A little wood-paneled detached garage, a few blocks from Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California, has just become a national landmark. On the spot, in 1938, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started work on an audio oscillator, soon used by Disney to improve the sound of Fantasia.

By 1939, the two had officially founded Hewlett-Packard, with Packard's wife, Lucile doing the company's books on the dining room table of the property's two-story house. In 1940, HP moved shop to Page Mill Rd.

HP bought back the property in 1987, and lovingly restored it, down to the old school coffee cans on the garage's workbench. Bad news for those looking to pick up a miniature garage door opener souvenir, however, HP is respecting the neighborhood's privacy, only giving tours to on a few "certain occasions."

The jury is still out on the landmark status of the Gateway cow.

[Pic and Story via SJ Mercury]