When one tells the tale of an historic property, especially in fast-growing places like California and Nevada, the story typically ends with the destruction of the venerable old structure, which is inevitably replaced by something new and shiny.
But there’s an old house in the quaint community of Calistoga, located at the north end of California’s famous Napa Valley, that somehow dodged a date with a wrecking ball to become an elegant and magnificent small hotel.
Located at 1403 Myrtle Street, the historic John H. Francis House was built in 1886 in the classic Second Empire style of architecture (similar in appearance to Virginia City’s Savage Mansion, which was built in 1861). The house has the distinction of being the only stone residence built in that style in the Napa Valley.
James H. Francis, who commissioned construction of the house, was a prominent Calistoga merchant (his brother, George, was owner of the Napa Register newspaper in the city of Napa).
Francis had a mercantile store on the corner of Lincoln and Washington streets in the downtown area and owned several ranches, including one north of Calistoga on which there was a productive silver mine.
His three-story mansion incorporated locally-quarried stone as well as curled redwood. When completed, it was arguably the most elegant and impressive single-family home in Calistoga.
Following Francis’s death in 1891, the house was sold to Colonel Myron E. Billings, a Civil War veteran and justice of the U.S. Criminal Courts who had been appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Billings modified the house over the next several decades, installing electricity, hot and cold running water, and indoor bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs.
In 1918, Billings died and the house was rented to a local nurse, Mabel Martin, who converted it into the Calistoga Hospital. According to author Jane Hodges Young, writing for North Bay Biz magazine, Martin married a local minister and widower, C.L. Peterson, and the two operated the hospital until the mid-1940s.
During the next two decades, several additions were made to the building, which also was sold several times until closing in 1964. According to Young, in 1970, it was purchased by Donald J. Selvey, who apparently was a hoarder who did no maintenance or upkeep of the property and used it to store his cars and other junk.
Despite being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the once-grand old house was essentially abandoned for more than 50 years, slowly decaying (the second floor and the stairs collapsed at one point). In 2015, it was listed as one of the ten most endangered historic properties in the county by Napa County Landmarks.
In 2007, the property was purchased by Napa developer Neil Schafer, who announced plans to build a luxury resort on the property, but that fell by the wayside with the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Finally, tired of having such an eyesore and hazard in the middle of town, the city of Calistoga began discussing demolishing the house.
In 2014, however, the crumbling ruin was acquired by Dina and Rich Dwyer of San Francisco, who spent three and a half years removing debris and lovingly rebuilding the house into a boutique hotel.
Completed in 2018, the Francis House is now a beautiful, meticulously-restored, five-bedroom luxury inn with a swimming pool, tennis court and infrared sauna and salt room. Even if a night’s stay isn’t in your plans, the place is certainly worth checking out.
For more information, go to https://thefrancishouse.com/.
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