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Mountain House to stay By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings For weary settlers who crossed over the Cascades by wagon train into the Rogue Valley, the Mountain House was a symbol of all they had left behind and all they hoped to create. "Caught sight of the Mountain House with a beautiful green garden around," wagon train member Welborn Beeson recorded in his diary in the 1850s. Jim Lewis is restoring a historic stage stop on the Old Siskiyou Highway south of Ashland. Ashland Daily Tidings/ CHRIS MILLER Located eight miles southeast of Ashland on Old Siskiyou Highway, the travelers' accommodation built in 1852 was one of the first frame dwellings built in Oregon south of the Willamette Valley, and is the oldest known surviving building in Jackson County, according to a successful National Register of Historic Places application prepared by local historians George Kramer and Kay Atwood. Kramer and Atwood reconstructed the history of the building, and current owners John and Kathy Loram are restoring the structure with the guidance of Ashlander Jim Lewis, an expert in the restoration of historic buildings. The Mountain House, also known as the Barron Stage Stop and the Barron Station, was built by Hugh Barron, John Gibbs and John Russell at the intersection of each of the three men's land claims. The building was perfectly situated to serve settlers, miners, travelers and people moving goods on the route from the east, and on the north/south road stretching over the Siskiyou Summit along the path of an ancient Native American route. The three young entrepreneurs hauled lumber from 50 miles away by ox teams to create the frame structure. "Everyone else was building cabins," Lewis said. "For a travelers' accommodation, you want something people were used to from the east." The outside of the framed structure was covered in wood panel siding, in stark contrast to the logs used by most other settlers. Just a year after the Mountain House was erected, one of the partners, Gibbs, was killed by a gunshot from a Native American. The year 1853 was marked by violent conflicts between European-Americans and the earlier inhabitants struggling to retain their way of life. In 1856, Russell departed for California, leaving the Mountain House in the hands of Barron, and his wife, Martha. Business at the successful Mountain House picked up even more when it was designated in 1860 as one of 60 official stage stations along a 700 mile route from Sacramento, Calif. to Portland. Stagecoaches could make the trip in seven days, relying on the stage stops to provide fresh horses and food and lodging for passengers. Martha Barron ran the Mountain House stage station and a post office there, while her husband operated a ranch with thousands of cattle and sheep. But in 1887, a crowd gathered at the Ashland Depot to watch officials drive the last spike to connect train tracks from the north to tracks from the south. The opening of the rail route between Oregon and California marked the end of the Mountain House's days as a stage stop. The Barrons rotated the building that fronted Old Siskiyou Highway by 90 degrees and then added a graceful two story addition facing the road. They previously had lived in a house further up the road, but the former stage stop became their home. The Mountain House remained in the family until it was sold by a grandson of the Barrons in 1960. The original appearance of the building now is coming to light after workers stripped off aluminum siding to reveal the original wooden siding, removed sheetrock covering the wooden walls, tore down material used to lower the high ceilings and pulled up shag carpeting likely installed in the 1960s. "When they put on the aluminum siding, they took off all the original trim," Lewis said. "With the paint shadowing, we can tell what type of trim was there. That's what we used to replicate that." With much of the building exposed to ferret out dry rot, square nails are visible throughout. "In 1900, people switched to round nails. They were cheaper to make. You can almost date a place by the nails," Lewis said. Watching the dismantling and reconstruction of the house has been an eye-opening experience, according to Kathy Loram. "It's been a real education in building technology and the evolution of architecture," she said. They also are finding interesting surprises, including a mummified rat hidden in a wall. Twigs, grass, corn cobs and acorns inside the walls are evidence of the work of generations of rodents and acorn woodpeckers. The birds usually peck holes in tree trunks where they stash acorns. "A lot of acorn woodpeckers don't differentiate between a tree and an old pine house, so there's a lot of damage," Lewis said. "Pretty soon you have many pounds of acorns in the walls." Layers of wallpaper, much of it decorated with ornate gilt patterns, emerged. Portions of ceiling wallpaper in one room are intact enough that the Lorams hope to retain a medallion pattern in the center along with the borders. The original owners used muslin as a wallpaper backing, but when the fabric ran short, they resorted to using flour sacks from Ashland Mills and its competitor, Eagle Mills. "Ashland was originally called Ashland Mills. This is the mill that started Ashland growing. There's a big part of Ashland history right there," Lewis said, bending over a sheet of wallpaper that has been removed with its flour sack backing intact. Kathy Loram pointed out that one of the flour sacks was patched, with the hand stitches of a thrifty settler still visible. Upstairs in the 1852 section of the house, a building technique is evident that Lewis said was used even in medieval times. Workers hand split lathes, or thin wooden strips, and, spacing them out slightly, used them as a backing for a coating of plaster on the interior walls. The plaster oozed through the spaces and hardened, providing a more resilient surface than applying plaster over a smooth wooden surface, Lewis said. The lathe and plaster walls will remain after the restoration, covered by plaster board. A small door may be built for the curious to open and look at the historic interior, he said. Signs that people took great care in the construction and finishing of the house remain, including doors hand-painted in an intricate wood grain design. "These were sugar pine doors of paint grade, not stain grade. It took a real artist to replicate the fake grain. You would swear it's natural wood showing through a clear finish," Lewis said. Work on the restoration could be complete as soon as spring of next year. The owners hope to win a conditional use permit from Jackson County to open a bed and breakfast and return the building to its original use as a travelers' accommodation. They plan to live in the restored home whether or not they are allowed to run it as a business. Lewis said the building will be upgraded with modern plumbing and electrical systems and other amenities, but as much of the historic structure as possible will be retained. Even rotting beams that hold up the front porch roof are being kept in place, although new wooden beams have been nailed alongside them to ensure structural integrity. "The home itself is almost a museum," Lewis said. All historical information relating to the Mountain House was obtained from the National Register of Historic Place application prepared by George Kramer and Kay Atwood. 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