Glory Days

Couple brings life back to prominent Poverty Ridge home

Sacramento’s grand homes of yesteryear were places where family and friends gathered for merriment and good cheer. Stately mansions with flowing rooms, high ceilings and wide staircases accommodated a multitude of guests who enjoyed lavish banquets, drink and dance.

When local real estate agent Ted Russert and his husband Matt Martinez purchased a historic two-story home in Midtown in 2016, grand gatherings were exactly what they had in mind.

Following a yearlong renovation to bring the impressive old home back to its original glory, the couple threw a holiday open house attended by hundreds of friends, family and clients, as well as many people in the real estate community.

“This is a great home for entertaining,” says Russert, who has been in the real estate business for more than two decades and is currently with RE/MAX Gold Midtown.

The distinguished home was designed by prominent Sacramento architect Rudolph Herold, who created Sacramento City Hall, the Masonic Temple on J Street, Mercy Hospital and Del Paso Country Club, among other landmarks. The Midtown home was a guesthouse for Sacramento Bee owner and editor Charles K. McClatchy and his wife Ella. The McClatchy family lived next door in what is now the Ella K. McClatchy Library.

The guest home took three years to build—from 1910 to 1913—in the hilltop neighborhood of Poverty Ridge, and over the years became a temporary residence for visiting family and friends, and out-of-town newspaper reporters and musicians.

When Russert and Martinez purchased the historic home from the McClatchy family, they were committed to carefully and patiently resurrecting the original detail and architectural style of the home. “Thankfully, the place was all in original condition,” Martinez says. “It had not been updated. It needed a lot help, not only to bring the full glory back to life of the original architecture, but putting new systems in place for modern living.”

The home’s architecture is a Prairie- Egyptian Revival style with linear lines and art deco details. “Many of the homes, if not all the homes, in this area have a lot of architectural significance,” Martinez explains. Of particular note are the decorative plaster “faces” adorning the exterior and details in the crown molding of the three front rooms. “We were told that the faces on the outside were a gift from William Randolph Hearst to the McClatchys.”

The 3,960-square-foot home boasts 15 rooms, including four bedrooms, four baths, a music room, living room, entry, dining room, kitchen, butler’s pantry and laundry room (originally a servant’s quarters), plus an indoor/outdoor garden room and a third-story tower that leads to a flat roof. “We plan to put a nice roof deck up there because the views of Downtown are incredible,” Martinez says.

The home has two staircases—a main staircase that leads to a stained-glass window made by Tiffany, and a servant’s staircase from the kitchen—as well as three fireplaces. The elaborate relief tile surrounding the dining room fireplace depicts pears, grapes, pomegranates and plums. Vintage andirons were purchased at the monthly Sacramento Antique Fair, which is in walking distance of the house. “We’ve acquired some really cool things there,” Russert says.

The original red oak hardwood floors on both levels are accented with a mahogany inlay. The couple refurbished the double-hung windows throughout the home. “Every room has windows on two walls at least,” Martinez notes. “You get lots of light and never feel closed in.”

The ceilings were repaired and re-plastered in every room, and most of the baseboards were rebuilt. For electrical outlets, “we used the baseboards to run wiring so we wouldn’t have to rip into the walls” Russert says. Light switches were replaced with old-style push buttons.

“We were told that the faces on the outside were a gift from William Randolph Hearst to the McClatchys.”

The original chandeliers were removed long ago, so the couple chose all new light fixtures. Among them are an 1890s bronze chandelier in the family room, a French bisque in the master bedroom and a stunning 1910 Parisian crystal chandelier in the entry.

They added all new appliances and a custom-built island in the kitchen, but kept the black tile countertops and cabinets, which were probably added in the 1970s. “A true 1910 kitchen was empty,” Russert says. “We have a cemented room downstairs where they kept the ice.”

“This area is experiencing a renaissance now,” Martinez says. “It’s not just in concert with the overall Midtown renaissance that’s happening—people are finally realizing these are great homes.”

“To do it right is very laborious, time consuming and expensive,” adds Russert. “We could have taken shortcuts to make it easier, but you hesitate to take them when you have a special home.”

To recommend a house or garden for Home Insight, contact Cathryn Rakich at crakich@surewest.net. n