July 14, 2026
The Engineers Design Depot – 15 Third Street History
Carlile Macy’s office is located in The Engineers Design Depot at 15 Third Street in Santa Rosa, California. The building is one of the key historic structures in Historic Railroad Square, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1979. Built in 1890, the one-story brick warehouse originally served as a storage facility for the nearby railroad. Today, it is occupied by multiple professional firms and is just steps away from the Santa Rosa Downtown SMART Station, the Prince Memorial Greenway, and Courthouse Square.
building construction
The Engineers Design Depot retains many of its historic architectural features, including a flat roof, exposed pilasters, a horizontal bond course, and a shaped parapet with arched openings for large high windows and doors. According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, an addition was constructed in the early 1900s. However, the 1893 and 1897 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Santa Rosa tell a different story. The earlier map shows the building as it was originally constructed, while the 1897 map shows the addition in place. Based on this evidence, the addition was likely constructed sometime between 1893 and 1897.
The building also retains several features that reflect its industrial origins. The interior ceiling reaches approximately 16 feet in height and slopes down to about 11 feet where the addition begins. The floor is elevated roughly 36 inches above grade and is accessed by decks at both the front and rear of the building. These decks originally functioned as loading docks when the structure served as a warehouse and freight depot. At the time, spur lines of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Electric Railway ran alongside the property, providing direct access to the loading docks.
1906 Earthquake and Aftermath
The Engineers Design Depot was one of only 7 buildings in Historic Railroad Square to survive the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, which occurred in the early morning hours of April 18. According to the USGS, it remains one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. The shaking could be felt as far north as southern Oregon and as far south as Los Angeles. In Santa Rosa, 20 blocks of downtown were destroyed, with more damage occurring here per capita than in San Francisco. In 2005, the USGS determined that the San Francisco earthquake was most powerful in an area between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol.
After another pair of significant earthquakes on October 1, 1969, the Engineers Design Depot was retrofitted with cross bracing and concrete foundation stabilization. This interior work was completed in 1979. At the same time, the building was converted into multiple tenant spaces.
Carlile Macy
In 1997, Dick Carlile and Jack Macy purchased the building at 15 Third Street and carefully restored it by removing non-period decorative features and restoring the original brickwork. Renovations also opened up the interior of the building, revealing skylights, timber beams and posts, as well as introducing exposed ductwork. Today, the building’s design pays tribute to its past as a freight storage facility, preserving the architectural elements that reflect its rich history.
