This 1964 street honors Porter Sesnon (1899-1991), Barbara Sesnon Cartan (1902-1987), and William T. Sesnon Jr. (1905-1979), siblings who two years prior had unloaded a big chunk of land here. But that was really Porter land – yes, “Porter” as in Porter Ranch. Let’s climb the family tree: William Thomas Sesnon Sr. (1859-1929) was a San Francisco banker who married Mary Sophia Porter (1868-1930), a Soquel gal, in 1896. She was the only surviving child of Benjamin Porter and Kate Hubbard and inherited their significant estate at the age of 37. Ben and his cousin George were wealthy tannery owners who helped finance Charles Maclay‘s purchase of 56,000 acres in the north San Fernando Valley back in 1874. Although each would receive around a third of that acreage, they mostly stayed in Soquel, but Kate’s brother Henry Hubbard soon moved down here to operate a ranch on the Porters’ property (see Hubbard Street). Like the Porters, the Sesnon kids were absentee landlords, managing their vast holdings from the comfort of their mansions in San Francisco (Porter), Atherton (Barbara), and Los Angeles (William Jr.). In 1962, they sold the last 4,150 acres of Grandpa’s SFV ranch to real estate developer John MacLeod. Price: $20 million.
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