Los Altos owed its existence to the Southern Pacific Railroad. Seeking a shortcut between Palo Alto and Los Gatos, the railroad acquired the downtown triangle in 1907 from Sarah Winchester, who refused to sell only the five acres they needed, and they laid out the rest of her ranch as Los Altos with the depot as the gateway to the new town. The Los Altos depot was highly unusual for a small town on the railroad and trolley lines because it was designed by Southern Pacific architect D.J. Patterson rather than from a standard plan book. Begun in 1912 and estimated at $7,000, the Craftsman-style depot was finished six months late in 1913 and cost $12,000. After railroad operations ceased, the building was used as a restaurant, and the arbors were enclosed. In 1975 it was converted into a bank after substantial changes, including a new porch, moved original front door and windows, and the addition of a bay window and a large bracketed gable on the new front side on First Street as access to town shifted from trains to cars. Much of the original track-side facade was removed, and its brick was reused to match the new bay window and columns, but the freight door to the left remained original.