Have you seen this historic Santa Maria home from Highway 101? It’s being restored
Restoration of a historic house slated to become a community facility in Santa Maria took another step forward.
On Jan. 19, the Santa Maria City Council awarded a contract to RK&G Construction Inc. for $140,900 for the historic Smith-Enos House structural improvements project.
The firm has been hired to complete structural renovations for the historic home built in the 1880s.
“Improvements to the Smith-Enos House are necessary to modernize and revitalize the structure in advance of the next phases of rehabilitating the interior and exterior of the historic residence, to create a new indoor public recreation venue featuring cultural and historic exhibits,” the staff report stated.
Santa Maria-based RK&G Construction submitted the low bid that even fell below the engineer’s estimate of $266,240.
The project is expected to take 60 days with work to start in February, according to city estimates.
The structural work involves “all the things that people don’t see,” Recreation and Parks assistant director Brett Fulgoni told the Recreation & Parks Commission. “On the inside of the building, there’s going to be a whole lot of activity.”
The city plans to solicit bids for interior and exterior finishing work to “start to make it look pretty,” he said.
Last year, the city focused on completing roof repairs for the building.
“It’s nice seeing that house coming together and being stabilized and preserved,” city manager Jason Stilwell said Jan. 5.
He said the city has funding for the other projects along with landscaping at the site.
The dilapidated Smith-Enos House was relocated from a site closer off Highway 101 in 2016 to make way for the Enos Ranch development that includes the new Costco, Lowe’s and more. It’s visible from the highway.
Plans call for developing a park and restoring the old house to serve as a recreation venue and to house cultural exhibits.
The Enos Ranch developer, NKT Commercial of San Luis Obispo, gifted the house to the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department, which has sought to restore what is believed to be the city’s last 1880s-era ranch house.
After sitting on its temporary trailer, the house later was placed atop its permanent foundation at the site of the future 7-acre park.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 12:00 PM.