Clovis couple renovates historic 2-story Victorian home

Sharer house a landmark built in 1890s, included 3-story tank house

By Gabriel Alexander / Independent Staff Writer Monday, Mar. 31, 2008

Years ago, Susan Goldsmith would pass a two-story Victorian house on her way to the grocery store and dream about living there someday.

The paint was peeling.

Doors were off their hinges.

It was perfect.

"Anybody else would have said this place is a mess," Goldsmith said. "I loved it anyway. I thought it was so beautiful, and it had a good feeling."

When she spotted a "For Lease" sign outside the 1890s historic Clovis house near Shaw and Fowler avenues, she moved in a couple weeks later.

Her boyfriend -- now husband -- wasn't so sure about the place.

Scott Goldsmith, a sales manager for a lumber company, just saw the work that needed to be done. Yes, the house had charm, but it also needed a new roof, new windows, new carpet and new paint.

Several years later, the couple bought the house.

"It slowly but surely grew on me," Scott Goldsmith said.

They painted the all-white house burgundy, forest green and antique white to showcase the delicate fish-scale shingles and spindle work under the gables and along the front veranda. They tore out the mint green carpet that was covered in paint and burn marks and installed a new roof.

Underneath all the mess was a beautiful structure full of history and charm.

During a tour of the house, Susan Goldsmith -- a former accountant turned party planner -- proudly points out the brick floor in the breakfast nook. The bricks are from the house's original fireplace, which was torn down when the house was moved to make way for the shopping center on the southeast corner of Fowler and Shaw avenues.

The rest of the house has hardwood floors, which are temporarily covered in carpet until the Goldsmiths' children are grown to avoid bumps and knocks on the hard surface. Heath is 5 years old, and Crystal is 17 months old.

The kitchen has the original stained concrete counters and painted glass in the cabinets. Carved white molding frames every doorway and window. The bay window in the living room has a panel of original stained glass and two doors have windows made out of bottle glass.

"Everything is odd shaped," Susan Goldsmith said, pointing to the low door frames, narrow halls and steep stairs.

The couple ordered a custom-made, king-sized bed that folded in half so it would fit up the narrow staircase.

Upstairs, the ceiling is sloped in every way possible because it follows the curve of the roof. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an office.

The laundry room is outside in a three-story tank house. Years ago, the tank house pumped water three stories high and provided water pressure for the family of John William Sharer, an Illinois native who settled in the area.

Sharer built the house in the 1890s, but added rooms to the now 2,200-square-foot house well into the 1900s, so the Goldsmiths have four front doors.

"That's why our front door is on Fairmont [Avenue], but our address is on Fowler," Susan Goldsmith said.

The multicolored, gingerbread house seems out of place next to new houses and shopping centers.

At one time, the nearly 120-year-old house was surrounded by vineyards and fields of grain.

Sharer hauled lumber on mule-drawn wagons from the mountains above Tollhouse to build the house, a gathering place for friends and family.

Gerald Sharer, 85, remembers his great uncle's beautiful horse barn, his aunt Nellie Sharer's sugar cookies and the tank house where the family stored fruit, canned goods and salted meat.

"Their house and barn was kind of an attraction," Gerald Sharer said. "It wasn't too far away. I'd ride my pony around and end up there."

The barn is no longer standing, but the barn's cupola was preserved by the Osterbergs, who own Osterberg's Mercantile in Old Town Clovis. The city's founder, Clovis Cole, built the cupola, according to legend.

One of the area's first grape farmers, John William Sharer developed 100 acres into farmland. He also grew grain and hauled lumber from the Sierra Nevada for many of the houses in and around Clovis.

"He was an outgoing fellow," Gerald Sharer said. "He was always involved in something for the community. He didn't sit back when something was going on. He was always ready to pitch in and help."

John William Sharer helped organize the Clovis Farmers' Union and the Melvin Grape Growers' Association, which became a member of the California Fruit Exchange.

Sharer's house was almost destroyed in the 1980s when a developer purchased the property. In 1990, the Clovis City Council approved a shopping center where the house was located but required the developer to preserve the historic home. The developer moved the house just down the street from its original location on Shaw, just east of Fowler. The house now sits on Fairmont Avenue, south of Shaw.

It's one of just a handful of ranch houses that remain from the early days of Clovis.

"It's nice to have a place like that around still," Gerald Sharer said. "I wish our home had been saved."

After the Goldsmiths' recent renovation, drivers stop and stare. They knock on the door and ask if the home is for sale. They take photos and draw pictures. One year the Goldsmiths found a picture of their house on display at the Big Fresno Fair.

"We've had so many people stop by and say it's so beautiful," Scott Goldsmith said.

His wife is quick to add, "Which makes us mad because we always saw that even when it was peeling and crummy."

Building Memories is an occasional series profiling historic homes and buildings in Clovis. To submit a suggestion, please e-mail reporter Gabriel Alexander at galexander@clovisindependent.com.