Can Modesto keep part of its heritage? Talks over fate of 1881 mansion may provide answer
Ida and Lawrence McClure sold 22 acres with an 1880s-era farmhouse to Modesto in the 1970s with the understanding the city would turn the property into a living-history museum in honor of the region’s agricultural roots.
That never happened. The city has said it never could put together the funding. And in December 2015, the City Council decided to sell 16 of the acres along with the farmhouse built in 1881, with the proceeds to benefit parks and recreation projects.
The McClure estate sued Modesto in November 2016 in Stanislaus County Superior Court, claiming the city had reneged on its obligation. The estate wanted the 22 acres and the house back and would refund the city what it had paid.
With the help of an anonymous donation of $125,000 as seed money to renovate and restore the McClure House, a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit.
(The two-story farmhouse is called the McClure Mansion in Bee archives and city documents. It also is called the McClure House. A 2001 Bee story says the house is 5,000 square feet, which includes additions from the 1930s and 1940s, according to the McHenry Museum & Historical Society.)
Modesto, which denied wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, will keep the property. But it will enter into good-faith negotiations with the historical society or a similar nonprofit to lease the property to the society or nonprofit. The society or nonprofit would renovate, restore and operate the property as a museum or similar public use.
The settlement is limited to the farmhouse and its immediate grounds. The city can do as it wishes with the remaining land and outbuildings.
Deputy City Manager Scotty Douglass said it is too early for the city to comment on potential uses for the McClure House and its grounds. He said the city is focused on the next step of setting up talks with the McHenry Museum & Historical Society.
But there could be a new vision for the property, which is on the south side of Dry Creek between McClure and Claus roads and just east of Creekside Golf Course. The house is in a beautiful, rural setting with lots of trees and once had a garden. The City Council in 1991 designated the property as a historical landmark.
“The original vision of turning it into an ag museum is not feasible,” said David Seymour, executive director of the McHenry Museum & Historical Society. “It could be used as a multipurpose event center.”
Seymour said the property could be used for weddings, corporate retreats, business meetings, civic club functions and similar events. The gatherings would take place in a setting that evokes Modesto’s agricultural past.
“There is so much potential there,” Seymour said. “The biggest problem is the access to the property. The seclusion is nice. ... I look at the McClure House as a hidden gem.”
Seymour stressed that his remarks are conceptional and that the talks between the city and historical society have not begun. He also said the society’s board members would have to do some serious deliberation before agreeing to such a major effort.
“Though I currently don’t see us undertaking this project,” Seymour said, “it is the McHenry Museum & Historical Society’s hope the property will be restored for future generations.”
The McClure House is a gem that needs lots of work and lots of funding. The farmhouse has fallen into disrepair. The house and its grounds are surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. But that has not stopped transients from breaking into the house in search of shelter. Several of the farmhouse’s windows are boarded up.
Douglass said the city did an assessment a few months ago and determined it would take significant work to restore the house and its grounds.
Seymour said it would make sense to restore the farmhouse’s garden first and use it for events. He said that would raise awareness about the McClure House and make it easier to raise money for its renovation. He estimated it would take about $1 million to fully restore and renovate the property.
Seymour — a Modesto Junior College history professor — said the community has a long history of not preserving its landmarks, and the McClure House represents one of the last opportunities to do that.
Modesto attorney John Peltier is the estate’s administrator and sued the city. Peltier is married to Alison Peltier, one of the three McClure daughters. The other two live out of the area.
Peltier said he shares Seymour’s vision of the property as an events venue and said it was a pleasure to work with city officials. He said the pandemic delayed reaching a resolution in the lawsuit.
“Everybody has been on the same page to the extent that we can,” Peltier said. “Nobody wants to see this 100-year-plus house disappear. We were just trying to find a way to work out a solution.”
Peltier said the anonymous donor coming forward with the $125,000 was a huge help in resolving the litigation. For privacy reasons, he declined to say more about the donor.
The settlement’s terms include:
▪ Modesto can demonstrate it conducted good-faith negotiations by entering into a lease with the historical society or other nonprofit or by offering the society or nonprofit a lease within two years of the date of the settlement and the society or nonprofit does not accept the lease within a year of its being offered.
▪ Modesto would provide the $125,000 to the historical society or nonprofit if it receives the funding from the anonymous donor.
▪ If Modesto cannot enter into a lease agreement despite its good-faith efforts, it can use the McClure House and its grounds as it sees fit, including selling the property.
While Modesto is not providing its own money in the settlement, it did incur $54,899 in legal fees and $1,173 in additional costs related to the litigation, according to a city spokeswoman.
Ida and Lawrence McClure sold 16 acres and the farmhouse to the city for $123,500 in 1973 and the remaining 6 acres for $28,440 in 1975, according to Bee archives. The 6 acres was a peach orchard at the time of the sale, according to the archives. The McClure property had been a dairy and a farm over the years.
The McClures also donated dozens of pieces of antique furniture and furnishings from the farmhouse, including a poster bed, paintings and a china cabinet, to the city in 1975 for the proposed living-history museum. The settlement states the city will return whatever furniture and furnishings the McClure family members want.
The city bought the 16 acres and farmhouse as part of assembling the land for Dry Creek Regional Park, according to a 1973 Bee story.
A Bee story from 1975 cited a city official who said Modesto bought the 6 acres to provide access from Claus Road to the eastern portion of Dry Creek Regional Park. The story said the city planned to restore the mansion, and the McClures had donated the furniture and furnishings for that purpose.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
