolf’s garage when he ran the business there in the garage. [It] has been in the Cupertino Bike Shop for the entire time.”

Now run by Vance Sprock, Cupertino Bike Shop is known for its vintage and specialized bikes, which has caused Davis to stay with the shop through all of the years. He sees himself as an asset to the bike shop as people seek him out from all over country.

“We have fun,” Davis said. “We have a lot of fun. We have a good crew here. We’re not your family shop, and a lot of people appreciate that.”

Davis has been working with the bike shop through their move from a large 4400 square foot shop to the 2400 square foot one they operate in today. He not only enjoys the atmosphere, but also truly enjoys the store and the old bikes, including ones that used to belong to famous bikers Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly.

“I’ve lived here all my life,” Davis said. “Seeing roads I’ve never been on and being competitive with the different people that come through here and just [seeing the] camaraderie [is what makes working here special].” Cupertino Bike Shop

Photos by Akshara Majjiga

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