Redman-Hirahara House gets a lift

BY: REGISTER-PAJARONIAN STAFF

Workers from Fresno House Movers prepare to hoist the 1897 Redman House skyward Monday as part of a major restoration project. Preparations are under way and the site work has begun to lift the Redman-Hirahara House onto cribbing, stabilizing the historic 1897 home until a new foundation is constructed.

The lifting of the house will begin today at 10:30 a.m. and will take several hours. Ron Campbell of Fresno Housemovers is currently on site placing steel I-beams and smaller cross beams underneath the house in preparation for the lift.
The house is recognizable throughout the region as it rests just off Highway 1 west of Watsonville at the corner of Beach Street and Lee Road. The house is significant, not only for its agricultural history, but its cultural history as well. It is the first known farmstead owned by a Japenese-American family, the Hiraharas. The family was interned during WWII and was forced to leave the home. Fortunately, local residents watched over the home and it was waiting for the Hiraharas when they returned and then the barn was transformed into a dormitory for other Japanese-Americans left homeless by the internment.

"The story behind this house is heart-wrenching and it needs to be told,” said Redman Foundation board president Geoff Scurfield.

Lifting the house is a huge step forward for the Redman Foundation, the nonprofit organization that is overseeing the restoration of the home and plans to transform the site into an educational and cultural center. Already, 10 acres of the farm are being leased by a local organic farmer and school children are already visiting and learning.

“In the 10-year history of our efforts, this is the biggest step we’ve made in restoring the house,” said Scurfield. “This is such an important project for the entire Central Coast. Highway 1 is California’s most historic highway and so many people drive by this house, millions each year. We can reach so many people.”

The approximately 115-ton, 2 1/2-story home will be hoisted up on jacks after beams have been put in place underneath. When put back down on the new foundation, the house will sit two feet higher, lifting it above the flood plain of the Pajaro River.

Redman board vice president Dean Coley said raising funds for the foundation will be the next challenge, but once that is complete, he hopes the house will be resting on a new foundation by next winter.

“This is great for the community of the entire Central Coast,” said Coley. “Millions of cars pass that house along Highway 1 each year and it could be such a wonderful showcase. We need to take pride in our history here.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

Hopes rise as foundation lifted on Redman-Hirahara house

By DONNA JONES Sentinel staff writer
Watsonville

For years a banner pleading for help hung from the ramshackle mansion in a field west of Highway 1 near the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line.

But to the millions of observers who pass by annually, the decade-old effort to restore the historic Redman-Hirahara home appeared to languish.

Not anymore.

Wednesday, crews completed the first step toward bringing the mansion back to life, lifting the two-story structure off its foundation so the damaged underpinnings can be replaced.

"Lots of people wondered whether we'd get something off the ground," said Dean Coley, vice chairman of the Redman Foundation. "We're definitely off the ground now"

But not out of the woods. The next phase of the $4.2 million restoration calls for a new concrete foundation with an estimated price tag of $200,000, 10 times what the lift cost and money that's still to be raised.

Project backers are looking to this week's work to boost fundraising efforts. A benefit is in the works for late October or early November.


"We're hoping that this is going to tell people we're serious about this and hopefully make people open their wallets," Coley said.

To Coley, fixing up the mansion and turning it into a cultural and educational showcase is worth the years and dollars he and other volunteers have spent laying the groundwork for the project. The group purchased the 14-acre property from a private developer in 2004 for $1.9 million and leased 10 acres to a local organic farmer to help pay the mortgage.

The Queen Anne Victorian, designed by famed architect William Weeks, was built in 1887 for sugar beet farmer James Redman. In 1930, the property was sold to the Hiraharas, a Japanese American family who lived in the house before and after internment during World War II.

"It really is a symbol, the gateway to Monterey County, to Santa Cruz County, to the Pajaro Valley, a symbol of our pride or lack thereof," Coley said. "It's a gem and we want to restore it"

Contact Donna Jones at djones (at) santacruzsentinel.com

REDMAN-HIRAHARA HOUSE TO BE LIFTED WEDNESDAY

Preparations are under way and the site work has begun to lift the Redman-Hirahara House onto cribbing, stabilizing the historic home until a new foundation is constructed. The lifting of the house will begin Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. and will go on for several hours.
Ron Campbell of Fresno Housemovers is currently on site placing steel I-beams and smaller cross beams underneath the house in preparation for the lift.

The house is recognizable throughout the region as it rests just off Highway 1 west of Watsonville at the corner of Beach Street and Lee Road. The house is significant, not only for its agricultural history, but its cultural history as well. It is the first known farmstead owned by a Japenese-American family, the Hiraharas. The family was interned during WWII and was forced to leave the home. Fortunately, local residents watched over the home and it was waiting for the Hiraharas when they returned and then the barn was transformed into a dormitory for other Japanese-Americans left homeless by the internship.

“The story behind this house is heart wrenching and it needs to be told,” said Redman Foundation board president Geoff Scurfield. Lifting the house is a huge step forward for the Redman Foundation, the non-profit organization that is overseeing the restoration of the home and plans to transform the site into an educational and cultural center. Already, 10 acres of the farm are being leased by a local organic farmer and school children are already visiting and learning.

“In the 10-year history of our efforts, this is the biggest step we’ve made in restoring the house,” said Geoff Scurfield, president of the Redman Foundation. “This is such an important project for the entire Central Coast. Highway One is California’s most historic highway and so many people drive by this house, millions each year. We can reach so many people.”

The approximately 115-ton, 2 1/2-story home will be hoisted up on jacks after beams have been put in place underneath. When put back down on the new foundation, the house will sit 2 ½ feet higher than it is currently, lifting it above the flood plain of the Pajaro River.

Redman board vice president Dean Coley said raising funds for the foundation will be the next challenge, but once that is complete, he hopes the house will be resting on a new foundation by next winter.

“This is great for the community of the entire Central Coast,” said Coley. “Millions of cars pass that house along Highway One each year and it could be such a wonderful showcase. We need to take pride in our history here.”

Please call Geoff Scurfield at 818-2707 or Dean Coley at 840-1000 for more information. Media are invited to visit the site, but please call first.