| Chico
historic home may be first to enjoy tax break
(Continued) The couple might get some help with the renovations from the city of Chico. The Goodman House could become the first historic Chico building to benefit from a new city program that grants property tax breaks in exchange for preserving the city's architectural heritage. On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to vote on a Historical Property Preservation Agreement with the Grahams. The Goodman House was built in 1906 by Horace Goodman, a Butte County rancher and "Chico civic leader," so that his five children could attend school in town, according to the Chico Heritage Association's 1983 Historic Resources Inventory. George Vogelsang bought the four-story Colonial Revival home in 1919. Then in 1974, the house was sold to M. Brooks Houghton, who transformed the building into professional offices. The Grahams bought the building in 2002 not only for a bed and breakfast, but also for their residence. Tom is retired from the advertising and marketing business, and Margo is a former elementary and middle school teacher. They became interested in opening a bed and breakfast after staying in several while traveling through Europe. "We knew we were going to be retiring and we wanted to try to do something together," Tom said. The couple decided to move from Martinez, in the Bay Area, to Chico to be near the two of their four children that live here. They asked one of their son's friends, a real estate broker, to keep an eye out for older homes that could be converted. Tom and the broker approached the Goodman House one rainy evening after the office had closed. "Tom looked in the windows and made an offer on it right then," Margo said. When he came home that night, he told her he'd bought a house. Tom said the Goodman House, for which he paid $385,000, reminds him of his boyhood home in Tacoma, Wash. The Grahams set about restoring the place to its original appearance. The idea of getting a property tax break in exchange for historic renovations presented itself in 2002, during a meeting with Clif Sellers, the city's assistant community development director. "He happened to mention it to me, I knew nothing about it," Tom said. It wasn't until last June that the City Council voted to approve the program, based on the 1972 Mills Act, a state law giving property tax relief to owners of qualifying historical structures. In return, property owners agree to preserve, maintain, and possibly restore the buildings. "It's an incentive to maintain properties in an historic state," Sellers said. The program is voluntary, and can knock off 20 percent to 60 percent in property taxes on historic buildings, he said. The plan also allows owners to undertake renovations without having to be concerned that their property value could be reassessed at higher rate. To qualify, a property must be listed on federal, state or local registries, such as the National Register of Historic Places or the California Register of Historical Resources. Buildings that contribute to a historic district, like the South of Campus Neighborhood National Historic District, are also eligible. The Goodman House's listing on the Chico Heritage Association's survey qualifies. A $500 application fee, paid by the property owner, covers the city's expenses for running the program, Sellers said. The contract has a 10-year duration, and then can be renewed on an annual basis. The property owner is obliged to maintain the building, and structural changes have to be approved by the city. Margo estimated property taxes on the Goodman House at about $4,000 a year. She said she hopes the agreement will reduce that by half. To date, the Grahams have spent about $250,000 on renovations like removing asbestos from the basement, installing heating and air conditioning and replacing electrical wiring. "We totally raided our retirement fund," Margo said. The former wiring consisted of an antiquated system of porcelain tubes, glass knobs and ungrounded wires which constituted a fire hazard. The house didn't have a fireplace, but it did have a heating system that took up half the basement and disbursed heat through several grates on the first floor. In the early 1900s it was considered state-of-the-art, Tom said. "It looked like the front end of a submarine," he said. Despite having no prior experience, other than decorating her own home, Margo handled the interior design. "I looked at a whole lot of magazines and books. I had a sense of the kind of look I wanted. Getting to that look was sometimes tricky," she said. Tom said, "We wanted it to be period-appropriate, but comfortable, too." Since the home predates color photography, they had to rely on written historical records to match the original exterior paint. The records describe a dun, or beige, color. Maroon trim gives the facade warm contrast. "This is much closer to the original color, as best we can figure," Margo said. They tried to salvage as much of the original building materials as they could. Some of the light fixtures date back to 1911, and many of the doorknobs have been saved. Most of the original wainscoting ornamental wall lining has been retained. There's even a brass handle that has been reincarnated as a towel rod. Renovating old houses can present costly surprises, they soon discovered. For instance, rotting exterior wooden siding on the second floor could not easily be replaced and had to be milled at a cost of $16,000. Specially-made screens for the dining room and kitchen windows were needed to meet health codes, amounting to $1,200. And a special water heater cost $2,500. "Everything we did, It was three times what we expected," Tom said. "It's just all the things you really don't expect to be hit with take a little longer and cost a little more. You open a wall and you suddenly have a whole new project." Not to mention all the city fees involved in upgrading such things as sewer hookups and water lines. "With every single thing you do there's a fee," he said. In the next five years, they hope to build a garage, improve the landscaping and replace the roof. They also plan to install a Victorian wrought iron fence around the property to prevent vandalism. The remaining work is estimated to run about $100,000. "We still have some finishing touches we'd like to do internally," Tom said. The bed and breakfast opened in September and has four guest rooms. Most of the visitors are parents of Chico State University students, although they also get physicians visiting Enloe Medical Center, college alumni and newlyweds. The Grahams don't, however, tell the guests about the ghost until after they've stayed the night. (BACK) |