Gilbert Kraemer House
The Spanish Colonial-style Gilbert Kraemer House is the last residence of the Kraemer family left standing in Placentia. Kraemer is a familiar name in Placentia. Daniel Kraemer owned 4,000 acres in the area in the 1860s. At the turn of the 20th century, his son Samuel built one of the grandest homes in the county. One of his sons, Gilbert, built across the street from his parents in 1918. This house is representative of the type of estate built by the successful orange ranching families in Placentia. It is one of the few that featured recreational facilities, a tennis court and swimming pool, rather than barns and agricultural outbuildings. Threatened with demolition in the late 1990s, the City reached a compromise that called for rehabilitation of the house, but it was moved to a corner of the property to allow for development on the remaining land.
Placentia, Orange County
Photographer: John Bare