AREA HOMEOWNER OPENS HER DOORS TO ANTIQUE BUFFS : LAKE HUGHES RESIDENCE HOUSES ARRAY OF WOMAN'S HISTORICAL MEMORABILIA.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Almost everywhere you turn in Ginger Hyland's restored Victorian home and guest cottages, there is a trinket, piece of furniture or collectible item that has a little tale to go with it.

There's an 1850 English silver chatelaine, an ornamental chain worn at the waist with a needle case, stamp box, a tiny pen case, and a perfume bottle fastened to it; a framed decorative hair wreath made of loose hairs from Victorian women; and a bed which was once slept in by President Hayes, William Jennings Bryan, and the wife of President Cleveland - though not all at the same time.

``With me, there is no use in collecting all these wonderful things if you can't share it with people,'' said Hyland, 49, who gives tours of her 1892 home by appointment. ``People have a wonderful time, and it gives me great satisfaction.''

Called Willowbrook, the two-story, 10-room pink house with green trim is surrounded by a white picket fence and features a wrap-around porch with a scenic view of pine-covered mountains. Hyland lives in the home with her four cats and two dogs.

There is a white wrought-iron gazebo with intertwining oak leaves in the front yard, an outdoor patio with a built-in barbecue, three guest cottages, and a converted 900-square-foot apple barn which's used for dances and parties.

In addition to the two-hour house tours, Hyland offers Victorian high teas with an antique silver service, does outdoor garden weddings and receptions for up to 400 people between March and October, and runs a bed-and-breakfast.

A highlight is Hyland's collection of more than 300 beaded purses dating from the 1800s to the 1920s. They hang from the walls of the master bedroom. The collection is one of the largest in the country, she said.

``The smaller the bead, the older the purse,'' said Hyland.

She has been collecting the beaded purses for 20 years.

``A friend started collecting them, and I started going antiquing with her,'' Hyland said. ``I bought her one for her birthday, but she never got it.'' The bag was too pretty to part with, Hyland said.

Daughter of Lawrence A. ``Pat'' Hyland, president of Hughes Aircraft Co. from 1954 to 1981, Hyland also raises racing quarter horses at the adjoining White Oaks Ranch, which her parents bought in 1959. She has raised horses for 30 years.

In March, she will become the first woman president of the 300,000-member American Quarter Horse Association.

But ``antiquing'' is Hyland's passion.

``I love to go antiquing. I love to study antiques. I made a great effort to talk to experts, I go to shows and to auctions,'' Hyland said. ``I'm still collecting, looking for that special piece or adding to a collection or starting a new collection. It's never-ending work.

``It gives you something to look for and something to really take joy in,'' Hyland added. ``When I find something interesting and show people on the tour, it gives me a great sense of joy.''

The house was built in 1892 by members of the Manzana Colony, one of a number of different colonies of people that settled in the Antelope Valley in the late 1800s, Hyland said.

The Manzana Colony homesteaded the land and grew apples, pears, plums, apricots and almonds, but members dispersed after severe droughts in the late 1890s, Hyland said.

The house then changed owners over the years. In 1915, the front room of the house served as a post office. In 1916, the house was bought by three eccentric Yugoslavian brothers, the Saich brothers, who never married.

``They used it as a weekend house. Being bachelors, they let the place deteriorate,'' Hyland said. ``They were very well-off, yet the only heat came from two fireplaces and a potbellied stove. They had no good electricity. They didn't allow any luxuries for themselves.''

The last brother died in 1977, and Hyland bought the property in 1979. After four years of renovation, Hyland moved in in 1984.

Hyland said she had been giving house tours to friends and charitable groups before starting to do it on a professional basis four years ago. She's been doing the outdoor weddings for three years.

``I didn't do this initially to make a business. I did it because I loved it,'' Hyland said. ``The response of my friends was so overwhelming, it was natural to do it as a business. It just kind of happened.''

As Hyland puts it, ``almost everything in the house is very old.''

A walk through the main house reveals rich, upholstered furniture, hand-painted ceilings with murals and stenciled patterns, a light fixture in the dining room dating back to the early 1800s, a settee and chair made of carved laminated rosewood and an 1890 Regina music box with the original copper disc in an upstairs sitting room.

There is a painted sink and wooden columns around a tub in a downstairs bath, and a Victorian copper chocolate mold with lions in it in the kitchen. Hyland points out Victorian-era pipes with a carved mountain goat and an elephant head on them, and a cut, ruby glass cigar holder from 1840.

``There's so much to tell in the house,'' Hyland said.

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4 Photos

Photo: (1-2--color) Ginger Hyland, above, owner of the Willowbrook home in Lake Hughes, says there is no reason for collecting antiques if they're not shared with others. At right, the dining room of Hyland's home reflects her passion for antiquing. Hyland, 49, gives tours of her 1892 home by appointment. In addition to the two-hour house tours, Hyland offers Victorian high teas with an antique silver service and outdoor garden weddings and receptions for up to 400 people between March and October, and runs a bed-and-breakfast.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News

(3-4) Above, Ginger Hyland, owner of Willowbrook house in Lake Hughes, inspects her extensive collection of antique purses. A landscape mural decorates the stairway of the home built in 1892 by members of the Manzana Colony. Hyland bought the property in 1979. After years of repairs, she moved in in 1984.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News