On a quarter-acre lot a block from downtown Petaluma on the northern edge of California’s Bay Area, two historic houses are for sale, including one by the architect who designed several of the city’s landmark buildings.
The property, located at 8 Keller Street, includes a Georgian Revival mansion built in 1902 and a Craftsman cottage completed a decade later. Brainerd Jones, the designer of Petaluma’s main library and opera house, among others, worked on the 4,124-square-foot mansion for the family of John Cavanagh, who made his fortune in the lumber trade. Cavanagh’s son built the cottage for his children, who lived there until the early 1960s.
From that time until now, the two houses were used for commercial purposes, including an antique store, a bed and breakfast and various professional services. The current owners, who bought the property in 2003, recently put the lot on the market for $2.5 million.
“It provides a wonderful opportunity if someone wants to live [in the mansion] and have an office next door,” Rob Sullivan, who listed the property for Coldwell Banker Realty, said in an interview. “It is a unique location and definitely will attract a specific buyer who wants to have that feel of a city downtown.”
The two houses are distinguished by the redwood walls, floors and ceilings in many of the rooms; the builders had plenty of this material at their disposal given the senior Cavanagh’s line of work, according to Sullivan. Between them, the two houses have eight bedrooms, five of them in the mansion. The homes share a backyard.
Cavanagh chose to build the 1902 house where he did because he frequently had business downtown, including in his role as a justice of the peace and as a prominent figure in local politics, Sullivan said. The old city hall was on an adjacent lot for many years; now there’s a parking lot there to serve downtown traffic. Despite the nearby commercial hubbub, Keller Street’s location within the A Street Historic District means it has kept much of its residential character; most of the homes, offices, churches and apartments on the street were built before 1925.
Little renovation was needed to convert the houses back to residential use, Sullivan said. Each of the commercial tenants in the mansion in recent years had their own adjoining bathroom, since the house has seven of them. The living and dining areas were used as common spaces or waiting rooms for people visiting the businesses. Besides the ample use of redwood, the mansion includes two formal parlors and a dining room with the original brass chandeliers.
Some potential buyers are interested in operating at least one of the houses again as a bed and breakfast or living in one home and renting out the other, Sullivan said. Many are drawn to the location near Petaluma’s lively downtown. But the biggest draw, Sullivan said, is for those who envision using the property the way the Cavanaghs did, as a family compound.
“They’re just dreaming of having a home for their in-laws or their kids as they grow up,” he said.
