Mapleton

Mapleton was built by Mark and Ralphine MacDonald in 1879 as a summer residence and a promotional centerpiece for a tract of "homesteads" MacDonald was developing in Santa Rosa. It survived decades of neglect, the ongoing threat of demolition, redevelopment and a serious 1977 fire. The property survived 2 1/2 years of restoration and reconstruction because of the dedication, persistence and hard work of numerous community members who recognized its historical and cultural significance to the city of Santa Rosa. It is currently occupied by a single family and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

After reading about the reconstruction in the newspaper in 2010, OilMan and I drove past the house, currently known as the MacDonald Mansion, to see it for ourselves. Peering through the railings we could see that it was crawling with carpenters. According to the newspaper the house was entering a crucial phase of its reconstruction. While later additions to the exterior of the house were removed, and the gardens restored, the plain interior was being brought up to appropriate Victorian grandeur and correctness. The current owners "plan to embark on a trip...to Boston, New York and New Orleans in search of period light fixtures. 'Obviously, in some areas we're going to have to buy reproduction. The trouble is, you can find two or three that are matching, but you can't find 20. The (modern) appliances that are visible will all look old....'" This apparently includes a $35,000 stove made in France.

Today we took some Berkeley friends to the MacDonald neighborhood, filled with gracious old homes on wide, tree lined streets. The MacDonald mansion is all finished now and wonderful to look at--one must still peer through the railings, of course--but perhaps just a bit gaudy, and who would want to live in a house like that with the likes of me pressing their noses through the railings at all hours? I thought my new "ultimate lighting machine" was pretty expensive, but I didn't have to make a special trip to New Orleans or Boston for it. I have been looking at new stoves (one can even buy an Aga cooker here) and I thought $6,000 was a terrible price to pay for a commercial style range. At least they look pretty old already, and I don't have to pay $35,000 for an old looking French one! Probably not the best place to go for kitchen renovation ideas, even if they were to let me inside....