1442-1448 Main Street

William T. Kibbler built this structure in 1886.  He had been a clerk at the Wonderful Drug Store, but he eventually moved to San Francisco.

A later owner was John Stewart Noble, who, after immigrating to the U.S. in 1869, and while touring the country in 1875, took a side trip to the Napa Valley.  Although he was a tailor, he decided to become an undertaker and make more money.  Unfortunately, he suffered a severe attack of blood poisoning from embalming chemicals.  While recovering, he moved to St. Helena in 1891 and, after purchasing a local undertaking business, he built the Noble building at 1200 Main Street.

In 1906, Noble traded his home and his business for property in Chicago, which turned out to be an unfortunate decision. Lawsuits over the business deal sadly resulted in his divorce. Noble moved back to St. Helena and opened another furniture/undertaking business, this time in the Kibbler Building.  His second marriage to Emma Mooney, widow of F. T. Mooney, was short-lived since he was once again stricken with blood poisoning and died in 1923.

The left photo shows the building as a hardware store decked out for July 4, 1916.  The first floor was a Safeway store from 1928 until about 1950. It then housed an appliance store and a small restaurant.  For many years the second floor was residential apartments and has also housed several hotels.  It is currently the Wydown Hotel upstairs, with Centerpiece Floral & Home and La Boheme Home Décor at street level.