Rebuilt farmhouse to be reflection of pioneer past

A 140-year-old adobe farmhouse that burned in the 2007 wildfires is not only rising from the ashes, but will offer more insight into the lives of farmers in the post-Gold Rush era. The Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead in Escondido, which only had walls left after the fires, will reopen June 26. The structure that was destroyed had a few articles of furniture in it. But the $700,000 rebuilt version will be almost fully furnished with period tables, a parlor stove, a platform rocking chair that operates on springs, a pie safe used for storing pies and a hutch for dishes. All were bought from various sources with a $12,000 grant from the county, said Anne Cooper, manager of the museum. The new house is being built according to measurements taken of the old one in 2004, when it was restored by architectural historian Ione Stiegler. Stiegler is the architect for the rebuilding, and contractor Mark Sauer is doing the reconstruction. Visitors will now see an exact replica of the old house, down to the dimensions of the logs, the thickness of the walls, the details of molding and siding, even the whitewash, Sauer said...more

Nice, but a $700,000 farmhouse?