The Chiechi House
The Chiechi House was originally built in 1876 and was acquired by Italian immigrant Michael Chiechi in 1911. Michael's wife Grace and their 5 children lived in the 820 Northrup Ave address for 60 years. In 1973, the Chiechi descendants donated the house to History San José.
In 2018, History San José offered La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley an opportunity to become an affiliate. After remodeling some parts of the house, it now serves as an office and research library for the organization. The Nuñez Community Foundation is able to contribute $25,000 to LRHS to preserve the region's Latino cultural heritage.
In 1978, SJSU art students in Tony May's class was assigned the project of restoring the century old, two-story Italianate to its original beauty. Each semester, the class concentrated on different aspects of the restoration such as re-plastering walls, re-doing the hardwood floor, and putting in steps and windows on the large back porch of the house.
