Calistoga’s old hospital rescued from the wrecking ball

Calistoga's old hospital sat empty for so long, there were people in their 50s in town who were born after the state declared it unsafe and the last patient moved out.

The imposing French-style manse, made of stone back in 1886 for prominent town merchant James H. Francis, had not been occupied since 1964 - five years before man walked on the moon and the same year the Beatles first touched down in America.

Over half a century, the building had decayed so much that part of the second floor had collapsed and a section of the distinctive mansard roof had caved in.

For several generations of Napa Valley teenagers, the building was a notorious hangout, “the” place to go to make out, smoke, drink, get high or sneak around for a good scare beyond the watchful eyes of parents and police.

For decades, a succession of dreamers came forward with grand plans to rehabilitate the place that was, board by board, rotting away. But no one could make the numbers work. In addition to a completely new interior, it required a costly seismic retrofit.

By the time Dina and Richard Dwyer scooped up the wreck for a mere $650,000 in 2015, townspeople were almost too numb from repeated disappointments to dare to believe a rehabilitation would ever happen.

In fact, the city was only weeks away from embarking on steps to have it torn down, despite its place on the National Register of Historic Places, Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning said.

“We were starting the process of condemnation,” he said. “It had clearly crossed the line to being an attractive nuisance and safety threat, especially with kids.”

Canning said the city feared it was a matter of time before something dire happened.

“Everyone was reluctant to do that because we were hoping for someone to come along,” said Lynn Goldberg, Calistoga's Planning and Building Director.

“We did clean up the property at one point. It had just become a dumping ground for all kinds of stuff. Over the years there were various proposals by various groups wanting to buy it and convert it to all kinds of things. But it would have to be somebody with deep pockets to do it.”

Expertise, capital

Enter the Dwyers who had the capital, the expertise and the will to restore its beauty.

Richard is a custom home builder who specializes in constructing new homes in a vintage style. Dina is an interior designer.

The couple own a Victorian in San Francisco that they completely renovated. They love old buildings.

“If we had not come at the right time then this would not be standing. They just could not sell this,” said Richard, jovially overseeing the final work on a foundation-to-roof restoration of the three-story landmark.

On Sept. 7, the old stone lady, named The Francis House in honor of its first owner, will embark on its latest role as a 5-room luxury inn, with suites on the second floor for the Dwyers and their personal guests.

It was Dina who spotted the property while scouring real estate listings online.

“We always wanted to do a hotel or a small inn, anywhere,” she said

“I'm from the Philippines. We looked there and Laos and different Asian countries. We found properties. Some were not perfect. Some were not ready to sell. Some of them were too big a project so nothing ever materialized.”

$700,000 price

Dina said it was 2 a.m. when she pulled up the listing and assumed the $700,000 price, in a neighborhood where the median home goes for more than $1.1 million, was a typo. The photo, taken aerially, showed what appeared to be a grand estate. She went to bed, checked back the next day, and was astounded to discover that she wasn't dreaming. The price was correct.

When they contacted the listing broker to view it from the inside, it became apparent why the house was so cheap.

“There was nothing here. No plumbing, no electricity. It was unbelievable,” Richard said.

“I'm not scared of houses really, but there was an annex and two-thirds of it had collapsed in back. There was a toilet hanging 15 feet off the ground suspended on the wall because the floor had fallen under it. About 25 percent of the roof had caved in.”

All of the doors, trim and fixtures had been stripped. The place was strewn with beer bottles and cans.

A previous owner for years had used it as storage, filling it up with junk. And while the city had most of the stuff hauled away, including 19 cars, that was not before a fire broke out, charring one side of the stone exterior.

No takers

Broker Mirjam de Rijk said she had carried the listing for three years. Different parties bandied about ideas, but ultimately there were no takers.

At one point the property included a second home, an old Craftsman in decrepit condition. That was split off and torn down. But still, the Francis House languished.

“People loved it. We had a lot of people walk through the property, and even some people that ended up with ladders just to go through it,” de Rijk said.

“But it was too much of a fixer. Nobody was sophisticated enough or had the financial capacity to do it.”

The Dwyers negotiated an even lower price, took possession and threw themselves into the challenge.

“My wife found it, and I looked at it and I said, ‘I know I'm in trouble,' Richard laughed.

“The city planner said to me, ‘Congratulations, and my condolences.'

The Dwyers saw what every other dreamer saw - the beautiful stonework, the mansard roof, the grand European architecture, the way it sat angled toward the street, making it impossible not to notice.

“I always buy old wrecks and fix them up,” Richard said.

“It's been fun and challenging, and every time it's a new job.”

Now, three years later, the work is almost complete and the town's spookiest house has been polished up into a five-room luxury inn renamed The Francis House in honor of James H. Francis.

Mansard roof

A Calistoga merchant who also owned several ranches, including one producing silver ore north of town, Francis commissioned the house in the French Second Empire style, the signature architecture of France popularized by Napoleon III in the mid-19th century and characterized by a mansard roof.

He probably was influenced by his neighbor, August C. Palmer - Calistoga's first judge - who decided to build his own home in 1873 at 1300 Cedar St. by Pioneer Park in the Second Empire style, following a trip to France. The owner of Calistoga's lumber mill, he had ready materials to build.

Francis one-upped him. Sparing no expense, he contracted with architect John Sexton to build a Second Empire home out of stone quarried nearby, standing 26 feet high and finished inside with curled redwood and white paint.

A 1906 description by second owner Col. Myron E. Billings said the mansion at that point was equipped with the latest material luxuries, including electricity, hot and cold running water and indoor bathrooms upstairs and downstairs.

In 1918 after Billings died, the house was converted into The Calistoga Hospital that would serve the town for 46 years.

The building the Dwyers wound up with was a ruin, really nothing more than a shell. Richard said he didn't overthink what complications lay ahead.

“I do try to use what little knowledge I have to jump into things, and I don't always have a clear vision,” he said.

“That being said, I always end up on my feet, and I'm always able to do it. That's what happened here.”

The couple declined to say how much they spent other than it was far more than they paid for the building and far more than they anticipated.

Dwyer and his crew removed all the wood window casings and carefully put the pieces in storage bins, which they later re-sanded and refinished and put back in place. A couple had to be replaced. Napa carpenter Dennis Douglas did the reproductions.

21-inch thick walls

To ensure that the 21-inch thick walls wouldn't collapse during construction, crews shored up the building with big concrete posts.

All the grout had to be cleaned and 18-inch bolts inserted every 2½ feet. Steel beams were added for reinforcement. Although originally the walls would have been plaster, the Dwyers chose to leave the stone exposed.

The couple found an old marble fireplace for the main sitting and dining area that has an interesting provenance. It was featured in the old 1960s prime-time soap opera, “Peyton Place,” and had been salvaged from a house in Hancock Park in Los Angeles before it was torn down in 1969.

The Dwyers brought back the balconies that had once graced the exterior and added several dormers to bring in more natural light.

Dina, who has a degree from the Parsons School of Design, oversaw the interior decor, adding a mix of contemporary and classic elements, including Italian Murano glass chandeliers.

They imported a fountain from France whimsically decorated with frogs for the front entrance. A clear line of site from the fountain through a central hall ends in back at a swimming pool.

Calistoga residents who have had a love/hate relationship with the aging ruin, the only stone Second Empire Building in Napa Valley, are thrilled it has been brought back to its original magnificence.

“Everyone is talking about it, and now that it's getting close to opening, there is even more excitement and interest,” Mayor Canning said.

“Everyone wants to see it.”

Well-known building

Much of the interest stems from the fact that so many people have a relationship with the building, whether they were born at the hospital, or stayed there, partied in the ruins or simply drove by and admired it amid the overgrowth and trash.

Tom Fuller, who is overseeing public relations for the new inn, confessed that as a teenager growing up in Napa, he drove up a few times to drink beer and hang out.

“We'd come here mostly during Halloween to get scared. It looked like a haunted house,” he said.

“It was kind of creepy here at night, and we had to make sure the neighbors didn't see you.

“Growing up here, for the last 45 years I've been obsessed with this building. You could just tell it was a great and stately place when it was built. It's so great to see it reborn.”

The project has just received a Preservation Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation, the same award granted to San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, ironically where the Dwyers were married.

They intend to spend a lot of time at the inn and said it's gratifying to have saved a piece of Calistoga history.

““We're just the caretakers,” Richard said.

“Dina and I added another 150 years to the life of this. We won't be here then, but hopefully 150 years from now, they'll be talking about the guys who fixed it up.

“And yet, it's less about that and more about having fun doing this and doing a project where everybody in the city says ‘thank you.' We feel so blessed we got lucky enough to find this and do something fun at just the right time.

“As all of our friends say, ‘That place was just waiting for you.'”

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @megmcconahey.