VIGNETTE > Harvey Klyce

501 Throckmorton

Harvey Asbury Klyce was born in Alamo, Tennessee on July 15, 1867.  His father had a carriage-making and general construction business. At age 19, Harvey left home to seek his fortune in California. By 1888 he had a job as draftsman in a San Bernardino architectural firm. In 1892 he came to San Francisco to study architecture. In 1894, after two years of study he began a long career in building construction when he was the contractor for a Piedmont residence. In 1893 he and his bride, Caroline (Carrie) Marie Gray of Yuba City, moved to Mill Valley. They lived at first on Lovell then on Cascade. His first job in Mill Valley was a house for Dr. Swain at 110 Summit in 1895. In 1900 they moved to the house Harvey had built for them at 501 Throckmorton.  The property contained a caretaker’s cottage, a barn and a variety of lumber sheds that sprang up as needed to accommodate the construction business headquartered behind the house. Harvey Klyce had a successful contracting business in Mill Valley, throughout Marin County and in many other sites in California. His construction projects in Mill Valley include Summit School and perhaps as many as 35 houses.