Fire Destroys House at Byron Hot Springs in California

A Victorian-era home on the famous Byron Hot Springs property burned to the ground Monday morning, much to the dismay of developers who had hoped to restore the vacant building and turn it into a Byron museum.

Property owner and developer East Bay Associates has also been working to restore a neighboring four-story hotel and spa to look as it did in the 1920s and '30s, when the Byron Hot Springs resort drew celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Jack London. The hotel also caught fire, but sustained little damage.

David Fowler of East Bay Associates said his company plans to continue with the refurbishment in spite of the fire, but said it will probably end up costing an extra $2 million.

"The house will be rebuilt exactly as it was," Fowler said. "It's a good thing we have so many photos, so our historic architects will have something to work with. The hotel, thankfully, wasn't harmed as badly."

The blaze broke out around 1 a.m. Monday on the grounds around the home, which is named the "Mead House," after its first owner.

The initial call came as a grass fire, but firefighters arrived to find the house completely engulfed in flames; that's when they called for extra help. Then, wind blew the flames toward the hotel, a giant red brick building constructed in 1903, causing the roof and wood portions of the porch to ignite.

About 50 firefighters were able to contain the flames in about an hour, said Contra Costa Fire District's inspector Randy Champion. Luckily, the fire did not make it inside the hotel, and therefore burned only termite-infested portions of the porch that Fowler and his team had planned to replace anyway. Authorities were not able to save the house.

"It's a real shame," said town historian Kathy Leighton, who is also on the Byron Municipal Advisory Council.

"The Byron Hot Springs property is probably the one thing out-of-towners ask me about the most. Anyone who has lived here a long time has a story about it.

"The area is changing so much, and we find ourselves really holding on to our historic buildings," she added.

Leighton said that in its heyday, the hot springs property, just off Byron Hot Springs Road near the Byron Airport, drew people not just nationally, but worldwide.

It started small, back in the 1800s when a random traveler found warm water bubbling through the frozen ground during winter months. It wasn't long before people started hearing about these strange hot springs and their rumored healing powers.

Eventually a bathhouse was built there, and when the railroad snaked through Byron in the late 1800s, the first version of the resort with its grand gardens was born. Several incarnations and different buildings would follow.

In the 1920s and '30s, the hotel was "very doable" by train -- it was a short ride from San Francisco. Leighton said that Jack London, who was rumored to have an alcohol problem, used to come to the spa and resort quite often to rejuvenate, becoming good friends with several of the locals.

"It's so interesting to think about the Hollywood jet-set crowd that would come here contrasted with the wheat farmers who lived in Byron," said Leighton, whose phones rang off the hook all day Monday as news spread about the fire. "They were from different worlds."

The Mead House, built between 1885 and 1887 by Lewis Mead, had tenants off and on until just a few years ago -- any time new owners would take hold of the property, they would live in the house while refurbishing the rest of the property, Leighton said. It made perfect sense as the town's new museum because it had always remained in good repair -- that is, until Monday.

Fowler's company, which acquired the property in 1990, has been planning to put in a luxury 18-hole golf course, in addition to a new resort and spa. Future plans also include a wellness center, tennis courts, equestrian center, other recreational facilities and retail shops.

Around 10 a.m. Monday, firefighters were still on the scene watering down charred ground and blackened palm trees that continued to smoke. Workers also returned to the scene at about 4 p.m. to put out another small fire that burned a shed and some grass. That flare-up was contained within 30 minutes.

No one was injured in either blaze, and officials are investigating the cause of both.

Champion said vandals and teens riding motocross bikes on the property had caused problems in recent months. A gate to the property is locked, but people have been able to get through it, he said.

He estimated the damage at $750,000.

Distributed by the Associated Press