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Overview

This Greek Revival residence, built in 1869, was erected by Benjamin Brown, the father-in-law of Benjamin Leroy Holt (1849-1920), one of four brothers (and half-brothers) born in NH who started several CA companies that would eventually merge to become the Caterpillar Tractor Company, one of the largest farm and earth-moving machinery companies in the world. The first concern, formed in 1864, produced wooden wheels and also sold lumber in San Francisco, the C. H. Holt and Company, named for eldest brother Charles H. Holt. The Holt Brothers managed lumber production firms in NH and OH, supplying the San Francisco and later Stockton companies with wood. Benjamin Holt moved from NH to CA in 1883 and assisted in the founding of the Stockton Wheel Company, a fast-growing and well-managed company that produced wagon wheels. In the 1880s, the Holt Family businesses began to branch into producing harvester combines, agricultural machines that exponentially boosted farm productivity in the 1880s and 1890s; many companies produced combines, but the Holts became critical in the use of wooden tracks to improve traction in uneven and loose soil.

Two key patent purchases by Benjamin Holt helped to propel his business to the forefront. He purchased the patent rights in 1903 to Alvin Orlando Lombard's continuous track mechanism, used first on Lombard's Steam Log Hauler. In 1904, Benjamin Holt traveled to England to view the track machines produced by Richard Hornsby and Sons in Grantham, England; shortly after seeing the Hornsby machines, he purchased patents relating to the their chain track technology.

During the 1910s, Benjamin Holt and his competitor (and later subsidiary) the C. L. Best Tractor Company of San Leandro, CA, perfected track systems for agricultural use. The marshy soil of the fertile San Joaquin Valley served as a perfect proving ground for the firms' new Caterpillar tractors. Production for the new Caterpillar tractor was boosted in 1909, when a nephew of Benjamin Holt, Pliny, purchased the state-of-the art manufacturing facility of the recently defunct Colean Manufacturing Co. of East Peoria, IL In 1913, Benjamin Holt merged seven family-held companies in the US and Canada into the Holt Manufacturing Company, with major plants in Stockton, East Peoria, San Leandro and Calgary. World War I brought American, British and French governmental contracts to buy Caterpillar tractors to move artillery pieces. The Holt's track technology also was used by the US military to create the first tanks, an indispensable weapon during the First World War. Following the war, the Holt Manufacturing Company developed new markets for their track machines, including in the construction of infrastructure in the 1920s. Road and aqueduct building required efficient earth-moving equipment, and the Caterpillar tractors proved ideal for this purpose. Saavy executive leadership during the twentieth century propelled the Caterpillar Tractor Company (formed in 1925) into one of the largest companies in the world.

Building History

Built by Benjamin Brown for his family in 1869, the house has a complex, cross-gabled plan suggesting that parts had been added over time. The central portion of the house was vovered with a hipped-gabled roof. It was inherited by Brown's son-in-law, Benjamin L. Holt. In 2016, the house contained 8 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, and contained 5,500 square feet. It occupied a 0.56-acre lot.

Alteration

The house has had numerous additions and remodelings since 1869.