Agnews State Hospital, Male Worker's Cottage, East Side of North Circle Drive, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, CA

Significance: Building 11 is significant as an integral component of the reconstruction of Agnews State Hospital in a pavilion plan. The 1907 design for the hospital represented not only a reconfiguration of buildings into smaller structures in a park-like setting, but an important change in the perspectives on and the treatment of patients. Agnews was the first mental facility in California to switch from the confinement and permanent housing of patients to humane treatment with the hope of release. Building 11, the Worker's Cottage-Male, represents the residential portion of the plan. In keeping with the pavilion model, it was constructed as a specialized housing unit surrounded by grass and trees, and each room had ample windows to allow in light and air. Building 11 and its counterpart, Building 12, the Worker's Cottage-Female, were the intermediary steps in a residential system that progressed from housing for patients with the most debilitating mental illnesses to those preparing to leave the hospital. Building 11 was designed to provide patients with supervision and medical treatment, but also to allow them to develop skills by working in Agnews' farms and shops, hence the name Worker's Cottage. In addition, Building 11 and the other structures from the 1907 plan are important as early attempts to use reinforced concrete as an earthquake and fire-resistant material.
Survey number: HABS CA-2710-K
Building/structure dates: 1926 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1972 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1994 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1998 Demolished