Restoring century-old Modesto Victorian — slowly — a labor of love

Modesto resident James Dietrich bought the two-story Victorian house at Tully Road and Orangeburg Avenue in 2007 with the goal of restoring it to its original splendor, except, of course, for upgrades to the plumbing and electrical.

But that has taken a lot of time, toil and cash. Dietrich just had two sides of the house and the front of the garage painted for $12,000.

The rest will come later.

“The problem,” the 75-year-old retiree said, “is it takes a lot of money. These houses are not cheap.”

But it’s a labor of love.

Dietrich said he is 95 percent certain the house was built in 1900 by his grandfather Elmer John Dietrich. He came to that conclusion after combing through his grandmother’s papers.

“I was born in the wrong era,” Dietrich said, adding his prefers his grandfather’s.

But there are modern touches — several speedboats parked on the lot. Dietrich said he’s an avid racer, but said how he stores the boats has caught the city’s attention on some occasions.

But that’s a story for another day.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Restoring century-old Modesto Victorian — slowly — a labor of love."