Restoring a San Mateo mansion — and its history

The misconception about the original owner is understandable. The address is 809 Lawrence Road, named for William H. Lawrence, whose equally imposing home was right across the street from that of John Maynard. The Lawrence mansion was torn down decades ago and the area is now occupied by a non-descript condo.

“Lawrence was very influential,” said Jansen. “He worked with Hermann Schussler in building the Crystal Springs Dam,” a mainstay of the system that keeps water flowing to millions of people in the Bay Area.

According to Alan Hynding’s “From Frontier to Suburb,” Lawrence was superintendent of the Spring Valley Water Company and a staunch Republican who ran unopposed when he was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in 1884.

Maynard kept a low profile, mainly, Jansen suspects, because he fought for the South in the Civil War. Nevertheless, the native of Virginia came to California after the war and was able to serve as a state insurance commissioner.

Adding to the confusion was a five-page 1968 San Mateo Times feature story about the mansion, reporting that it was the Lawrence home. The cover of the newspaper supplement displayed an 1878 lithograph of the Lawrence mansion.

Jansen bought his home in 1980, ironically lured by an ad that called the house “a white elephant” because it was in such need of repair. Another ad told potential buyers to “bring a bulldozer.”

“It was an absolute mess,” he said.

Windows were broken and there were no gutters. To make matters worse, there were five construction liens and four mortgages for Jansen to contend with.

The restoration is “a work in progress” that requires complete attention to “elegant details,” Jansen said while pointing to railings just below the crown molding on the dining room walls that allow pictures to be hung without pounding a nail in the lath and plaster.

A stickler for authenticity, Jansen insists on an all-white exterior. “When this was built, people just whitewashed the outside,” he said. “The multi-color Victorian came much later.”

He must be on the right track. One guide to a walking tour of San Mateo calls the mansion “a faithfully restored” example of classic Italianate architecture.

The mansion has been more than a house to Jansen and his wife, Linda. It has been their home where they raised three children.

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.