What you might glimpse is the oldest building on the Bellarmine campus called Berchmans Hall. It was a dorm for seniors who lived on campus (back in the day when Bellarmine was also a boarding school and the house hosted Christmas dinners & BBQs). It has also been a residence for staff and even an infirmary for the live in nurse during the 70 years it has been here (as of 2014). The building is named in honor of St. John Berchmans, a Jesuit seminarian who died in 1621.
The funny thing is that this house wasn't always called Berchmans Hall, and it wasn't built at this site.
Who was Charles B. Polhemus?
The funny thing is...
The original Polhemus house was one of a handful of homes that California's new military governor Commodore Stockton had prebuilt, shipped and assembled in 1849. Charles B. Polhemus (1818-1904) purchased and assembled the home in 1850 where it stood until it burned to the ground in 1916. Sadly I couldn't find any other surviving Commodore Stockton prebuilt homes, the last being at Newhall & Spring (right where the airport is today).
If you walk West Taylor and look closely at the stamped street names on the curbs you might get lucky and find a reference to the original Polhemus Street name and laugh at the story of his moving houses.