Family ties
Among the Pardee sisters born in New Haven, Conn., much is known about Sarah—heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Less is known about Winchester’s younger sister Isabel Merriman, an active force in the rural community that predated Los Altos who fought for causes from animal welfare to child protection. A new exhibit at Los Altos History Museum brings Merriman’s story to life through original documents and artifacts, period images and architectural elements.
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“Building El Sueño: Isabel Merriman, Sarah Winchester, and the California Dream,” runs June 26-Nov. 30. The exhibition takes its name from the name the sisters gave to the farmhouse Winchester bought for Merriman on the outskirts of Mountain View.
The exhibition features historic photographs of early Los Altos from the museum’s collection, of the Victorian-era clothing, correspondence from prominent local figures and architectural elements on loan from the Winchester Mystery House that resemble those adorning El Sueño. The distinctive variety of windows that grace both houses are echoed in the exhibition’s design.
Until recently, Merriman’s grave in Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto was unmarked. A new headstone, placed with help from the Winchester Mystery House, now honors her legacy. “This exhibition is another way of giving her name back,” Amy Ellison, the Museum’s curator and director of exhibitions, said in a release.
Los Altos History Museum is open Thursday-Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit losaltoshistory.org, email [email protected] or phone 650-948-9427, ext. 14.