LANDMARKS / COUNTY HISTORICAL SITES : Santa Paula’s Italianate Balcom House

William Elder and Margaret Balcom raised eight children, and when their first three sons were old enough to take over duties on the family ranch, the rest of the family moved to town to be closer to Santa Paula schools.

At the time, the location they chose--three blocks north of Main Street--was still remote from town commerce. A photograph at the Mill feed store, circa 1889, shows the Balcom House standing alone in that section of town, while Mill Street was a set of wagon tracks and Pleasant Street had yet to be laid out.

According to family records, Elder Balcom, as he was known, was a builder who oversaw construction of the square two-story house.

Details of filigree under the eaves mark the house’s design as Italianate, local historian Judith Triem said. It has a low-pitched hip roof and a distinctive two-story bay window with a mansard roof between the floors. The original front porch has been enclosed.

The interior of the house features three brick fireplaces, tin ceilings and original redwood doors and moldings throughout.

Not more than 20 houses of this age are still standing in the county, Triem said.

Balcom House now has 2 1/2 bathrooms, and each of the four bedrooms is equipped with an antique sink. This is a legacy of the house’s operation as an inn after the turn of the century, present owner Theron West said.

West and his wife, Bernice, bought the house last year as a home for themselves and their three children.

“We weren’t really looking for a Victorian, but we really liked it,” he said, “It’s kind of unique.”

West, who is a building contractor, has no plans to remodel the house, other than renewing its cocoa-colored exterior paint and unsticking the windows, which appear to have been painted shut generations ago.

“It would be crazy to put any changes to it,” he said.

* HISTORY: The Balcom family arrived in Santa Paula in 1872 and established a ranch near the canyon that still bears its name. In either 1882 or 1885, depending on which of two family accounts is accurate, the family built Balcom House in Santa Paula. The ranch is still farmed by fifth-generation family members, but the house was sold after William Balcom died.

* LOCATION: 933 E. Pleasant St. in Santa Paula.

* VIEWING: The exterior can be seen from the street. For information, contact the county Cultural Heritage Board at 654-3967.