What year was this house built?
It's a question we get a lot. According to most of the paperwork we've come across, it was built in 1897. Here you can see an ad in the local paper, announcing what was to come.
And more evidence.
We've also learned a little bit about the original owner, Mr. A.A. Merkley. He was apparently elected Sacramento Tax Collector after the court threw out election results showing another man got more votes (see below).
Here's what Mr. Merkley looked like:
And here's what we know of Mr. Merkley now. This picture comes from the Old City Cemetery by our old house in Land Park. He died in 1941.
According to an article from a few years ago in the Sacramento Bee (link here), the home was purchased in the 1950s by the Maguires. They turned it into a boardinghouse. One of the neighbors on the block told us there were three boardinghouses, all along 22nd street, and the tenants from each of them came each day to what-is-now our house for their meals.
Ryan recently connected with a local historian, who gave us these great photographs.
Check out this shot of the ballroom.
Based on the TV in the corner, maybe the pictures are from the 60s? Here's one of the outside.
Adding this one below, which is obviously a lot more current, for comparison's sake.
It's pretty cool to think about what this house has been through, and the awesome future we envision for it as we work to return it to its former glory.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
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