In 1999, the House was moved for the third and final time from Romie Lane to 20-22 Station Place.
At
the final location, restoration began. The foundation and roof were
replaced and the exterior painted. All interior plaster and batten
were removed and structural weaknesses were rectified. The downstairs
bathroom was removed. Wallpaper was discovered. To restore the House
to 1873, wallpapers on the bottom-most layer were replicated and
returned to their site of discovery. Original furniture, clothes and
other artifacts were returned to House.
All efforts have been
taken to restore the House to its period of significance, using
photographic documentation, oral and written histories.
Wallpaper Discoveries
During restoration, original wallpaper was
discovered underneath the batten and plaster, layers of it everywhere on the walls and ceilings, and the
bottom layer was still attached directly over muslin to the rough
redwood planks. The picture on the right shows wallpaper discovered in the dining room (top) and in Mabel's bedroom (bottom).
This practice of wallpaper application was common in the South
and West where plaster was scarce and wallpaper was relatively cheap.
The practice was fortuitous, as it enabled us to identify that
particular paper stemming from our interpretive period. We reasoned
that the bottom-most layer was chosen by Sarah from samples at Isaac's
store and was applied by the time the House was completed in 1873.
During
the 1860's books and magazines described to Sarah the proper ways to
decorate and manage her home. One such book was, American Woman's Home,
by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, in 1869. The authors
suggested appropriate patterns for specific rooms. For example, ashlar
wallpapers were suggested for halls and entryways. Their suggestion was
clearly followed, as ashlar paper was discovered under the plaster in
the front hall (right).
The site at Intermodal Transportation Center also includes the cottage,
which is being renovated as an education and community center; the
center will serve as the support structure for teachers their students,
and the community, enabling use of, not only the Harvey House, but
other historic resources including a restored caboose, steam
locomotive, and warehouse. Together, these resources will tell the
story of transportation and the development of the Salinas Valley.
Since
the cottage had been extensively altered, no effort was made to restore
the original building. Instead this building will be renovated for use
by the community. It allows space for teachers, their students, and
their educational materials.
The grounds include tiered seating, where docents, dressed in period
clothes, introduce the House and garden to students comparing life in
the 1870s to life today.
Historic Garden
To restore the garden, we relied on original documents by Sarah and Mabel Harvey and by Josephine Clifford (The Califonian Vol. 1, 1880). The following description of the Harvey House garden when it was located on Monterey Street was written by Mabel Harvey.
"When
a caller would come through the front gate he would see the Potato
Vine, a pale blue flower when in bloom. Inside on the walk to the left
was a Cloth-of-Gold rose, a lovely yellow color, a red rose, and a
lilac bush, and one could smell the fragrant lemon Verbena tree.
around the house on the left was a pink Arbutelan, which attracted
humming birds. A bit farther on was another Cloth-of-Gold rose. Then
there were clumps of Naked Ladies, a pink Amaryllis. To the left of
the front porch were beautiful lavender Clematis, my favorite flower of
all. All around were beds of sweet smelling violets, smilax,
green-leafed plants with tiny white flower that turned into berries.
At the end o the porch grew a Bankshire rose. Every well-ordered house
was suppose to have."
