Harold Hohbach, a patent attorney and developer whose mixed-use projects and whimsical art helped transform the area around California Avenue, died on Dec. 28 at his home in Atherton, according to various sources. He was 96.

Known for his dogged persistence, his irascible nature, his uncompromising style and his deep appreciation for Silicon Valley's legacy of innovation, Mr. Hohbach spent more than 50 years working as a developer, focusing on the California Avenue Business District. His recent projects include 195 Page Mill Road, which includes 82 apartments and research-and-development space, and the Birch Plaza project at 305 Grant Ave., which includes eight apartments and office space.

Other prominent Hohbach projects include Sheridan Apartments, which he constructed in the mid-1990s and which is perhaps best known for its public art: a fountain sculpture that graces the courtyard of Caffé Riace and features a classical nude lifting a washing machine over her head.

Susan McKay, manager of Park Plaza, a Hohbach project, described him as the kind of a man whose "handshake meant a lot." He had been developing since the 1950s and never retired from the company. She said Mr. Hohbach died at home, surrounded by his family.

Ms. McKay said Mr. Hohbach was "well-known for his loyalty and long business relationships," some of which stretched back more than four decades. And she said he will be remembered for his indelible personality.

"He had his own vision about things and was very clear about it," Ms. McKay said. "That could promote some pushback because everyone has an opinion. Harold was one of those people who was sure his opinion was right."

Palo Alto officials were far less certain. Since the 1970s, Mr.Hohbach had waged numerous legal battles against the city, with mixed results for both parties. The biggest feud revolved around Court House Plaza, a 10-story office building that he was planning to develop in the late 1960s and early 1970s at 260 Sheridan Ave. The project was in the planning phase in 1974, when the city adopted its 50-foot height limit for new developments, a restriction that reduced the project to a four-story office complex.

During the 16-year legal battle over the project, city officials got a taste of his uncompromising style. In 1978, Mr. Hohbach rejected the city's proposed compromise that would have allowed an eight-story building. According to reports at the time, Mr. Hohbach was concerned about wasting the 300-ton cache of steel he had purchased to construct the 10-story building.

View a map showing all the developments Mr. Hohbach helped build in the California Avenue Business District here.

Undaunted, he appealed the city's decision five times -- twice to the California Supreme Court and three times to the U.S. Supreme Court -- to no avail.

Mr. Hohbach also sued the city in 2010 over Park Plaza, the project at 195 Page Mill Road that he first proposed in 2005. After years of delays and a lawsuit from project opponents, Mr. Hohbach filed his own suit in a federal court. Mr. Hohbach, who was 88 at the time, argued in his claim that the city was unreasonably delaying the final approval of the project, and "destroying" his ability to complete the project "in light of his advanced age." (The mixed-use project ultimately won the council's approval in 2012.)

Though Mr. Hohbach rarely attended council meetings or community events, preferring to work behind the scenes, the few interviews he gave suggested that his "advanced age" rarely strayed far from his mind. In a 1995 interview with the Palo Alto Weekly, he reflected on the fact that he would not live forever.

"I'd like to think I have all the time in the world," said Mr. Hohbach, then 73. "But I don't."

He also noted at the time that he has no plans to retire. Ever. ("Let other people retire," he said. "Not me.") He never swerved from that position. Ms. McKay said he worked up until the end and his mind was always "sharp as a tack."

Others who knew Mr. Hohbach agreed with that assessment. They also pointed to his admiration for those innovators who turned Silicon Valley into the world's pre-eminent tech hub. Marcus Wood, a broker who worked with Mr. Hohbach for decades, called Mr. Hohbach a "great man without trying to be one." Elizabeth Alexis, an acquaintance of Mr. Hohbach, said he was "an interesting guy who had a genuine admiration for inventors."

"His main career was as a patent attorney, and he was serious about building R&D space in his later career as a developer," Ms. Alexis said.

According to Menlo Church, a memorial service for Harold Hohbach is planned for 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2.