But this is Chico, too

The South Campus neighborhood exerts a strong pull as a prime location for meaningful walks around the block. It and downtown are the oldest parts of Chico and a few of the buildings are almost 150 years old.

Start this walk at the southwest corner of W. Third and Hazel streets. You are standing in front of a stick-style Victorian house (top photo) built in about 1900, but which looks about 20 years older than that. The Fourth Street entrance has a gabled hood. The gables over this entrance and the Hazel Street entrance are shingled and have decorative bargeboards. The house has several decorative brackets.

Directly across Fourth Street is the Earll house, another stick-style structure. It was built in 1883 and is an example of a grand corner house. William Earll was a partner in a Chico hardware business. The house cost $5,500 to build. The house has a gable brace on its third level, a stick feature that is rare in Chico.

On the northeast corner, kitty-corner to where you’re standing, is the most westerly of the six so-called “Language Houses” on that block (bottom photo), most of which were built in the first two decades of the 20th century. The houses were once owned by Chico State University and were occupied by students who wanted to immerse themselves in a foreign language. The houses are now owned by Wayne Cook, who rents them to students. The corner house, built in 1914, once known as “French House,” is built in the colonial revival style. The porch, brackets and exposed rafter ends show craftsman touches.

This would be one of the most attractive intersections in Chico were it not for the AT&T building on the southeast corner. This building takes up an entire block, detracting enormously from what would otherwise be a fairly well-preserved section of the neighborhood. In my estimation, this building comes in at Number 1 among the South Campus eyesores.

Join me again next time to continue exploring this block, bounded by W. Third, Ivy , W. Fourth and Hazel streets.