12-31 Redman House purchase moves forward

12/30 Preservation group buys Watsonville’s historic Redman House

By DONNA JONES
Sentinel Staff Writer

WATSONVILLE — After working for years to buy a historic but dilapidated farmhouse on Lee Road, the nonprofit Redman House Foundation signed a $1.9 million deal for the 14-acre property Wednesday.

The purchase moves the foundation closer to its goal of restoring the 19th century home, a landmark to millions of motorists passing by on Highway 1 at the Riverside Drive exit.
"Excited is the appropriate word, but maybe an understatement," said Dale Skillicorn, foundation president. "It’s taken a long time since we first got started."

Designed by famed local architect William Weeks, the five-bedroom house was built in 1897 for sugar-beet farmer James Redman. In the 1930s the Hirahara family bought the land and held onto the property despite being interned during World War II. The family sold the property in the 1980s.

The Redman House Foundation, launched in 1998 to preserve the deteriorating two-story Queen Anne Victorian, plans to develop the property just outside city limits into a visitor’s center, garden and demonstration farm.

The seller, Green Farm Limited Partnership, has owned the property since 1985, and proposed a similar, but commercial, project in the early 1990s. The $5 million proposal called for the renovation of the mansion and placing an upscale restaurant on the first floor. Outside, the plan included an agricultural museum, retail shops and an 8-acre model farming operation.
But the project didn’t get support from county officials, and the city, which was more sympathetic, was unable to annex the land.

"The notion of a nonprofit doing it in some form is thrilling to us," said Rich Kelley, Green Farm’s general partner.

The foundation is making a $200,000 down payment and has five years to come up with the rest of the purchase price. Skillicorn said the foundation has identified several state and federal grants, but couldn’t apply for the funding until it owned the property. It also will try to tap conservation groups willing to contribute to keep at least 10 of the 14 acres in agriculture.

Restoring the house, which earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in August, is estimated to cost $2 million, Skillicorn said. The structure was damaged in the 1989 earthquake, and vandals stripped woodwork and tile from the interior.

Photo: The Redman House Foundation plans to open a visitor’s center at the 19th century mansion off Highway 1 near the Riverside Drive exit. (Shmuel Thaler / Sentinel)