RARE HOME UNDER REPAIR AFTER QUAKE.

Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer

The sound of sledgehammers and men at work Monday was music to the ears of members of the Simi Valley Historical Society and Museum, who had been waiting for this moment since the Northridge Earthquake struck Jan. 17, 1994.

Workers hired by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District began repairing the historic Simi Adobe/Strathearn Victorian Home on Monday, more than two years after it was severely damaged by the quake.

``We're extremely pleased. We don't want anything to happen to the building because its historical value is so important,'' said past society President Jan Smith. ``There isn't another building like it in Ventura County. It's a historical treasure.''

The home has been closed since the quake sent a chimney crashing through the roof and did other major damage.

The repairs had been put on hold because the park district didn't have the money needed for the repairs. The park district, which owns the Robert P. Strathearn Historical Park and Museum, where the home is located, awarded a $130,647 contract to DTEC Construction in May to repair the home.

Ed Hayduk, the park district's planning and development administrator, said the repairs should take about four months, and the home should reopen to the public in November.

Workers will perform seismic stabilization of the home, build a new roof over the adobe portion, reconstruct the fireplace and floor, patch and paint the interior walls and install a new adobe wall.

Park district board member Jim Meredith said he was concerned about the future of the home.

``I'm relieved,'' he said. ``That's such an important building to us historically. It shows something that was here before we had three-story buildings. We had people living a tough life here in ranching and farming, and that building gives us a historical perspective.''

The house, built in 1795, is considered to be one of the most historically significant buildings in Ventura County. It was the original headquarters of El Rancho Simi, a 113,000-acre land grant from Gov. Diego de Borica of Spanish California to Santiago Pico in 1795.

Once an adobe structure where ranchers and travelers stayed, it remained unchanged until 1893, when new owner Robert P. Strathearn added a Victorian frame in front.

Strathearn was a Scot who came to California in the late 1870s. He was mainly a cattleman. The back of the Victorian house is the remaining two rooms of the adobe house, which the Strathearns made into their kitchen and dining room.

Smith said the closure of the adobe house caused a decline in attendance at the park on 137 Strathearn Place.

Historical Society President Andy Macek, who observed the start of the construction work Monday, said he is pleased that the building will be preserved for future generations to see.

``It goes back so far,'' he said. ``This building is priceless to us.''

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Photo

Photo: (Color only in Simi edition) Steve Peterson works on the adobe and Victorian home Monday.

Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News