Stabilization work now will prepare Pilot Hill's historic Bayley House for a major renovation later, officials say
By Cathy Locke - Bee Staff Writer,
Steve Reyman examines a bedroom in the Bayley House, where the first phase of restoration could cost about $400,000. Sacramento Bee/Lezlie Sterling
An approximately five-week reconstruction project may not restore the 145-year-old Bayley House to its youthful luster, but it will set the stage for rejuvenation.
A long-awaited face-lift is under way for the historic building off Highway 49 in Pilot Hill.
John Crane, a member of the Georgetown Divide Recreation District board, expects area residents to be impressed by the transformation wrought by bricks and mortar, and roof repairs.
"It will be dramatic," he said.
The 10,000- square-foot Bayley House was built as a hotel in 1862 by attorney Alcander John Bayley, who later became a state assemblyman.
Historians say Bayley believed that the Central Pacific Railroad would come through Pilot Hill. When it was routed through Auburn instead, the three-story, 22-room mansion became his private home.
With six fireplaces, a grand ballroom, and columns and a balcony across the front, the brick building resembled a Southern mansion. It remained one of El Dorado County's landmark residences until the 1950s.
The Georgetown Divide Recreation District has owned the building and surrounding 10 acres since 1989.
The Historic American Buildings Survey, commissioned by the federal government in the 1930s, listed the Bayley House as one of the best examples of classical revival architecture on the West Coast, according to Jaime Tafoya, a resident of Cool and member of Friends of the Bayley House. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to raising funds to restore the building.
The current restoration work by Reyman Bros. of Sparks, Nev., involves reconstructing the collapsed north wall, repairing masonry around the entire building and repairing the roof, Crane said. Windows, doors and other openings also will be boarded to protect against weather and intruders.
"We will end up with something that is stable, weatherproof and vandalproof," Crane said.
He described the current work as a "mothballing" project but said it also will provide a "major, major face-lift."
Tafoya said, "This will essentially preserve the building as we move forward with Phase II, which is the full restoration."
The third phase will involve interior work to prepare the building for community use.
The weatherization and stabilization was to have occurred three years ago, but Crane said the project suffered a setback when original architectural plans failed to satisfy the state Office of Historic Preservation.
The recreation district proposed to rebuild the north wall with concrete blocks, and to use the original bricks as a veneer, Crane said, but the state agency wanted the entire wall rebuilt with bricks.
While the recreation district negotiated with the state, Tafoya said, volunteers cleared the area around the house in preparation for the contractor.
"The bricks that came down from the north wall have been meticulously cleaned and stacked on pallets," Tafoya said.
If there aren't enough of the original bricks to rebuild the wall, reproductions will have to be made, Crane said.
Despite the delays, he said, the recreation district has a good working relationship with Office of Historic Preservation staff members.
"They want to see it being restored as much as we do," Crane said.
Reyman Bros. has been the contractor for several major projects, including restoration of the Leland Stanford Mansion in Sacramento and several historical buildings in Virginia City.
Tafoya said first-phase costs, for consultants and construction work, will run about $400,000. Money has come from a California Heritage Fund grant, with matching funds from the county, as well as from donations and annual fundraising events. Friends of the Bayley House also sells T-shirts, mugs and post cards.
This year's "Dance Party," in July at the Bayley House Barn, grossed about $12,000 and drew people from as far away as the Bay Area and Nevada City, Tafoya said.
Sustaining interest in the restoration effort is a challenge, he said, noting that people become skeptical when work is delayed. He and Crane said they hope the current face-lift will reinvigorate the campaign.
The building can be saved, Tafoya said. Engineers have determined that the structure is sound, despite its deterioration, he said.
The finished project, he said, "will be done to historic specifications."
For more information about the Bayley House restoration and fundraising efforts, see the Web site at
www.bayleyhouse.net/cs/.
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