How we create places that are livable, sustainable, and enjoyable

We sat down with Swenson to hear what he had to tell his grandson, Hunter, about growing up, building and raising a family in San Jose.

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Hunter: After three generations of family in San Jose, what are some of your fondest memories in this city?

Barry: Well, I was born in San Jose Hospital in 1939, and San Jose had only 40,000 people when I was a kid; it was basically an agricultural town. I grew up on 26 acres out in Evergreen.

Everybody was a farmer, from Story Road all the way south to the Collar Road. It was a wonderful farming and canning community.

The great explosion began when IBM, General Electric, and Hewlett-Packard came to town. It was the most wonderful town. My happy memories were the old San Jose, downtown San Jose, obviously in the 1950s. Downtown San Jose completely collapsed in the 1970s.

Everybody moved out, and we started trying to bring it back.

Our company has been trying really hard to bring back the good old San Jose that I remember. Frank Taylor, Redevelop Magazine, the city, everybody has put a huge effort into it. Downtown San Jose has come alive again; it is a wonderful spot again.

I have always loved my city. My grandfather came in the 1920s, and this is the fifth generation that has been working as builders in the city of San Jose.

H: Of all the buildings you worked on in downtown San Jose, what was your favorite?

B: The project I had the most fun on was the De Anza Hotel. My grandfather built it in 1931, and my father worked on it as a water boy - in those days, the boys took fresh water to all the workers - and he had to climb up nine stories to give water to the carpenters. We came

back in the 1980s and rebuilt it. It was a very exciting project.

I worked on it and my son worked on it, so we had four generations of Swensons working on the De Anza Hotel.