Carriage House gets makeover

On Tuesday, city officials opened the new carriage house, which was fixed and painted by local donors in the last few months.

"I'm speechless because it's so beautiful," said Russ Cohen, president of the Burlingame Historical Society.

The two-story building was pressure-washed, repaired and painted green and "putty" color by Preservation Painting with paint donated by Gray's Paint and Wallpaper.

After its life as a carriage house, it was a children's theater in the 1940s, and the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department later used it to store equipment on the ground floor. In the mid 1980s, the historical society began storing artifacts upstairs, and it now houses more than 125,000 items, Cohen said. The society also holds meetings upstairs among its files.

Last year, the city installed a new roof on the house, and it needed some fresh paint.

Early this winter, Rob Mallick and Gordon Gottsche met Burlingame Vice Mayor Cathy Baylock at her dining room table to discuss their final project for the Management Academy in Palo Alto. Baylock, a member of the historical society board, suggested restoring and repainting the Carriage House.

Burlingame employees Mallick, Gottsche, Peter Gaines and Ray Vanover and Brisbane's Matt Fabry arranged work from J and L Construction Co., R and S Erection, Universal Building Services and others to complete the project in about five months.

"You should have seen it after we pressure washed it," said Ron Martinucci, district manager for Universal Building Services. Caked grime fell to the ground, he said.

Baylock, who was joined by Councilwoman Rosalie O'Mahony and other city officials Tuesday, said the historical society's next project would be to secure money to transform the Burlingame train depot into its museum.

The management students are expected to present the project to the Management Academy on Wednesday and graduate.

Baylock called the restoration "fabulous," and thanked donors for their work. All donors, including Alpine Awards, Cresco Xpress and the Daily Journal, were given certificates of appreciation.

The next Burlingame Historical Society meeting will be held at 2 p.m., May 22 at the Burlingame Avenue train station.

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: Letters@smdailyjournal.com.