Saratoga News

Cover Story

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Willys and Betty Peck live in a home filled with historic treasures in Saratoga. One building on the Pecks' property is home to Willys' printing presses, teletype and linotype machines.

Local Treasures

Willys and Betty Peck are living history in Saratoga

By Marianne Lucchesi Hamilton

There are the scaled-down railroad tracks circling the yard and disappearing behind the house. A snowy envelope marked "Donation for Veterans" is clothes pinned to a tiny hook on the front door. Barely visible through the window, a bell jar is perched on the sill, containing what looks to be--yes, that would be a human skull.

At the Saratoga home of Willys and Betty Peck, visitors are likely to find any number of surprises. Most surprising of all are the Pecks themselves, two longtime residents whose lives are the stuff of fantasies--with a heavy dose of history mixed in.

In his 83 years, Willys Peck has held many titles: Disk jockey. Journalist. Actor. Attorney. Historian. But his very favorite, among a lifetime of accolades from the famous and not-quite-so, is "Saratoga Town Character." No three words ever more aptly described anyone.

For her part, Betty Peck, Ph.D., was lauded in 1985 as "Saratoga Citizen of the Year." She is a 50-year expert on early-childhood education, and the author (when she was already an octogenarian) of Kindergarten Education: Freeing Children's Creative Potential. She also hosts Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and May Day celebrations in the Pecks' back
yard, usually clad in the hats and flowing garments that (along with her establishment of the Saratoga Community Garden) have earned her the affectionate moniker of "Mother Earth."

Today, she's thinking about cheese. Parmesan cheese. Most specifically, the Parmesan cheese Willys was supposed to pick up to go with the couple's usual Friday lunch of clam chowder. The consummate hostess, Betty frets that her guest won't enjoy the soup to its fullest.

She hardly need be concerned: Just being in the Pecks' home is a feast in itself.

Situated on 1 1/2 acres bisected by a creek, surrounded by lush, rambling gardens and grounds that are home to several other structures, the Pecks' main house is a veritable museum of their shared history (not to mention that of Willys' father, Llewellyn, former editor of the Saratoga Star and the Los Gatos Daily Times). In fact, the house's contents are the focus of the "Peck Saratoga Historical Project," being spearheaded by the Saratoga Historical Foundation. Last year, the Saratoga City Council allocated $10,000 in seed funding for the project, which will eventually move the Pecks' collection of items--many from the early 20th century--to a permanent location.

"I wish there were some way to freeze the Pecks' house and gardens with all of their wonderful treasures, so everyone could come to experience that magical place," says April Halberstadt, director of the Saratoga Historical Foundation Museum. "I believe the Peck collection is the only systematic chronicle of the people and events of the West Valley. Between Willys' collections and his father's news files, there is probably the entire written history of the West Valley."

Saratoga Historical Foundation member Jack Mallory concurs, saying, "The extensive Peck collection tells the story of Saratoga and its nearby towns. But it is not just a collection of items from the past. In many ways, it is a living history of a family who truly loved their community."

Willys seems somewhat baffled by all of the attention. "I don't really think we have that much stuff anyone would want to see," he says. Then, looking around his living room, which is chock-full of decades of mementos, he catches sight of the skull. "I bought it from another kid for 25 cents back in high school," he notes. "It's been used in a couple of presentations we've done here of Hamlet. And of course it comes in handy on Halloween, along with the skeleton we have in the Great Hall."

The skeleton goes by the name of Titus Peck, in honor of an ancestor of Willys', a captain in the Revolutionary War. And the "here" Willys refers to describes the stage and amphitheater behind the house, which was home for 15 years to the Valley Institute of Theater Arts (VITA), started by son Bill and Bill's Saratoga High School drama teacher.

VITA began life in the form of four wooden benches salvaged from an old tennis court. "When we bought the house, Betty found them at a junk sale," Willys recalls. "What do you do with four tennis court benches? You build a theater around them, of course." Over the years, Willys added more bleachers to form the amphitheater, as well as the planked stage where VITA's plays were mounted. In 1955, he constructed a balcony in an overhanging tree for a production of Romeo and Juliet. "We had some very talented young people here," he says, gazing up at the structure.

Pausing for a moment to remember the applause rippling through his yard, Willys shrugs. Then he spies a bright-orange tarp a few steps away, and a smile steals over his face. "This is the 'Dangerous Instrumentality and Attractive Nuisance Railroad,' " he says proudly, lifting the cover. Underneath is a scale-model, gasoline-powered engine, rendered in perfect detail. Willys, a lifelong train fanatic, spent two years building the replica of the "C. P. Huntington," California's first steam engine. He put in several more years laying the tracks, acquired from the fruit yards formerly surrounding Saratoga and Los Gatos. Since its dedication ceremony, the D.I. & A. N. (so named for a term Willys learned while studying law at Santa Clara University) has transported hundreds of guests from the front of the house to the rear yard for theater productions and garden parties.

Inside the Pecks' home, it's possible to spend months poring over the couple's treasures and still not take in every detail. There's Willys' collection of antique film projectors (including the silent-film device used at the old Saratoga Theater) and the wall festooned with film reels, as well as his father's trove of Saratoga phone books dating back to the first edition, published in 1924. Betty says Willy receives frequent phone calls from locals wishing to track down their ancestors. "They'll say, 'My grandfather used to live in Saratoga; I'm not sure what street he lived on, but his name was...' And Willys will look in the old phone books, and say, 'Your grandfather lived on Such-and-Such Street.' It's quite remarkable, actually."

Also in the Pecks' collection is a complete set of World Almanacs, various airplane parts and propellers (along with aviation magazines from the 1920s), photos of World War I aircraft, and decades of the British humor magazine Punch, dating back to the 1800s. Another room contains Willys' beloved collection of cylinder records (tube-shaped devices that pre-dated 78 rpm vinyl recordings), which he used to play on his "Wax Museum" show at radio station KEEN. "I like to say I was the first 'cylinder jock,' " Willys jokes.

Then there's the separate building on the Pecks' property, which houses Willys' printing presses, teletype and linotype machines. He has intimate knowledge of their use, having logged a cumulative 55 years at the San Jose Mercury News, after a stint at the Los Gatos Daily Times. To this day, Willys often sets his own "hot" type, then fires up his favorite foot-pedal-operated press to turn out birthday cards and invitations to social events (including the "annual retirement party" celebrating his exit from the Mercury). "Willys is filled with poetry," Betty says. "He never has to go shopping; he just sits down and writes a poem. Then he goes out to the print museum and makes a card."

Why does Willys collect? "It's in my DNA, I guess," he muses. "I don't want to say that my father didn't throw anything away ... but he never got rid of much! Actually, when I was working at the Mercury, the huge clipping files that he kept frequently came in handy. Each thing I collect kind of reflects a passion of mine, I suppose."

Along with Willys' passions, the Pecks' home bears witness to Betty's groundbreaking work in education. Countless books and periodicals espousing educational theory, macrobiotic cooking, feng shui and her other interests vie for space with scores of photos showing Betty with her tiny students (as well as their grown-up selves, hugging her lovingly). A painting in the kitchen depicts Betty and daughter Anna (an esteemed educator in her own right) herding a group of young charges into the Saratoga Community Garden, which Betty founded in the 1960s. During its 15 years of operation, more than 6,000 children visited the site, helping to usher in California's organic farming movement.

Gardens figure prominently into Betty's theories about teaching the young. A half-century ago, they were a requirement when she was laying the plans for what was to become the Easterbrook Farm School, now known as the Los Gatos Saratoga Observation Nursery School--the institution Betty envisioned as the perfect school for her own children. "I believe children have to have access to a garden," she says firmly. "They must observe, they must take things into their bodies through their senses, and they must be a part of the wonderful celebration of life that begins in the garden."

These days, Betty and Willy host Thursday afternoon salons, at which friends and family members gather to discuss politics, the arts, travel--anything and everything. Guests come together in the Pecks' Great Hall, an airy, comfortable space stuffed with pillowy chairs and lounges that invite lively conversation. "Soon after I came to work at the museum," Halberstadt says, "I had a phone call from Willys inviting me to one of Betty's famous Thursday salons. They took me under their wing and introduced me to everyone I needed to know. What a generous and thoughtful act."

Willys' generosity extends throughout the community to this day. He still serves as a docent every month at the Historical Museum, and gives walking tours of the historical district. He's been a favored speaker at virtually every service club in Saratoga and Los Gatos, and an active participant on the Montalvo History Committee. In his spare time, he also maintains membership in De Anza College's California History Center, and the Santa Clara County Bench and Bar Historical Society.

As Willy concludes the tour of his home's artifacts, his visitor stops to marvel at a wall gleaming with proclamations, plaques, resolutions and awards, all bearing his name. "Oh, that's my 'ego wall,' " he says shyly. "People have been kind to me over the years." Betty believes the accolades are well deserved. "I'm going to write a book about Willys someday, because of his magnificent ways of life, and his affectionate nature. We've been married for 55 years, and I still laugh with him all day long. Life with him has just been unbelievable."

Gay Crawford, another member of the Saratoga Historical Foundation, best sums up the Pecks' contributions: "I truly feel this is their gift: networking, loving the Earth and all that is in it and leaving the world a better place. Between Betty's joyful soul and spirit, her support for our children, our institutions and our gardens, and Willys, who has been the historical journal-keeper and 'brain' of our community, we, and future generations, will truly be blessed."

For more information about the Peck Saratoga Historical Project, contact Jack Mallory at Mallory58@aol.com.