CHC 2011 Annual Awards Dinner
overlooking SF Bay…
What A Night!

The sun sets on the bay as the awards dinner gets under way.

Six new awards and two re-issued awards highlighted our annual Awards Dinner this past June 30th at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Multi-colored parasails and graceful seabirds painted a constantly moving picture of the bay as the sun set and the proceedings began.

Award recipients ranged from Lake Tahoe to Woodside with points in between. And the winners are…

MACLAREN LOG LODGE, circa 1935, Homewood, Lake Tahoe. This award was originally presented at our 1992 Awards Dinner to Ronald MacLaren Patterson in recognition of his restoration and preservation of the lodge.

Ron was an active Vice President in the California Heritage Council who passed away earlier this year. His family requested a copy of the award to frame and hang in the lodge, as the original award was borrowed and never returned.

LA CASITA ADOBE, circa 1842, Sonoma, California This award was originally presented at our 1974 Awards Dinner to owners Harriet and Gregory Jones, Sr., in recognition of their restoration and preservation of the Adobe. Today, it is one of Sonoma’s few structures remaining from the Mexican period and is considered the oldest occupied residence in Sonoma.

The house was constructed for Captain Salvador Vallejo, brother of General Mariano Vallejo. CHC Vice President and Board Members, Robert and Leslie Demler, who knew Harriet Jones before she died, purchased the adobe from Gregory Jones, Jr. The Demlers have upgraded the property’s basic amenities, paying particular attention to preserving the character of the original adobe.

UTICA POWERHOUSE, circa 1899, Murphys, California. The demand to provide power to mines, mills and residences of Angels Camp was so great that the Union Water Company built a solid stone powerhouse.

When the mines closed in 1942, with the outbreak of World War II, PG&E purchased the powerhouse. Eventually the powerhouse became outdated and it was shut down in 1954. The shell of the beautiful building was stripped of its valuable components and abandoned to natural forces where it lay dormant for almost 50 years.

In 2003, Martin Huberty purchased the property with a vision and drive that few home owners can imagine. In order to retain its historic character, the 3-feet-thick rhyolite block walls remain intact, as well as the hand hewn beams, iron bars and pipes that were all part of the original structure. From the outside, the building looks little changed, other than the addition of landscaping; on the inside, the building is finished as a home.

THE DeCARLI FAMILY; THE PETALUMA TROLLEY AND LIVING HISTORY RAILROAD MUSEUM; and the NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY:

This is a three-part award, nominated by CHC member, Richard Torney. The DeCarli Family has generously provided the Petaluma location at Baylis Street as headquarters for both organizations, and the space needed for restoration and display purposes.

The Petaluma Trolley is an organization of volunteers who are working to ensure that trolley service be restored to the Petaluma waterfront, and that these antique treasures are protected, restored and exhibited in a Living Museum. In 2010, the Coastal Conservancy approved a grant of $475,000 to reconstruct the trestle along the Petaluma riverfront, upon which the Petaluma Trolley will ride once more. The members of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society are dedicated to preserving the rich and colorful heritage of Redwood Empire railroading.

They accomplish this through acquisition, preservation and display efforts, as well as through gathering oral histories of people who have contributed to our regional history. Their William R. Hogarty Memorial Library has a priceless collection of photos, maps, drawings and other related memorabilia associated with the NWPRR.

LOUTZENHEISER PHARMACY BUILDING, , circa 1855, dba FOOTHILL FLOWERS, Grass Valley, California.

This is the 3rd oldest building in Grass Valley. Originally it was used as a pharmacy, continuously operated by the Loutenzenheiser family for 77 years.

In 1966, Mark and Mary Johnson purchased the property. After a fire in 1984, they had local craftsmen restore the interior in order to preserve this historic structure.

RICHMOND PLUNGE, circa 1926, Richmond, California. Originally called the Richmond Natatorium, the Plunge operated continuously up until it was closed in 2001 due to the structural failure of its exterior walls.

The Plunge is a historic indoor swimming pool, 60-by-160 feet, with an open-truss ceiling reminiscent of San Francisco’s Sutro Baths. It reopened in the summer of 2010, after a $7.5 million renovation deigned by architect Todd Jersey and funding by city redevelopment money, a regional voter measure, and individual grants and public donations.

There are 3500 square feet of solar hot water panels for the pool’s 324,000 gallons of water; solar panels for electricity; a hyper-efficient boiler, and sophisticated pool pumps. It’s a saline pool, without chlorine, that uses an ultraviolet disinfectant system so that swimmers will not need goggles.

FOLGER STABLES, circa 1905, Woodside, California,
This is one of the jewels of the Peninsula’s Great Estate Period of a century ago. James Folger II purchased the property in 1902 and engaged Arthur Brown, Jr. to design the estate’s buildings. After a time, it stood dying of benign neglect until a remarkable public/private partnership was formed.

In 2004, the Folger Estate Stable Committee, formed in 2002, worked with the County of San Mateo and successfully had the stables listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The campaign committee raised $3 million for the renovation, which began in Dec. 2008. CHC member and architect, Adolph Rosekrans, guided the restoration project.

Today, the Folger Estate Stable Historic District includes the Stable, which is 188 feet long and 75 feet wide and is built from redwood harvested on the property. There’s also a blacksmith barn and dairy house as well as extremely well-preserved dry stone walls built in the late 1800s.

MCDONALD MANSION, circa 1879, Santa Rosa, California. McDonald Mansion, a.k.a. Mableton Mansion, is Santa Rosa's most prominent historic home.

The 14,000-square-foot house was built in the late 1870s by Col. Mark Lindsay McDonald, owner of Santa Rosa's water company, builder of the Santa Rosa Street Railway and one of the town's most eminent early citizens. It was built in a style reminiscent of the plantations along the Mississippi.

During McDonald’s life, many notable visitors came to the house, including Mark Twain, and railroad magnates Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker. John and Jennifer Webley bought the aging mansion six years ago, and have restored it into a beautiful home, preserving this impressive landmark.

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CHC In The Field: where we took our last field trip.

CHC Past Member Events: Web page for our previous outings and events.

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This site is dedicated to the memory of Henry Prien, whose untiring efforts to the preservation of California's creative heritage still inspires us all; and to Betty Ann Prien who continues Henry's legacy